Bolivia outlines its Aladi agenda around independence, balance and dialogue

Bolivia wants the next chapter of the Latin American Integration Association, Aladi, to be guided by independence, balance and a willingness to listen to all 13 member countries.

Foreign Minister Héctor Huanca Mercado made the comments after Bolivian diplomat Adhemar Guzmán Ballivián was designated as the association’s next secretary general during a Sept. 2 session. Huanca said the appointment should mark a new direction for the bloc, drawing on the experience of previous administrations while preserving what has worked.

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We expect the new leadership to show independence, balance, technical capacity and a permanent willingness to listen to the 13 member countries.

“We expect the new leadership to show independence, balance, technical capacity and a permanent willingness to listen to the 13 member countries,” Huanca said. He added that the strongest administration would be one that reinforces the institution and gives each member a useful place to defend interests, bring positions closer and build agreements.

Huanca also recognized the work of outgoing Secretary General Sergio Abreu and other officials who have led the association in recent years. “Institutions do not start again with every change of authority. They are built by accumulating experience, correcting what can be improved and preserving what has shown its value,” he said.

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Institutions do not start again with every change of authority. They are built by accumulating experience, correcting what can be improved and preserving what has shown its value.

The foreign minister argued that Latin America does not need to restart its debate on integration. Instead, existing mechanisms should communicate more effectively with one another. The region, he said, already has more integration structures than it often manages to coordinate.

“Aladi can play an important role there,” Huanca said, pointing to its composition, flexibility and more than four decades of accumulated agreements. He said the association could serve as a meeting point for different Latin American integration experiences. The next stage, he added, will depend largely on how much of that experience can move from written agreements into the daily activity of the region’s economies.

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Aladi can play an important role there.