Pacific Alliance

Meeting in Cali, Colombia on May 23, the presidents of Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Mexico celebrated the formation of a new economic bloc, whose combined weight accounts for 35% of Latin America’s GDP and 55% of the region’s exports. The two year old organization has attracted attention from all over, to include observer status for China, other Asian countries, a number of Latin American countries, and even Spain. Missing are Brazil and Argentina, who belong to MERCOSUR. The latter entity may eventually fall by the wayside because of the potential success of the Pacific Alliance. Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua will be the losers because they are ideologically opposed to economic integration. The United States has free trade agreements with all 4 of the Pacific Alliance countries. It remains to be seen if Washington takes note and requests membership. The attached article explains the Alliance.

http://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-what-pacific-alliance