Bank of the South
Bolivarian Alternative

Bolivarian comes from Simon de Bolivar who led the nations of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela to independence. The Bolivarian alternative is an insistence not on Globalization from the North, but a Globalization from the South or "from below." The Term Global South has two meanings: first and foremost, it is meant to indicate those nations until recently known as third world or euphemistically "developing" or "less developed." Second, it refers to the geographical location in which most of these countries lie. The Bolivarian alternative arose when South American nations rose up to oppose George W. Bush's plan for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). This plan would have extended NAFTA to South America, thus multiplying the devastating results that NAFTA and neoliberalism had already produced.