What does the PTA present?
Unlike capitalist ideology, the PTA introduces the following concepts into the commercial integration debate: complementarity, cooperation, solidarity, reciprocity, prosperity and the respect for the sovereignty of each country. In this way, it incorporates objectives which are absent from the commercial integration programs advanced by the North, such as effective poverty reduction, preservation of indigenous communities and respect for the environment.
PTA considers trade and investment not just as ends in themselves but rather as potential paths to development; therefore absolute liberalization of markets and the ‘shrinking' of the State are not the primary objectives, rather the well being of the people is the primary goal.
In other words, the objectives are to strengthen small producers, micro-businesses, cooperatives and communitarian enterprises and to facilitate the interchange of goods with external markets.
The purpose of the PTA is to be at the service of more than just a small exporting group. The PTA is proposed as part of a new economic model, with the purpose of improving the living conditions of the population (income levels, health, education, access to water and culture) and promoting sustainable development which is equitable, egalitarian and democratic, and which permits conscious participation of citizens in making collective decisions. If the FTAs are negotiated in secret, the PTA needs the active participation and discussion of social movements, who through using our new political instrument, have begun to govern Bolivia for Bolivians.