This article analyses the make–up and action strategies of the transnational networks established as a result of the recent processes of commercial integration in Latin America. In particular, it offers an overview of the experiences undergone by Mercosur, NAFTA and ALCA, while examining the extent and manner in which these processes of greater commercial liberalization define the traditional forms of collective action within the transnational sphere. The hypothesis presented in these pages

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... rs to important changes and an increasing learning process in relation to the organization and internal democratization responsible for the growing of the prominence of these networks in areas that had been the exclusive patrimony of governments and a reduced number of corporations. The experience of ALCA is an excellent example of this. Acknwledgingimportant innovations, the article seriously questions the capability of these networks to overcome their instrumental role and consolidate, in the knowledge that their principal interlocutor continues to be, ultimately, the State.