The conference also comes as left-wing governments in Latin America, together with alternative media around the continent, are developing laws, institutions, and organizations to create a Latin American discourse about its history, culture, and current affairs. Such discourse was previously dominated by Western media corporations. Speakers also pointed out that the conference comes as Latin America is creating and strengthening its own regional organizations that aren‘t dominated by the United States, such as Mercosur, ALBA, and UNASUR.