This paper applies Putnam’s (1993) seminal work on negotiations as a two level game, to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations process. The paper compares the domestic ratification processes with the existing web of regional and bilateral trade agreements for insights into the relative bargaining strength and key issues for the most important economies in the hemisphere: the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. This paper delivers important insights into how the existing international and domestic legal and political context will affect the dynamic shape of FTAA negotiations, with the aim of finding strategies by which Latin American countries (LACs) can maximize their bargaining power.Este artigo aplica o trabalho seminal de Putman (1993) sobre as negociações, entendidas estas como um jogo de dois níveis, ao processo de negociação da Área de Livre Comércio das Américas (ALCA). No trabalho comparam-se os processos nacionais de ratificação e a ampla rede de acordos comerciais regionais e bilaterais, para encontrar as forças relativas e os temas chaves para as economias mais importantes do continente: Estados Unidos, Canadá, Brasil e México. O trabalho nos sugere como os contextos internacional e nacional, legal e político, afetarão a forma em que se realizam as negociações da ALCA de maneira a poder encontrar estratégias para que os países da América Latina (PAL) maximizem o seu poder de negociação.This paper applies Putnam's (1993) seminal work on negotiations as a two level game, to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations process. The paper compares the domestic ratification processes with the existing web of regional and bilateral trade agreements for insights into the relative bargaining strength and key issues for the most important economies in the hemisphere: the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. This paper delivers important insights into how the existing international and domestic legal and political context will affect the dynamic shape of FTAA negotiations, with the aim of finding strategies by which Latin American countries (LACs) can maximize their bargaining power.Ce texte met en application le travail de base de Putman (1993) sur les négociations -celles-ci étant comprises comme un jeu à deux niveaux- par rapport au processus de négociations de la Zone de Libre Echange des Amériques (ZLEA). Dans ces travaux, on compare les processus nationaux de ratification et l'ample réseau des accords commerciaux régionaux et bilatéraux, dans le but de trouver des renforcements y relatifs et des thèmes clés pour les économies les plus importantes du continent: les Etats-Unis, le Canada, le Brésil et le Mexique. Ceci reste une suggestion quant à la façon dont les contextes international et national, légal et politique, affecteront celle dont se réaliseront les négociations de l'ALCA, de sorte que l'on puisse trouver des stratégies pour que les pays d'Amérique latine (PAL) optimisent leur pouvoir de négociation.