Andean Community Explained

Native Name:Spanish; Castilian: Comunidad Andina
Linking Name:the Andean Community
Map Width:210px
Motto:
"This is my homeland, this is my home"
Org Type:Trade bloc
Membership Type:Member states
Largest Settlement Type:city
Admin Center Type:Seat of Secretariat
Area Rank:7th
Area Sq Mi:1,470,702
Population Estimate:101,119,783b
Population Estimate Rank:12th
Population Estimate Year:2010
Gdp Ppp Per Capita:$8,928.62
Gdp Ppp Rank:9th
Established Date1:1969
Established Event2:as the CAN
Established Date2:1996
Leader Name1:Jorge Hernando Pedraza
Official Website:http://www.comunidadandina.org/
Footnote A:Also the Community's working language.
Footnote B:Combined member states' census estimates.
Gdp Ppp Year:2017
Hdi:0.781
Hdi Year:2017
Conventional Long Name:Andean Community

The Andean Community (Spanish; Castilian: Comunidad Andina, CAN) is a free trade area with the objective of creating a customs union comprising the South American countries (Andean states) of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The trade bloc was called the Andean Pact until 1996 and came into existence when the Cartagena Agreement was signed in 1969. Its headquarters are in Lima, Peru.

The Andean Community has 113 million inhabitants over an area of 4,700,000 km2. Its GDP has gone up to US$745.300 billion in 2005, including Venezuela, which was a member at the time. Its estimated PPP of GDP for 2011 amounts to US$902.86 billion, excluding Venezuela.

Membership

The original Andean Pact was founded in 1969 by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In 1973 the pact gained its sixth member, Venezuela. In 1976 however, its membership was again reduced to five when Chile withdrew. Venezuela announced its withdrawal in 2006, reducing the Andean Community to four member states.

Recently, with the new cooperation agreement with Mercosur, the Andean Community gained four new associate members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. These four Mercosur members were granted associate membership by the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in an enlarged session with the Commission (of the Andean Community) on 7 July 2005. This moves reciprocates the actions of Mercosur which granted associate membership to all the Andean Community nations by virtue of the Economic Complementarity Agreements (Free Trade agreements) signed between the CAN and individual Mercosur members.[1]

Relationship with other organizations

The Andean Community and Mercosur comprise the two main trading blocs of South America. In 1999, these organizations began negotiating a merger with a view to creating a "South American Free Trade Area" (SAFTA). On 8 December 2004, the Andean Community (CAN) signed a cooperation agreement with Mercosur and they published a joint letter of intention for future negotiations towards integrating all of South America in a Union of South American Nations (USAN), patterned after the European Union.[7]

During 2005, Venezuela decided to join Mercosur. Venezuela's official position first appeared to be that, by joining Mercosur, further steps could be taken towards integrating both trade blocs. CAN Secretary General Allan Wagner stated that the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Alí Rodríguez had declared that Venezuela did not intend to leave the CAN, and its simultaneous membership to both blocs marked the beginning of their integration.[8]

However some analysts interpreted that Venezuela might eventually leave the CAN in the process.[9] As Colombia and Peru signed free trade agreements with the United States, in protest the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez indeed announced in April 2006 his country's withdrawal from the CAN, stating that the Community is "dead".[10] Officials in Colombia and Peru expressed their disagreement with this view, as did representatives from Venezuela's industrial sector (Conindustria).[11]

In spite of this announcement, Venezuela still had not formally completed all the necessary withdrawal procedures. According to Venezuela's Commerce Minister María Cristina Iglesias, the entire process was going to take up five years. Until then, Venezuela and its partners would remain bound by the effects of the community's preexisting commercial agreements.[12]

During a visit to Colombia in August 2007, President Hugo Chávez was asked by the presidents of Ecuador and Bolivia to rejoin the Andean Community, and he responded that he would agree. Meanwhile, at that time the Mercosur's relations with Venezuela were weakening as Mercosur was not agreeing with some of the Hugo Chávez's proposals.[13]

Eventually Venezuela achieved the full membership of the Mercosur in 2012, making the Mercosur bigger in number of members than the CAN for the first time.

In addition to CAN, Bolivia is also a member of the WTO, UNASUR, and ALBA. Its attitude is considered crucial to relations between UNASUR and ALBA specifically, says Marion Hörmann, since Bolivia is traditionally seen as a mediator between the Andean countries and the rest of South America.[14]

Furthermore, on 7 December 2012, the Bolivian nation was accepted by the Mercosur countries to start the incorporation protocols to achieve the Mercosur full membership in a matter of 4 years,[15] receiving the proclamation of an accessing member, and further consolidating itself as a strategic geopolitical nation.

Chronology

thumb|Secretariat of the Andean Community in Lima

Organization

Secretaries-General

See main article: Secretary-General of the Andean Community.

Free flow of people

Since 1 January 2005, the citizens of the member countries can enter the other Andean Community member states without the requirement of a visa. Travellers should present the authorities their national ID cards.[23]

Visitors to Venezuela will have to present their passports; they will then receive the Andean Migration Card (Tarjeta Andina de Migración), in which the time of temporary residence in the country is stated.

Andean passport

See main article: Andean passport. The Andean passport was created in June 2001 pursuant to Decisión 504. This stipulates the issuing of a passport based on a standard model which contains harmonised features of nomenclature and security. The passport is effective in Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Bolivia (Bolivia since early 2006).

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: CAN – Mercosur. https://web.archive.org/web/20020616143720/http://www.comunidadandina.org/ingles/common/mercosur2.htm . 16 June 2002 .
  2. In the framework of the Union of South American Nations and/or Mercosur-CAN cooperation agreements
  3. Web site: SOMOS COMUNIDAD ANDINA. 2014-07-12. Andean Community of Nations. https://web.archive.org/web/20130724092338/http://www.comunidadandina.org/Quienes.aspx. 24 July 2013. dead.
  4. Web site: Le Maroc obtient le statut de membre observateur au sein de la Communauté andine des Nations. 2020-07-09. MAP Express. fr-FR.
  5. Web site: Türkiye welcomes observer status in Andean Community. 2022-09-15. Anadolu Agency. en-EN.
  6. Web site: Announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the acceptance of Greece's request for observer status in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) (17.06.2023) . Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Greece).
  7. Web site: Andean Community-MERCOSUR . SICE Foreign Trade Information System . The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States . May 6, 2024. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20231208150156/http://www.sice.oas.org/tpd/AND_MER/AND_MER_e.asp . December 8, 2023.
  8. Web site: Secretario general de la CAN: Es positivo el ingreso de Venezuela al Mercosur . The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States. es. December 8, 2005. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080311041215/https://www.eluniversal.com/2005/12/08/msur_ava_08A642103.shtml . March 11, 2008.
  9. News: Prada . Paulo . South American Trade Bloc Moves to Admit Venezuela . . 8 December 2005 . 2008-12-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130119193033/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/business/worldbusiness/08trade.html . 19 January 2013 . live .
  10. News: Venezuela to Withdraw From Andean Free Trade Group. Latin America . . 2006-04-19 . 2008-12-24.
  11. Web site: Conindustria: "Inevitable" y negativa salida de Venezuela de la CAN . es. Eluniversal.com . 2006-04-20 . 2008-12-24.
  12. Web site: Secretario general de la CAN espera que convoquen cita sobre Venezuela. es. Eluniversal.com . 2006-04-22 . 2008-12-24.
  13. News: Vocero de las Farc se reunirá en Venezuela con Hugo Chávez para hablar sobre acuerdo humanitario . Eltiempo.com . 2007-08-31 . 2008-12-24.
  14. Marion Hörmann, "Key Role for Bolivia " D+C Development and Cooperation, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2010/03, 103–105.
  15. Web site: Bolivia signs Mercosur incorporation protocol and becomes sixth member.
  16. Web site: The EEC and the Andean Community General Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding. eurasiancommission.org.
  17. Web site: Guaidó anunció el reingreso de Venezuela a la Comunidad Andina de Naciones (Comunicado). 2020-02-21. La Patilla. es-ES. 2020-02-23.
  18. Andean Community of Nations, 18 Jan 2007, Ecuadorian Freddy Ehlers is elected CAN Secretary General
  19. Andean Community of Nations, 20 Apr 2010, Freddy Ehlers renuncia a la Secretaría General de la CAN
  20. Andean Community of Nations, 19 Feb 2013, Boliviano Adalid Contreras concluye su gestión como Secretario General de la CAN con un llamado a fortalecer la integración
  21. Andean Community of Nations, 15 Jun 2013,Web site: Boliviano Pablo Guzmán es elegido como Secretario General de la CAN|ARCHIVO FOTOGRAFICO | Prensa | Portal de la Comunidad Andina . 2014-07-31 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150218001723/http://www.comunidadandina.org/Prensa.aspx?id=3430&accion=detalle&cat=AF&title=boliviano-pablo-guzman-es-elegido-como-secretario-general-de-la-can . 2015-02-18 .
  22. Andean Community of Nations, 11 Jan 2016,Web site: Walker San Miguel es elegido como Secretario General de la Comunidad Andina|NOTAS DE PRENSA | Prensa | Portal de la Comunidad Andina . 2016-01-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160322052610/http://www.comunidadandina.org/Prensa.aspx?id=3652&accion=detalle&cat=NP&title=walker-san-miguel-es- . 2016-03-22 .
  23. Web site: Schacknies . Carly . 2021-05-17 . Andean Community Approves Reciprocal Movement and Residence Rights . 2024-08-17 . Erickson Immigration Group . en-US.

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