The Presidents
of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and
Venezuela, and the Chairman of Peru’s
Ministerial Council, gathered in the city of
Valencia, Venezuela on June 23 and 24, 2001
to meet in the Thirteenth Andean
Presidential Council, underscored the
importance to the five Andean countries of
holding this Council during the celebration
of the 180th anniversary of the
Battle of Carabobo, the event that
consecrated Venezuela’s independence and
provided the motivating force for the great
Latin American independence campaign.
In reaffirming
their unswerving commitment to continue
moving toward more advanced forms of
integration in order to fulfill the historic
vocation of their nations, the Presidents:
1. Noted with
satisfaction that the Andean Community has
continued to intensify its economic
integration and strengthen its international
presence; has broadened its Community agenda
to encompass new spheres of action, like the
political and social; and that the Andean
business and labor sectors are becoming
increasingly committed to the integration
process.
2. Confirmed
their steadfast political will to move
Andean integration ahead on many fronts,
pointing up the need to intensify actions in
the political and social spheres of
integration.
3. Recognized
that the movement toward more advanced forms
of social and political integration will be
possible only to the extent that all sectors
of society become integrated. They
accordingly stated their decision to foster
more social involvement in the deepening of
the integration process.
4. Were in
agreement that, despite the efforts and
accomplishments in the social arena, a high
level of poverty and social inequality still
exist in the Andean area, which threaten the
stability of the democratic systems and
affect the progress of integration.
5. Drew
attention to the importance of the Andean
Community’s Commitment to Democracy, which
reflects the firm conviction and permanent
will of the Andean countries to promote
democratic order and the existence of the
constitutional state in the Andean region.
In that connection, they reiterated their
full support for Resolution No. 1838 of the
General Assembly of the Organization of
American States (OAS), which provides for a
Special General Assembly to be held in Lima
in regard to the Inter-American Democratic
Charter.
6. Reiterated
their firm intention to continue
strengthening democracy in the Andean
countries and fostering the citizens’ utmost
participation in building a more just and
democratic society that would ensure the
exercise of civil and political, economic,
social, and cultural human rights.
7. Emphasized
their satisfaction at the exemplary election
held by the Government of President Valentín
Paniagua, which emphasized the true
democratic vocation of the people of Peru.
They further congratulated the President-elect,
Alejandro Toledo, and wished him success in
his new position.
8. Stated
their intention to approve an Andean Human
Rights Charter that would contribute to
ensuring the exercise of human rights,
strengthen democracy and the constitutional
state, and firmly establish a culture of
peace in the Andean nations.
9. Were in
agreement that democratic governance is an
inevitable priority in their countries and
accordingly reiterated their commitment to
overcome by constitutional means any
temporary difficulty that could arise in the
Andean region in that regard.
10. Confirmed
the social commitments adopted in the Andean
Presidential Councils of Guayaquil,
Cartagena, and Lima and agreed to attach
more priority to the development of an
interdisciplinary Andean Social Agenda that
would offer an effective response to the
needs of the Member Countries in their
struggle against poverty, inequality, and
social exclusion.
11. Were in
agreement on pointing out the urgent need to
address the structural causes of the illegal
drug problem in the Andean Subregion. They
therefore agreed to give maximum priority to
implementing the Andean Social agenda and
carrying out the measures with regard to
alternative development and social aspects
provided for in the Cooperation Plan for the
Control of Illegal Drugs and Related
Offenses.
12. Were in
agreement on stressing the effect of the
scourge of illegal drugs and related
offenses on the deterioration of the social
fabric and of the environment, as well as on
economic distortion, and the high cost in
terms of human lives and economic resources
that the Andean countries have had to bear
in their determined efforts to fight it.
In that
connection, they underscored the approval of
the Andean Cooperation Plan for the Control
of Illegal Drugs and Related Offenses, which
is grounded in the conviction that the
production, trafficking, and consumption of
illegal drugs, asset laundering, the
diversion and smuggling of chemical
precursor substances, and the illegal arms
traffic seriously threaten the development
and safety of the Andean countries. This
Plan is a contribution of the Member
countries of the Andean Community to the
struggle against the worldwide drug problem
from an integral approach, based on the
principle of the shared responsibility of
the international community and with full
respect for their respective laws,
sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
13. Confirmed
that the Andean Cooperation Plan for the
Control of Illegal Drugs and Related
Offenses contributes to the search for
solutions to a problem that is particularly
threatening to the safety and economic and
social development of their countries. They
further agreed on the need to coordinate
regional efforts to obtain new sources of
funding and secure better terms for their
exports to other markets.
14.
Underscored, as well, the need to intensify
efforts to eliminate the production,
distribution, and consumption of synthetic
or designer drugs that constitute a new
threat to the youth of the Andean countries.
15. Emphasized
the importance they attach to the prompt
renewal and enlargement of the Andean Trade
Preferences Act, as well as Venezuela’s
incorporation into that system. They also
welcomed the "Andean Regional Initiative"
promoted by the United States Government,
which is aimed at strengthening cooperation
in the war on illegal drugs, together with
support for democracy, sustainable economic
and social development, and the broadening
of trade. They expressed their readiness to
cooperate more fully in that effort under
the Andean Cooperation Plan for the Control
of Illegal Drugs and Related Offenses.
16.
Highlighted Bolivia’s success in eradicating
illegal coca leaf crops which, in order to
be sustained, requires effective
international cooperation under an approach
of shared responsibility.
17. Reiterated
their determination to make the necessary
effort to put the Andean Common Market into
operation no later than December 31, 2005, a
priority undertaking that will make it
possible to reinforce the unity of the
Andean Community project, intensify the
integration process, and boost the
development of the countries in the
subregion.
18. Expressed
their intention of moving ahead with efforts
to perfect the Customs Union by designing
and adopting a Common External Tariff (CET).
They likewise
agreed on the need to adopt the Andean
Common Agricultural Policy (PACA) and a
State Procurements System.
They further
agreed to advance the liberalization of the
trade in services and, if pertinent, to
deepen that liberalization by harmonizing
the respective provisions.
These
instruments, combined with compliance with
the Andean body of law, will make it
possible to reinforce the Community’s
production structure and take advantage of
its areas of complementarity in order to
improve the Subregion’s competitive status
in an environment of open regionalism.
19. Noted with
satisfaction the progress made by the Andean
Community Advisory Council of Treasury or
Finance Ministers, Central Banks, and
Economic Planning Officers in defining
criteria for convergence on inflation, the
public debt, and the fiscal deficit.
20.
Highlighted the approval of the Decisions on
the Recognition of National Identification
Documents and the Creation of the Andean
Passport, which are highly important steps
towards consolidating the Andean space in
which people can circulate freely and
building a community of Andean citizens.
21. Agreed
that it is important to promote strategic
subregional alliances so that businessmen
can be actively involved in shaping the
Common Market and underscored the success of
the recent Maracaibo Andean Business Forum
and the need to follow it up actively in the
year 2002, welcoming Ecuador’s choice as the
site of the Fifth Andean Business Forum.
22. Agreed on
the need to boost the execution of the
Common Foreign Policy in order to give the
Andean Community a stronger international
presence and increase its international
negotiating capacity. They further
reaffirmed their commitment to open
regionalism and, in this connection, their
readiness to strengthen their economic and
political links with other subregional,
regional, and interregional groups.
23. Reaffirmed
the importance they attach to the creation
of a space for political cooperation and
economic integration in South America, as a
means for reinforcing the regional
integration process and its influence in the
hemisphere and on the international scene.
They accordingly hailed the forthcoming
establishment of the Political Dialogue and
Coordination Mechanism between the Andean
Community and the Mercosur and Chile. They
likewise committed themselves to do their
utmost to establish a Free Trade Area
between the Andean Community and the
Mercosur by the established date.
24. Reiterated
their willingness to continue participating
actively in the hemispheric negotiations
aimed at the creation of the Free Trade Area
of the Americas, coordinating the positions
of the Member Countries, and continuing to
speak with a single voice.
25. Stressed
the importance of the multiannual renewal
without conditions of the Andean Generalized
System of Preferences by the European Union,
in recognition of the efforts made by the
Andean countries to control illegal drugs
and in the context of shared responsibility.
They likewise decided to step up the
specialized dialogue on drugs. In another
vein, they expressed their readiness to
continue working to produce an Association
Agreement between the Andean Community and
the European Union that will make it
possible to further develop their political
dialogue, strengthen their economic
cooperation, and boost trade and investment
flows between the two blocs.
26. Emphasized
with satisfaction the work being done by the
environmental authorities to define some "Guidelines
for Environmental Management and Sustainable
Development in the Andean Community," which
should be adopted at the high-level meeting
of those authorities that is scheduled to
take place this coming July in Quito. They
furthermore strongly supported the
activities planned to celebrate the
International Year of the Mountains (2002)
and the Andean efforts to promote
sustainable development in the mountain
ecosystems.
27. Welcomed
the important progress made in the area of
border integration and development policy
through the adoption of the Decision that
spells out the general provisions for
establishing, operating, and applying
integrated controls in the Binational Border
Service Centers and the Decision that
approves the Community framework for the
creation of Border Integration Zones.
28. Expressed
their satisfaction at the signing of the
Protocol of Substitution of the Simón
Rodríguez Convention, which establishes a
suitable forum for tripartite participation
in promoting socio-labor integration, and
committed themselves to expedite the
pertinent domestic steps to be taken in each
country for its rapid ratification.
29. Welcomed
with satisfaction the establishment and
operation of the Department of Integration
of the Simón Bolívar Andean University and
emphasized the support given by the Andean
Development Corporation to this project,
which is aimed at reinforcing the education
and training of human resources in the area
of the competitiveness, creativity, and
international positioning of the Andean
region.
30. Expressed
their pleasure at the assumption by the
Simón Bolívar Andean University in Quito of
the mandate to promote education for
democracy and training for the exercise of
human rights through the launching of the "Initiative:
Education for Democracy" with the support of
the Organization of Iberoamerican Countries
and the "Andean Human Rights Program"
sponsored by the European Union. They
further welcomed the creation of the Andean
International Studies Network at the same
academic center.
31. Stressed
the strategic nature of tourism and the
influence it exerts on the economic, social,
and cultural development of the Member
Countries and expressed its willingness to
advance projects and measures for developing
and promoting intrasubregional, border, and
incoming tourism into the subregion;
facilitating tourist flows in the Andean
Community; and reinforcing strategies to
promote natural and cultural environmental
conservation.
To these ends,
the Presidents approved the following
Guidelines:
GUIDELINES
I. POLITICAL
COOPERATION IN THE SPHERE OF INTEGRATION
The Presidents
decided to reinforce political cooperation
in the sphere of integration that is
directed toward constructing a higher level
of integration that would make it possible
to guarantee the well-being and security of
Andean citizens. They accordingly:
1. Entrusted
the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers,
with the assistance of the General
Secretariat, to draw up the guidelines for a
Community Policy on Security and Confidence-Building,
bearing in mind the objective of
establishing an Andean zone of peace. Those
guidelines are to be submitted to the next
Andean Presidential Council and should be
based on the Declaration of Galapagos and
consider the recommendations contained in
the Declarations of Santiago and San
Salvador.
2. Instructed
the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers, in
coordination with the General Secretariat
and the Court of Justice of the Andean
Community, to expedite the adoption of the
necessary measures for duly complying with
the complementary actions to the integration
process set out under numeral seven of the
Action Program for 2000 – 2001 of the Act of
Lima, paying special attention to the areas
of legal and police cooperation, in order to
reinforce the safety of citizens and create
the necessary conditions for deepening the
system of Andean integration.
3. Instructed
the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers,
within a period of no more than ninety days,
to set up the Andean Executive Council
provided for in the Andean Cooperation Plan
for the Control of Drugs and Related
Offenses and take the necessary steps for
the immediate implementation of the Action
Plan and establishment of the respective
Operational Plans.
Further
directed the Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers to immediately take the measures
for securing international cooperation and
financing that are provided for in the
Andean Cooperation Plan for the Control of
Drugs and Related Offenses.
4. Entrusted
the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers,
through a high-level group of
representatives of the Member Countries and
with the support of the General Secretariat,
to draw up an Andean Human Rights Charter
that should contain the principles and
central themes of a Community policy on the
subject, and a cooperation program to
encourage specific measures aimed at
guaranteeing the observance and respect for
such rights in the Andean region, within the
framework of the Inter-American Convention
on Human Rights and of the 1980 Riobamba
Charter on Conduct.
This Andean
Charter should, among other things, help to
strengthen the constitutional state and to
improve the administration of justice;
promote a culture of peace through dialogue,
tolerance, and conciliation, as instruments
for creating social consensuses; reinforce
the right to development; and bolster the
institutions for the defense and promotion
of human rights in the Member Countries,
particularly the Offices of the Ombudsmen.
II. ANDEAN
SOCIAL AGENDA
5. The
Presidents instructed the Ministers
responsible for implementing the policies on
social welfare, health, labor, education,
and housing, to hold the first Andean
meeting of ministers in that area during the
second half of this year, in order to
exchange experiences and draft a
Comprehensive Social Development Plan to
cope with the serious problems of poverty,
social exclusion and inequality that exist
in the subregion.
That Plan
should take a coordinated approach to the
programs and measures to be carried out and
include short, medium, and long-term goals
that are in keeping with those established
at the world level at the Social Development
and Millennium Summits.
The General
Secretariat, with the collaboration of ECLAC
and other specialized organizations, will
prepare a compendium of the existing studies
and diagnoses on social development in the
Andean region to serve as a basis for
drawing up the cited Plan.
The General
Secretariat will provide assistance for the
preparation and holding of this first
meeting and will follow up the Comprehensive
Social Development Plan in order to submit
its results to the Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers.
6. Requested
the Andean Development Corporation to
intensify its special financing programs
through financial institutions with social
purposes in order to promote and strengthen
small, medium, and big business, organized
either as cooperatives or production
circuits, or in any form used in the social
economy, paying special attention to the
Andean traditional handicrafts sector.
7. Instructed
the competent authorities to define a
Regional Biodiversity Strategy that would
help to produce viable alternatives for
sustainable regional development based on
our natural resources and to orchestrate
joint positions in the various forums for
international negotiations.
8. Entrusted
the Ministers of Education with submitting
to the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers,
before the next meeting of the Andean
Presidential Council, a harmonized
curriculum design for incorporating the
values of integration and Andean culture
into elementary and secondary educational
programs that would include access to the
computer tools that are integration
facilitators and basic requisites for our
countries’ competitiveness. Digital
illiteracy would thereby be progressively
eliminated from the Andean region so that it
could participate fully in the Global
Information Society.
9. Agreed to
foster the establishment of an Andean Forum
for reflection on the subregion’s
integration and economic and social
development. To that end, they entrusted the
General Secretariat, with the collaboration
of the CAF, to periodically organize lecture
series in the Member Countries with the
participation of the political, academic,
and business sectors. Before starting these
activities, the General Secretariat, in
coordination with the CAF, will prepare a
work plan to be submitted to the Andean
Council of Foreign Ministers and to the
Commission so that they can consider the
issues that fall within their respective
spheres of competence.
10. Instructed
the General Secretariat, with the support of
the CAF, to develop a Dissemination Program
on the integration process that would
promote the Andean identity, which should be
prepared with the participation of the
responsible bodies of the Member Countries.
Before starting these activities, the
General Secretariat will draw up a work plan
to be submitted to the Andean Council of
Foreign Ministers for its consideration.
11.
Commissioned the General Secretariat and the
Simón Bolívar Andean University, in
coordination and consultation with the
Ministries of Education, to move ahead with
the preparation and execution of the
"Bolívar Integration Professorship" project
which is intended to introduce the teaching
of integration in the secondary schools of
the Member Countries in order to contribute
to the formation of a consciousness of
Andean citizenship.
12.
Recommended most particularly to the Andean
Development Corporation that it study the
possibility of collaborating in the
construction of the planned International
Convention Center, to be built in Sucre in
commemoration of the bicentennial of the
birth of the Marshall of Ayacucho, as a
gesture of solidarity and support from the
Andean countries for the historic capital of
Bolivia that bears his name.
III. ANDEAN
COMMON MARKET
13. The
Presidents, conscious of the importance of
consolidating the progress made in the
process of economic integration and of
reaching the goal of establishing the Andean
Common Market by December 31, 2005, at the
latest, instructed the Andean Council of
Foreign Ministers and the Commission to
expedite their efforts to fulfill the
commitments set out in the Act of Lima and
report on their results at the next meeting
of the Presidential Council.
14. Instructed
the Commission to draw up a work program to
put the Andean Customs Union into full and
effective operation by designing and
adopting a Common External Tariff, taking
into account the Action Program for 2000 –
2001 of the Act of Lima, that would
consolidate Andean economic opening, reduce
the tariff spread, and make products from
the subregion more competitive.
At the same
time, they entrusted the Commission to move
ahead with the liberalizing of the trade in
services and, if pertinent, to intensify
that liberalization by harmonizing the
respective provisions; as well as toward the
adoption of the Common Agricultural Policy
and the State Procurement System.
15. Instructed
the Andean Community Advisory Council of
Treasury or Finance Ministers, Central Banks,
and Economic Planning Officers to ensure the
operation of a mechanism for periodically
following up on the targets set by that
Council of bringing down annual inflation to
a single-digit figure by December 2002,
obtaining annual fiscal deficits of no more
than 3% of GDP, and, by the year 2015,
having a domestic and foreign public debt
stock amounting to 50% of GDP at the most,
in the certainty that this will contribute
to Community financial discipline and
bolster national efforts to consolidate
economic stability.
16. Entrusted
the Andean Committee of Immigration
Authorities (CAAM), with the assistance of
the General Secretariat, to submit to the
Andean Council of Foreign Ministers, no
later than December 2001, the proposals on
harmonizing migratory legislation for
students, businesspeople, investors, artists,
and sportsmen; and on the standard system on
the specific technical characteristics of
the Andean passport.
17. Instructed
the Andean Community Commission, meeting in
enlarged session with the Ministers of
Education to approve a Decision for
harmonizing and simplifying procedures for
validating professional degrees and
university studies by December 31, 2001, at
the latest.
18.
Commissioned the Andean Committee of Tourist
Authorities, with the support and
coordination of the General Secretariat, to
continue the work it has started, such as
that on the certificate of tourist
sustainability, the Andean Virtual Route,
and the Andean tourist card. Furthermore,
fully convinced that the development of
tourism requires an efficient and viable
statistical measurement system, they
assigned the pertinent institutions to take
the necessary steps to create the Andean
Community Tourist Satellite Accounts.
19. Agreed to
strengthen the Andean Statistical
Information System with the assistance of
the General Secretariat, giving special
emphasis to harmonized and periodic
information on investment, services, social
development, and the informal economic
sector.
IV. COMMON
FOREIGN POLICY
20. The
Presidents, convinced of the need to step up
the implementation of the Common Foreign
Policy, instructed the Andean Council of
Foreign Ministers to make arrangements for
new forms of action that will make it
possible to vitalize and expand that policy,
mainly through its quarterly follow up and
updating by high-level officials of the
Foreign Ministries, more intensive
coordination between the national
coordinators, and the joint efforts of the
Andean Embassies and Representative Offices
abroad, particularly in the United States of
America, and the European Union and at the
United Nations Organization, the
Organization of American States, and
international organizations with
headquarters in Geneva and Vienna.
21. Emphasized
the forthcoming Fourth Ministerial WTO
Conference, scheduled to be held in Doha
(Qatar), which is an appropriate occasion
for launching a new Round of Multilateral
Trade Negotiations that will ensure the
equitable participation of the developing
countries. To that end, they entrusted the
Commission with boosting the coordination of
the Andean countries in that forum, so that
the future negotiations will make
development the guiding force in
multilateral trade negotiations.
22. Instructed
the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers to
coordinate the necessary joint efforts to
fulfill the commitments set out in the
Brasilia Communiqué and expressed their
satisfaction at the forthcoming first
meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of
the Andean Community, the MERCOSUR, and
Chile on July 17, 2001 in La Paz, Bolivia,
at which the Political Dialogue and
Coordination Mechanism between the Andean
Community and Mercosur and Chile will be set
up.
Expressed
their satisfaction at the progress that is
being made in executing the Plan of Action
for Integrating the South American Regional
Infrastructure in the areas of
transportation, energy, and communication,
and instructed the Andean Ministers
responsible for those sectors, with the
support of the General Secretariat, to act
in coordination to ensure that the
interconnection of the Andean Subregional
space with the rest of South America is
optimum. The Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers should oversee those efforts.
23.
Commissioned the Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers to promote political consultations
with the United States government to obtain
more cooperation from it for the region’s
efforts to control illegal drugs and related
offenses under the Andean Plan in this area,
bearing in mind that country’s "Andean
Regional Initiative."
It further
charged the Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers and the Andean Community
Commission to intensify their efforts to
obtain the rapid extension of the United
States’ Andean Trade Preferences Act until
it dovetails with the tariff reduction
program being negotiated with the FTAA,
Venezuela’s inclusion as a beneficiary
country, and the expansion of the Act to
cover Andean exports with a high value added
and a strong impact on the creation of
alternative jobs to those linked to illegal
drug trafficking activities.
In this
connection, they reiterated their interest
in having the new coverage of the Act extend
to textiles and made-up garments along the
full length of the production chain, with
standards of origin that will make it
possible to use regional inputs. They
further reiterated the need to include other
products, such as leather manufactures,
dairy products, canned tuna, sugar, and
sugar by-products.
24. Charged
the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers and
the Commission with working more intensively,
within their respective spheres of
competence and with the assistance of the
General Secretariat, on preparing, executing,
and following up a Community strategy within
the context of the Summits of the Americas.
They should ensure in particular that the
negotiation of the FTAA results in the
formulation of an agreement that will offer
the necessary conditions for the equitable
participation of the Andean countries,
considering their varying levels of
development and the different sizes of their
economies.
25. Instructed
the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers and
the Commission of the Andean Community to
try to get the European Union to approve the
multiannual renewal and consolidation of the
Andean Generalized System of Preferences,
without setting conditions on it, in
recognition of the drug control efforts
being made by the Andean countries.
They further
assigned the Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers the development of a strategy to
reinforce the Andean Community’s position in
Europe and boost the negotiation of an
association agreement between the Andean
Community and the European Union, as
recommended at the Meeting of Ministers of
Foreign Affairs of the two regions, held in
Vilamoura. They commissioned the Chairman of
the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers to
take the necessary political steps for this
purpose with the Member States and political
and community bodies of the European Union,
with the participation of the Member
Countries and the support of the General
Secretariat.
They also
instructed the Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers to make an effort with the
European Union to politically reinforce and
broaden the existing specialized dialogue on
drug control, in application of the Andean
Cooperation Plan for the Control of Drugs
and Related Offenses.
26. They were
highly pleased at the establishment of a
mechanism for political dialogue and
cooperation between the Andean Community and
the Russian Federation that will strengthen
relations between the two parties on all
fronts, and instructed the Andean Council of
Foreign Ministers and the Commission of the
Andean Community to move ahead with
consultations on the signing of cooperation
agreements.
27. Expressed
their intention of expediting the start-up
of the mechanism for political dialogue and
cooperation between the Andean Community and
the People’s Republic of China and
instructed the Andean Council of Foreign
Ministers to take the necessary steps to
accomplish this.
V. BORDER
INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY
28. The
Presidents instructed the competent
authorities to take the necessary measures
for the prompt establishment of the
Binational Border Service Centers, in order
to simplify and facilitate the free flow of
persons, goods, and vehicles in the Andean
Community.
29. They
likewise instructed the Andean Council of
Foreign Ministers to establish at least one
Border Integration Zone on each of the
common borders before the next meeting of
the Andean Presidential Council. The
execution of social and economic development
projects identified and evaluated by the
Border Integration and Development Projects
Bank, among others, should be promoted in
those zones.
The Andean
Presidential Council received the reports of
the Bodies and Institutions belonging to the
Andean Integration System. The proposals
they contain are appended to this Act for
consideration by the Governments of the
Member States.
At the
conclusion of the meeting, the Presidents of
Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador, and the
Chairman of the Ministerial Council of Peru
expressed their appreciation to President
Hugo Chávez Frías and the people of
Venezuela for their warm welcome and
hospitality during the course of the
deliberations.
In testimony
of which, we hereby sign this Act on the
twenty-fourth of June of two thousand and
one
HUGO BANZER
SUAREZ
President of Bolivia
ANDRES
PASTRANA ARANGO
President of Colombia
GUSTAVO
NOBOA BEJARANO
President of Ecuador
HUGO CHAVEZ
FRIAS
President of Venezuela
JAVIER
PEREZ DE CUELLAR
Chairman of the Ministerial Council and
Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Peru
DECLARATION
The Presidents
of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and
Venezuela, and the Chairman of the
Ministerial Council of Peru, meeting in the
Thirteenth Andean Presidential Council,
express their deep concern over the
worldwide consequences of HIV/AIDS and, most
particularly, with regard to the effects and
vulnerabilities arising from situations of
poverty and extreme poverty. In that
connection, they state their determination
to adopt measures for cooperation in the
Andean subregion to prevent the spread of
this pandemic.
They further
express their confidence that the results of
the Twenty-Sixth Special United Nations
General Assembly will include a
comprehensive approach for a worldwide
frontal attack on that pandemic, and
recognize that prevention, care, support,
and treatment are essential aspects that
require international financing and
cooperation from States, international
organizations, and the private sector –above
all, the pharmaceutical industry.
Valencia,
Venezuela, June 24, 2001
