Lima, July 9, 2008. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, Marisol Argueta de Barillas, and the Secretary General of the Andean Community (CAN), Freddy Ehlers, agreed today to push for a meeting shortly between the authorities of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Andean subregion within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly to be held this coming September.   

They made the announcement during the official ceremony held to commemorate the visit of the Salvadoran Foreign Minister today to the General Secretariat headquarters, where she was awarded a decoration by the Andean organization and declared an “Honorary Andean Citizen.” 

"We have enthusiastically discussed the possibilities of creating a shared area where SICA and the CAN could act together and help attain the Latin American dream of seeing our nations become integrated,” the Salvadoran Foreign Minister stated.   

The Central American authority held a work meeting with the Secretary General and his director generals where, she added, “we have been able to confirm not only our vocation and our shared commitment to integration, but also a series of common issues, opportunities and challenges that we will be in a better position to develop if we coordinate our efforts."

After identifying common issues on the working agendas of the two regions, she also gave thought to the concern that exists in Central America where, in her words, “we have been able to move our integration ahead on the economic and political fronts, but are behind on social issues.”   

She went on to indicate that under El Salvador’s Presidency Pro Tempore of the Central American bloc, during the first six months of 2008, a road map was introduced that will enable the countries to press ahead with their social commitments.   

The CAN Secretary General, Freddy Ehlers, for his part, announced that “this meeting constitutes an important milestone for it allows us to pick up what in 2004 was the first step in relations between the Central American Integration System and the Andean Community and which now, with the Minister’s visit, we can consolidate over the next few months.”   

Ehlers expressed the interest of the Andean organization in “establishing an agenda of concrete topics where social issues will be given priority.”   

He went on to identify the similarities between the commercial matters being furthered by the two subregions within the framework of their negotiations with the European Union, stating that “the exchange of experiences is important for reaching an agreement that will benefit our nations."