Lima, March 2, 2006.- Representatives of the General Secretariats of the Andean Community (CAN), the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), and the Latin American Integration Organization (ALADI) today completed two workdays in Lima, where they drew attention to the advances of and agreements between the methodological and thematic approaches of the three regional integration organizations in building the South American Community of Nations (CSN).

Gathered in the intersector Workshop on South American Convergence, Alfredo Fuentes, Director General of Legal Affairs of the CAN General Secretariat; Agustín Espinosa, Advisor to the ALADI Secretary General; and Alejandro David Perrotti, MERCOSUR Legal Consultant, pointed out that the aim is to fulfill the Presidential mandates to build the South American Community of Nations, emanating from the First Summit of Heads of State of the CSN, held in Brasilia in September 2005.

Dr. Alfredo Fuentes, from the CAN General Secretariat, underscored the importance of the proposals being drafted for the formation of a South American free trade area based on the convergence of South American economic complementarity agreements in which the CAN, Mercosur, and Chile participate, and which aspire to interlink Guyana and Suriname in the future. He also stressed the efforts being made to put forward specific plans of action in CSN priority areas like physical integration, the environment, energy integration and the promotion of cohesion and social inclusion.

Ambassador Agustín Espinosa, from ALADI, in turn, explained that this work has started the construction of the South American Community and will continue in coming months so that the results can be submitted to the Foreign Ministers and Presidents at the next South American Summit, to be held in Bolivia.

Alejandro David Perotti, from Mercosur, for his part, stated that the existence of several common elements among the three integration processes has contributed to this shared vision, not only on thematic and methodological aspects, but also on propositive ones, and guarantee the internal coherence of the final document to be presented before the first semester of this year is out.

The participants at the intersector Workshop on South American Convergence held today at the headquarters of the CAN General Secretariat in Lima, studied the documents prepared by each of the integration organizations and agreed to meet again this coming April 3 in Montevideo to complete the final document to be delivered to the heads of the Secretariats of the three integration organizations.