Speech by the President of Ecuador, Gustavo Noboa, at the Opening Ceremony of the Presidential Summit of the Andean Community of Nations
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, January 30, 2002

Fellow Presidents, Messrs. Ministers, authorities, ladies and gentlemen.

Just a simple message from Ecuador to all of us who make up the Andean Community. A message of solidarity and a message of respect. Solidarity because there is much that we can do together in a globalized world, in which each different group in our various continents takes, and will of course take, measures that benefit its own members. We must therefore be solidary with our own people, with the poorest of the poor who are, in short, those to whom we are responsible. And second, of deep respect for the diversity in our unity; that diversity which means that each country has its own problems and must resolve them internally in the way best for its people. That respect means, then, means that no matter how much solidarity there is in our unity, we are marked by diversity because the viewpoint of each country is the proper viewpoint for the interests of its people, respectively.

I believe that these two premises are extremely important for keeping our Andean Community of Nations strong and so that together we can give our countries and the poorest of the poor the solutions to their emerging problems.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen