Address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Bolivia, David Choquehuanca Céspedes, at the assumption of office of the Secretary General of the Andean Community, Freddy Ehlers

Lima, February 22, 2007

Gathered here at the assumption of office of the new Secretary General of the CAN, I would like to welcome Mr. Freddy Ehlers, an Ecuadorean national, to occupy this important position.   

At this moment in the CAN’s history, we see a world in which there are tendencies that are both threatening and hopeful for the future of the Andean Region and the planet. 

On the one hand, multinational corporations and colonialist tendencies continue to spread over the planet, putting an end to ancient peoples and cultures precisely because they are not “economically productive,” condemning over five thousand million people to live in poverty.    

The Pachamama is being destroyed, the planet is overheating, hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes are becoming increasingly frequent and the overexploitation of the earth’s natural resources is threatening both the biodiversity and the wellbeing of mankind.   

An energy crisis is looming, which on the one hand threatens world peace, but on the other can mean the salvation of the planet and an opportunity to make this new millennium one of life, and not of war.   

At the same time, we see a hopeful world, a world of fundamental changes, where the original indigenous peoples are re-emerging on this continent and across the entire planet, where the Culture of Life that our peoples embody is bursting forth.   

In this context, we see the beginning of the joint construction of a sisterhood among the nations of the Americas, a great nation where, together, we can build our dreams and hopes, a living future through an exchange among our communities and sister societies organized as the South American Community of Nations.  

In this panorama, the CAN is faced by the challenge of finding a way to resolve our nations’ problems, of finding a way to move ahead toward a Common External Tariff, thereby building up commerce and trade, while respecting and recognizing the different visions that exist within the CAN. 

Considering that some countries have signed FTAs, there is a need for integral decisions that will protect the non-FTA countries from the impact of the FTAs and for strengthening transversal policies and regulations that benefit associations of small producers and contribute effectively toward reducing asymmetries. 

Another need is to promote a more integral CAN, one that is less trade-centered and that is able to reinforce social policies already adopted with regard to education, health, migration, and labor rights, etc. 

There is a vision of promoting the strengthening of States, the recovery of natural resources and of privatized companies, greater social participation and a more harmonious relationship with nature. 

We are also faced by the challenge of reformulating the CAN’s institutions by fostering a more comprehensive Andean Commission and General Secretariat subordinated to the will of the Member States, giving the Andean Parliament greater power of oversight and consultation, and obtaining more social participation in the CAN’s integration process. 

Beyond that, we have the challenge of working to give shape to a broader regional bloc in South America, of embarking upon a transition stage to surmount the South American Union in order to gain greater weight on the world stage, which will allow for the effective exercise of sovereignty and contribute to the establishment of a multipolar world. 

Faced by threats to the survival of the planet and world peace, we would benefit from developing a proposal, together with our communities, aimed at prioritizing the basic problems of the peoples and working to protect the common good and life, rather than private gain.  

This means adopting a long-term policy to save the planet and mankind from the overexploitation of the earth’s resources and the reduction of oil production, in which we offer the Culture of Life as the only solution capable of sustaining and preserving our planet earth. 

In this context, you have the great challenge of attaining the true integration of our countries and our peoples.