Speech of the President of the Republic of Peru, Alejandro Toledo, on occasion of the 35th Anniversary of the signing of the Cartagena Agreement

Lima, May 24, 2004

35 years have elapsed since the time when, driven by a spirit of integration inherited from pre-Columbian times and following the dream of Simon Bolivar, the Andean nations signed the Cartagena Agreement which gave rise to what is known today as one of the most important integration efforts in the region.

In this anniversary, the Andean Community of Nations is experiencing a great moment, with the development of dynamic initiatives aimed at strengthening its activities in view of the challenges posed by a globalized and competitive world. Such activities have been carried out at a relentless pace during the past years and have given rise to a new strategic design, which will be approved at the next Presidential Summit to be held in Cuenca, this coming July 12th.

This challenge will represent the climax of a process influenced by internal and external factors, and I particularly believe that the action taken by each member country of the Andean Community of Nations in order to assume an updated agenda to face the 21st century, is of crucial importance and will force us to work under integration schemes that go beyond purely commercial matters.

In this sense, Peru welcomes the decisions adopted during the last Andean Presidential Council held in Colombia, which agreed to redefine the integration process in order to reflect an agenda based on different central issues, particularly social issues.

Today we are fulfilling the objective of transforming the Andean Community into a proper space to deal simultaneously with economic, political and social issues. As part of this process, we have the recent and successful negotiation of agreements for the establishment of a free trade zone between the Andean Community and MERCOSUR. This will give us access to a market of more than 340 million people and a regional economy of more than 1000 million US dollars.

For Peru, integration within the Andean Community framework is a strategic and privileged option, within the scope of what was called, three years ago, a new foreign management and a new foreign policy. I feel privileged for having worked in my government with Foreign Affairs Ministers who have strongly reaffirmed our integration position inside the Andean Community, inside this multi-culture Latin America that deals not only with trade issues but, more important, with political and social issues.

When we assumed the government, we mentioned that such foreign management was based on three pillars: continuation of democracy, development of a man-oriented economy, and promotion of human rights. We have acted in accordance with these pillars.

In fact, a significant impetus has been given during these years to the foreign policy of Peru, even if some, due to political reasons, are reluctant to admit it. Our country has clearly taken the option to favor an open regionalism and multilateral relations as a means to insert itself within the globalized world.

As part of this strategy, which involves a process that extends from the execution of the Inter-American Democratic Chart to the approval of the Cuzco Consensus by the Group of Río, the process of transforming our relations with the border countries into preferential association agreements is almost completed.

Our active participation in regional matters is very promising. We have succeeded in making a significant part of the international community to assume the Peruvian proposal on innovative mechanisms for financing Latin American governance. We have made significant progress but we know that still there is more to do.

I hope that the election of the new Director General of the International Monetary Fund will help us in this task. We have started a regional trade insertion process that will benefit our country, always with a view on development and progress, specially for the poorest sectors.

From this perspective, the development of our relations with Brazil and the initial steps of the project on the South American regional integration initiative are of particular importance. These are leading concepts in our process to reach a Free Trade Agreement with the United States and the European Union, and they have enabled us to reach a preliminary consensus in the initial stage of the negotiations.

I hope that with this Andean Community, we may succeed, before 2006, in reaching a free trade agreement with the United States and the European Union. We wish to further develop these objectives with the same spirit and national unity deployed by all of us for attaining the ATPDEA, and with the same driving force that moves our participation in APEC.

Peru’s international policy must now be, more than ever, a top priority for the government. We need to look at the future with a sense of direction and continuity, and this is why it should be treated as a top priority that will go beyond any government term. For this reason, both the political actors and civil society must always have a geopolitical approach in our relations with the world and they should understand that governments pass but State policies remain.

I am convinced that this 35th anniversary will set a promising time for the Andean Community, and this will happen under your leadership, my good friend Allan Wagner. But this will depend on our commitment, on all of us who firmly believe in Andean integration. An integration which combines trade and financial issues with political and social issues. It is possible to open markets and at the same time support a man-oriented integration; we need to look inside our region and, at the same time, open financial and trade opportunities outside the region.

It is with a deep integration conviction that I pray God to bless the Andean Community, to bless Latin America.

Thank you very much.