Asuncion, June 20, 2005

I would like to start off by hailing the progress made by MERCOSUR under the Presidency Pro Tempore of Paraguay, particularly in the areas of political consultation and coordination and social development.

The work accomplished in these two areas of integration, and in trade and production integration as of the signing of the CAN-MERCOSUR agreements, can reinforce the dialogue and joint reflection between the Andean Community and MERCOSUR through the progressive confluence of their efforts to combat poverty and attain a competitive and socially inclusive position in international trade.

I have been pleased to note the interest shown at this Summit by the States Parties to MERCOSUR in the prompt culmination of the process of their association with the Andean Community. This is without a doubt a development of great importance and symbolic value for the convergence of the two subregional blocs.

I would like to share with you some of the advances we have made in the Andean integration process at a stage in which the individual challenges of our countries’ internal and external agendas come together.

We have built up an important Community heritage in regard to political cooperation since the signing of the Trujillo Protocol (1996) that institutionalized the Andean Presidential Council and the Council of Foreign Ministers. This is expressed in, among other things, the signing of the Andean Commitment to Democracy Protocol; the launching of our common Foreign and Foreign Security policies; the building of a joint position on the worldwide antidrug effort and alternative development; the implementation of the Andean Charter for the promotion and protection of human rights; and the execution of the Andean Biodiversity Strategy and the Community Regime to regulate access to and distribution of the benefits of our genetic resources.

In the framework of the Andean social agenda, the adoption of the Integrated Social Development Plan (PIDS) in September 2004 in order to reinforce, through joint Community efforts, national programs to fight poverty, exclusion and inequality, has taken on special importance. Also worth emphasizing is the creation of participatory mechanisms like the Council of Municipal Authorities, the consolidation of the Andean Parliament through the election of the majority of its members by universal and direct vote, and the strengthening of the Business and Labor Advisory Councils with a view to establishing an Andean Economic and Social Council.

The Andean Community has taken measures of different kinds with regard to the process of transition to and strengthening of democratic institutions undertaken in several Member Countries, in order to help maintain their constitutionality and reinforce democratic governance.

We cherish the hope that the responsible and respectful approach we have taken in our efforts with the Governments of Ecuador and Bolivia as a result of recent events will open up a hitherto unprecedented space for the Andean Community to boost the urgently needed building of internal consensuses that will safeguard and strengthen democracy.

Going on to another sphere of our integration process, I would like to draw attention to the will expressed by the Member Countries in March of this year to move ahead with a concrete and realistic program to deepen our trade integration in five areas: the free circulation of goods and services; the customs union; the reinforcement of the Dispute Settlement System; the joint plan for investment in and development of production, particularly energy, the agroindustrial chains and SMEs; and support programs for Bolivia and Ecuador in order to reinforce their participation in the Andean and South American integration processes.

Not only did we decide to deepen our integration, but we have been conducting a joint evaluation with the European Union since early this year, which should lead, at the next Latin American – European Summit in May 2006, to the launching of negotiations for the signing of an Association Agreement that would include a free trade agreement.

The tasks involved in deepening integration in the political, economic and social spheres constitute the Andean Community’s most important contribution toward building the South American Community of Nations, as of the Quito Summit and the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Brasila, together with the efforts of the Secretariats of the regional and subregional integration organizations gathered recently in Lima.

All of this is in keeping with the Decisions approved by the Andean Presidents at the Quito (July 2004) and Cusco (December 2004) Summits to further the construction of the South American Community of Nations, with a view to achieving Bolivar’s ideal of a unified Latin America and Caribbean.