On May 26, 1969, five South American countries (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) signed the Cartagena Agreement in order to jointly improve their peoples’ standard of living through integration and economic and social cooperation. 

This launched the Andean integration process, known at that time as the Andean Pact, Andean Group or Cartagena Agreement.  On February 13, 1973, Venezuela joined the Agreement and on October 30, 1976, Chile withdrew from it. 

The history of the Andean Group, which we know today by the name of Andean Community, has been characterized, like all integration process, by a series of forward and backward steps. 

Almost all of the Andean bodies and institutions were created during the first ten years of the integration process (in the seventies), except for the Andean Council of Presidents, which was set up in 1990.   

The policy or model that predominated in the seventies was the “import substitution” or “closed model” that protected national industry by imposing high duties on products brought into the country.  The State and planning played an important role during this stage. 

This model entered a stage of crisis, making the eighties a lost decade for both the Andean countries and Andean integration.  None of the countries in the region, from Mexico to Argentina, emerged unscathed from the debt crisis, which was reflected in the stagnation of the integration process. 

It was decided at a meeting held in Galapagos (Ecuador) in the late eighties --in 1989 to be precise-- to replace the model of closed development with one of open development.  Trade and the market became the driving forces and this was reflected in the adoption of a Strategic Design and a Working Plan in which trade occupied the leading position.   

The Andean countries eliminated tariffs on their trade with each other and in 1993 formed a free trade area where goods circulated freely.  This gave a strong boost to trade within the Community, which increased heavily, creating thousands of new jobs, as well.  Trade in services was also liberalized, particularly the different modes of transportation.   

In 1997, the Presidents decided, through the Trujillo Protocol, to introduce reforms to the Cartagena Agreement in order to bring it into line with the changes that have taken place on the international scene.  These reforms put the leadership of the process into the hands of the Presidents and made the Andean Councils of Presidents and of Foreign Ministers a part of the institutional structure. The Andean Community was created to replace the Andean Pact.   

The shortcomings of the open integration model became glaringly evident as the decade advanced.  Although that model had boosted the growth of trade, it had neglected the problems of poverty, exclusion and inequality.   It was for that reason that, in 2003, the integration process was given a social content as well.  An Integral Plan for Social Development was established by Presidential mandate (Quirama, 2003) and little by little the development issues that had been present early in the process and later abandoned, were recovered.   

This change is clearly reflected in the General Secretariat’s Working Plan for 2007, which provides for action in the areas of the Social Agenda, Environmental Agenda, Political Cooperation, Foreign relations and Development of Production and Trade. 

The events of recent months have undoubtedly had an impact on the course of integration.  In April 2006, Venezuela decided to withdraw from the CAN and on September 20th of that same year, the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers granted Chile the status of Associate Member of the Andean Community, opening the way for its reinsertion in the process.

The accomplishments of Andean integration over its 38-year life are not limited to the area of trade alone, for:

·         Today passports and visas are no longer required to visit any of the CAN countries; all we need to do is show our national identification documents.   

·         Community legislation guarantees that Andean citizens can move through and stay in the subregion for working purposes without losing their right to social security.   

·         The election of Andean Parliamentarians by direct, popular vote is becoming a reality.   

·         We have an Integral Plan for Social Development in order to work on employment, health, education and other issues.

·         We have an Environmental Agenda.