Group negotiation with EU not dead
Latin America Press, Peru
Group negotiation with EU not dead
31 October 2008
Presidents of Andean Community, or CAN, member countries met in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Oct. 14 as part of an urgent effort to rescue derailed group talks for a trade agreement with the European Union. Talks stalled in June for the trade pact after the European Union agreed to negotiate the accord separately with Colombia and Peru, as both countries are governed by pro-free trade presidents, unlike the presidents of fellow CAN countries Ecuador and Bolivia.
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe did not attend the meeting.
“We’re not going to fool ourselves,” Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said during the meeting, which he called as the CAN’s president pro tempore.
Correa was referring to broken diplomatic ties between Colombia and Ecuador stemming from Colombia’s March 1 cross-border raid on a FARC camp, as well as divides over free trade. Both Colombia and Peru have signed a free trade agreement with the United States, and the presidents of Ecuador and Bolivia say they are against it.
“We have a great asymmetry and we have to see if we can reach a consensus,” Correa added.
The CAN’s secretary-general, Freddy Ehlers, says that to negotiate in a bloc, more flexibility would be needed, allowing Bolivia and Ecuador to opt out of some parts of the agreement if they have strong reservations about them.
Correa added that “the well-being of our peoples” is more important than negotiating as a bloc. “Integration could be the best instrument to face a globalized world in order to guarantee this well-being for our citizens,” he said.
Correa presented a document called “An Andean Community for Its Citizens,” which outlines a proposal to include social and community organizations in the regional integration process to strengthen democratic values.
“The consolidation of an identity constitutes the foundation for shaping new political rights and true Andean citizenship,” Correa explained.
He added that a big challenge for the CAN is allowing its citizens a space to exercise their rights beyond what is recognized by their governments.
“The starting point should be the recognition and protection of Human Rights in Community action, and that it not discriminate against any Member Country citizens by reason of their nationality,” the CAN said of Correa’s proposal in a press release. -Latinamerica Press.
