The ‘Comunidad Andina de Naciones’: 30 years in pursuit of development

Abstract

The Andes Community of Nations (CAN), formerly Andes Pact (Pacto Andino), is one of the earliest and less known processes of integration on the Latin American continent. The anniversary on 26 May 1999 meant thirty years had gone by since the Andes countries combined their future in search of a common horizon for development, one of the most important steps taken since independence. The Andean integration was born of a closed concept following the protectionist spirit of substituting imports, and today it moves within a new and more liberal concept of open regionalism. The Comunidad Andina, made up of Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, is a sub–regional organisation within South America, a continent which continues to be characterised by high levels of social injustice, of unequal opportunities and lack of equality in incomes. This study attempts to analyse the process of integration since its birth up to the present day, with sketches of the member countries.