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|- |+ style="font-size: larger; margin-left: inherit;" | Comunidad Andina de Naciones |- | colspan="2" align="center" style="background: #fff;" | |- | colspan="2" align="center" style="background: #fff;" | |- | style="vertical-align:middle;" | Membership | 4 member states 4 associate members 3 observer countries |- | Seat of Secretariat | Lima |- | Secretary General | Allan Wagner Tizón |- | Official website | http://www.comunidadandina.org/ |} The Andean Community of Nations (in comprising the South America n countries of Bolivia , Colombia , Ecuador , Peru and Venezuela (which is in the process of leaving the bloc). The trade bloc was called the Andean Pact until 1996 and came into existence with the signing of the ''Cartagena Agreement'' in 1969 . Its headquarters are located in Lima , Peru . The Andean Community has 120 million inhabitants living in an area of 4,700,000 square kilometers, whose Gross Domestic Product amounted to US$260 billion in 2002 . Membership The original Andean Pact was founded in 1969 by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In 1973 the pact gained its sixth member, Venezuela. However, in 1976 its membership was again reduced to five when Chile withdrew. Finally in 2006, Venezuela also announced its withdrawal, reducing the Andean Community to 4 member states. Recently, with the new cooperation agreement with Mercosur, the Andean Community gained four new associate members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. These four Mercosur members were granted associate membership by the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in an enlarged session with the Commission (of the Andean Community) on July 7, 2005. This moves reciprocates the actions of Mercosur which granted associate membership to all the Andean Community nations by virtue of the Economic Complementarity Agreements (Free Trade agreements) signed between the CAN and individual Mercosur members. {Link without Title} There also exist three observer countries, namely Mexico , Panama and Chile . Relationship with other organizations The Andean Community together with Mercosur comprises the two main trading blocs of South America. In 1999 these organizations began negotiating a merger with a view to creating a South American Free Trade Area (SAFTA). On December 8 , 2004 it signed a cooperation agreement with Mercosur and they published a joint letter of intention for future negotiations towards integrating all of South America in the context of the South American Community Of Nations , patterned after the European Union . During 2005 , Venezuela decided to join Mercosur. Venezuela's official position first appeared to be that, by joining Mercosur, further steps could be taken towards integrating both trade blocs. CAN Secretary General Allan Wagner stated that the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Alí Rodríguez had declared that Venezuela did not intend to leave the CAN, and its simultaneous membership to both blocs marked the beginning of their integration. {Link without Title} However some analysts interpreted that Venezuela might eventually leave the CAN in the process. [http://nytimes.com/2005/12/08/business/worldbusiness/08trade.html?adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1134071479-aiqW6itbwnyvUb26q++KPQ] This prediction seems to have been finally verified in April 2006 , with Venezuelan President Chavez's announcement of his country's withdrawal from the Andean Community after stating that, as Colombia and Peru have signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States, the Community is "dead". [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=akFZvMSnew8s] Officials in Colombia and Peru have expressed their disagreement with this view, as did representatives from Venezuela's industrial sector (Conindustria). [http://www.eluniversal.com/2006/04/20/eco_ava_20A695825.shtml] Despite this announcement, Venezuela has yet to formally complete all the necessary withdrawal procedures. According to Venezuela's Commerce Minister María Cristina Iglesias, the entire process will take up to five years. Until then, Venezuela and its partners remain bound by the effects of the community's preexisting commercial agreements. {Link without Title} History
delivering a speech at the opening of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Andean Presidential Council, June 27 , 2003 .]]
Organization
Secretaries-General
Free flow of people From January 1 , 2005 , the citizens of the five member countries can enter the other Andean Community member states without the requirement of visa. The passengers should present the authorities their national ID cards. Visitors to Venezuela will have to present their passports; they will then receive the Andean Migration Card (''Tarjeta Andina de Migración''), in which the time of temporary residence in the country is stated. Andean Passport The Andean Passport was created in June 2001 pursuant to ''Decisión 504''. This stipulates the issuing of a Passport based on a standard model which contains harmonised features of nomenclature and security. The passport is effective in Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela; Bolivia and Colombia will start issuing Andean passports in early 2006. See also
External links
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