translated from Spanish: The Andean Community meets in Peru to promote communication

Lima.-The President of Peru welcomed the representatives of Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia this Sunday. The meeting aims to celebrate half a century of the Andean Community, to reach agreements that promote integration, including telephone communication. Following the signing of a joint statement in the presidential Palace of Peru, the host President Martín Vizcarra said that the integration of the bloc points to an energetic type that allows greater competitiveness in goods and services, as well as a focus on the Telephone communications to have “a roaming between the four countries at a more economical price”. It was the first time in eight years when the four presidents of the block gathered, noted Vizcarra.

The Andean Community is made up of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. Ap

The four countries that have broad territories of Amazonian tropical forests have common challenges, he added, such as addressing climate change due to the vulnerability of their land, as well as the threat of illegal gold mining that preys on Soils and pollutes them with mercury, a heavy metal used to extract gold. On this last point he suggested to track mercury purchases. During the day Peru gave Bolivia the Presidency pro tempore of the bloc. Bolivian President Evo Morales invited his colleagues to a next meeting in the Altiplánico country for September. For the time being, the benefits of the 110 million inhabitants of the block countries include circular without visa, while trade between the four countries is 100% duty-free.

Morales said that he assumes the presidency pro tempore with the challenge of reducing the time and formalities of foreign trade with the members of the block, as well as creating an “Andean brand” to strengthen the recognition in the world of products Generated in the member countries of the community. The meeting was also attended by the presidents of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, and Colombia’s Ivan Duque, who on Monday will make a state visit to Peru. Chile was also a member of the bloc, but withdrew during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, while Venezuela Came out in 2006 for disagreeing with the trade agreements of Peru and Colombia with the United States



Original source in Spanish