
DIPLOMACY, STRATEGY & POLITICS - OCTOBER/DECEMBER 2004
Patricio Zuquilanda-Duque
103
On the other hand, Article 22 establishes that, among others, it the
responsibility of the Andean Community Commission, comprised of a
plenipotentiary representative from each Member Country’s government,
currently by the Ministers of Foreign Trade, to formulate and evaluate Andean
sub-regional integration policy in the area of trade and investment and, when
appropriate, in coordination with the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers.
In another scope, by the 1980 Treaty of Montevideo, the Contracting
Parties agreed to pursue the process of integration leading to promote
harmonious and balanced socio-economic integration of the region, and to
that effect, instituted the Latin-American Integration Association (Aladi), with
its headquarters in the city of Montevideo. The signatories of the Treaty of
Montevideo are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador,
Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
When they underwrote the Treaty, the countries considered that regional
economic integration one of the main means for Latin American countries to
be able to guarantee a better level of life for their peoples. This process will
have as a long-term objective, the establishment, in a gradual and progressive
manner, of a Latin-American common market.
The goal of the Foreign Policy of Ecuador, regarding integration, cannot
be any other but those listed, firstly in a general manner by the Political
Constitution of the State in its articles 4 and 5, as they state that Ecuador in its
relations with the international community struggles for integration, especially
Andean and Latin-American; and that Ecuador may form associations with one
or more states to promote the defence of its national and community interests.
Secondly, and because of the remission that the Constitution makes to
the international treaties signed by Ecuador in relation to integration, is the
Cartagena Agreement, that says, in its Article 1, that one of its objectives is to
promote the balanced and harmonious development of the Member Countries
under equitable conditions, through integration and economic and social
cooperation; to accelerate their growth and the rate of creation of employment;
and to facilitate their participation in the regional integration process, looking
ahead toward the gradual formation of a Latin American Common Market.
The Agreement also seeks to reduce external vulnerability and to improve
the positioning of the Member Countries within the international economic
context; to strengthen sub-regional solidarity, and to reduce existing differences