ANDEAN COMMUNITY

Declaration about Democracy and Integration Andean Presidential Council Santafe de Bogota, August 7, 1998 (Excerpt)

The Presidents of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, and the First Vice President of Peru, having met in Santafe de Bogota, on the occasion of the inauguration of President Andres Pastrana Arango, celebrated the victory of Colombia's democracy, an unequivocal expression of the Colombian people's vocation to peace, that sets a new milestone in the political development of that Nation. They also expressed their profound satisfaction at the successful democratic process protagonized by the Ecuadorian people, which culminated in the election of Jamil Mahuad Witt to the Presidency of the Republic.

The validity of democracy in Latin American is strengthened with these experiences of the countries of the Andean Community, which have assumed democracy as an indispensable condition for the stability, peace and development of the subregion.

The Presidents considered this opportunity appropriate to give testimony to their commitment to democracy, in the conviction that its consolidation will contribute to secure an effective and growing citizen participation in all the aspects of political, economic and social life.

By initiative of President Andres Pastrana and under his Chairmanship, they met as the Andean Presidential Council in order to sign the following:

Andean Community Commitment to Democracy

•  The Andean Community is a community of democratic nations. The full validity of democracy has been an essential condition for political dialogue and cooperation, foundations of the economic, social and cultural integration process within the framework of the Agreement of Cartagena and the other instruments that make up the Andean Integration System.

•  The Andean Community has among its main objectives the development and consolidation of democracy and the Rule of Law, as well as the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

•  Based on the foregoing, they agree to:

•  Instruct the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to prepare, before the end of the year, a draft of an Additional Protocol to the Agreement of Cartagena, that establishes measures to be adopted by the countries upon an eventual rupture of the democratic order in a Member Country.