CARTAGENA AGREEMENT: BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES AND PARTICIPANTS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The Cartagena Agreement is an international agreement signed between five Latin American countries on May 26, 1969. The initial signatories were Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, who, as of that date, formed the so-called Andean Group.

Over time, there have been some changes in the composition of this group. For example, Chile withdrew from the treaty in 1976, while Venezuela acceded in 1973. There are also other countries that participate in the Agreement as associates or as observers.

Source: Camilo Sanchez, via Wikimedia Commons

The Agreement was born after some of the nations participating in the Latin American Free Trade Association showed little satisfaction with their actions, feeling somewhat relegated. This caused them to start organizing their own organization.

The main purpose of Grupo Andino is economic. It is intended to improve the development of the member countries, collaborating with each other and forming the seed of a future Latin American common market.

Start and background

The beginnings of the Cartagena Agreement date back to 1966, when a group of countries signed the Bogota Declaration.

From that moment on, several multilateral meetings were held to form the future Andean Group. The date chosen for the signing of the Agreement was May 26, 1969, entering into force on October 16 of that same year.

The first countries to join the pact were Peru, Colombia and Chile. Later Ecuador and Bolivia did. Venezuela joined the Group in 1973, while Chile withdrew three years later.

Latin American Free Trade Association (ALALC)

A few years before the Cartagena Agreement was signed, several Latin American countries had signed the Montevideo Treaty. This, which occurred on February 18, 1960, meant the creation of the Latin American Free Trade Association (ALALC), now renamed the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI).

The purpose of this treaty was to establish a Free Trade Zone. However, his performance to achieve this was quite deficient, since he failed to advance to achieve his goal.

Two groups of countries

In order to give them a different treatment, the Montevideo Treaty divided the signatory countries into two groups: the developed countries and those with a lower economic development index. For the latter, the ALALC approved a resolution in 1963 recognizing that it was necessary to undertake actions in their favor.

However, in the absence of visible results, movements began to take place within the ALALC. First, the President of Chile, at the time Eduardo Frei, wrote a letter in which he analyzed the paralysis of the Association.

Later, the Colombian President, Lleras Restrepo, visited the Chilean capital and agreed to organize a working group to formulate a proposal that would benefit the countries that had been classified as less developed.

Declaration of Bogotá

The Chilean-Colombian initiative was successful. The stagnation of the ALALC caused the Andean countries to design a new form of association, joining a new agreement that was more effective.

Thus was born the Declaration of Bogotá, signed on August 16, 1966. In this declaration the objective was set to “advance a joint action in order to achieve, within the Latin American Free Trade Association, the approval of concrete measures that serve the purposes formulated in this declaration ”.

The resulting document also indicated that special attention should be paid "so that practical formulas are adopted that provide adequate treatment to the condition of our countries whose characteristics correspond to those of less relative economic development or insufficient market."

Preparation of the agreement

After the signing of the Declaration of Bogotá, the signatories created a Mixed Commission to develop the agreement. The first meetings took place in Viña del Mar (Chile), between June 20 and 24, 1967.

From that meeting, the negotiators held another six meetings. The work led to the Subregional Integration Agreement, reached in May 1969.

Signature of the agreement

At first, the participating countries did not show full agreement. While Bolivia, Colombia and Chile were ready to sign immediately, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela showed some reservations.

It was during the sixth meeting, held in Cartagena in May 1969, when all the countries, with the exception of Venezuela, decided to support the text. It was given the name of the Cartagena Agreement and was the birth of the so-called Andean Pact.

goals

The main objectives of the Cartagena Agreement are economic. However, they also include some in the social field, as well as the claim to deepen integration between the different countries.

In this way, it aims to boost the economy of the signatory nations by integrating and expanding cooperation between them. It also emphasizes policies that help reduce the number of unemployed. Its ultimate goal is to create a Latin American common market.

On the other hand, it tries to reduce external vulnerability, strengthening the position of the member countries in the world economic context.

Other important objectives are the reduction of development differences between them and the increase of regional solidarity.

Main objectives

In summary, the fundamental objectives of the Cartagena Agreement are the following:

- Promote the development of member countries, trying to reduce the differences between them.

- Facilitate their growth through economic integration, both individual and collective.

- Improve participation in ALALC, improving the conditions for it to become a true common market.

- Achieve an improvement in the standard of living in the signatory countries.

- Get to form an Economic Union.

Mechanisms

In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, the Agreement mentions some mechanisms that help to achieve it. Among them, the following can be mentioned:

- A Trade Liberation Program

- Establish common tariffs for countries not belonging to the Pact.

- Develop a joint program to promote industrialization.

- Harmonize social and economic policies, making the necessary legislative changes to do so.

- Creation of programs to improve fishing and agricultural policies.

- Give preferential treatment to Bolivia and Ecuador.

Participating members

The signatory countries of the Agreement on May 26, 1969 were Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. It officially entered into force on October 16 of that same year.

Changes between participants

Venezuela, which had participated in the meetings, did not sign the Agreement until 1973. Three years later, Chile, under the Pinochet dictatorship, decided to withdraw from it, returning to the Pact in 2006, although as an associated country.

Currently, the members are Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. As partners are Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Finally, there are two with the status of observer countries: Panama and Mexico.

References

1. EcuRed. Cartagena Agreement. Obtained from ecured.cu
2. Solares Gaite, Alberto. Integration, Theory and Processes. Bolivia and Integration. Recovered from eumed.net
3. Eco-Finance. Cartagena Agreement. Obtained from eco-finanzas.com
4. Department of Sustainable Development. Cartagena Agreement. Recovered from oas.org
5. Gard. Cartagena Agreement - Report on Application. Retrieved from gard.no
6. US Commercial Service. The Andean Community (CAN). Recovered from globaledge.msu.edu