Andean Nations Seek Free Trade in Services

Presidents of South America’s Andean nations wound up a two-day meeting in Guayaquil, Ecuador, agreeing to work toward free trade in services within their five-nation bloc by 2005. The Andean Community leaders signed an accord aimed at beginning negotiations on such trade in the first half of this year. The member nations of the Andean Community--Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela--have a population of 102 million, making it South America’s second-largest bloc after Mercosur, which is dominated by the region’s two giants, Brazil and Argentina. Host President Fabian Alarcon of Ecuador said the bloc needed economic strength to tackle the poverty of its people. The presidents also signed a joint declaration calling for multilateral cooperation to fight drug trafficking.