President Nicolás Maduro announced on Thursday that he intends for Venezuela to rejoin the Andean Community of Nations, an initiative promoted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“We are determined to join the Andean Community of Nations with all our productive capacity, with our commercial capacity and a growing economy. It is time, it is time,” Maduro declared during a televised government act.
Petro—what on Tuesday he met with Maduro in Caracasin the first meeting between leaders of both nations in six years, asked his Venezuelan counterpart to rejoin the bloc formed by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, where Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay participate as associated countries.
Chile, one of the founders of the CAN in 1969, withdrew during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), and in 2007 it returned as an associated country. Venezuela joined in 1973 and left in 2006 because then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez disagreed with Peru’s and Colombia’s trade agreements with the United States.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and turn on notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
