The Secretary General of the Andean Community (CAN), Gonzalo Gutiérrez, stated on Tuesday that the organization’s member states (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) must make commitments to jointly combat organized crime and criminality.

“We must commit to measures that we adopt together, the word is coordination, the big element is coordination,” Gutiérrez said on Canal N television.

The Secretary General stressed that the situation of violence that Ecuador has been facing in recent days “It has been very shocking for everyone.” because it showed “how this transnational organized crime is challenging democratic institutions.”

“This endangers the constitutional institutions and the democratic system in the countries of the Andean Community,” he warned.

He claimed that CAN foreign ministers met virtually last Friday for this reason and confirmed that they will hold an in-person meeting in Lima next Sunday.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and also “Each country will be responsible for appointing the attending High Representative for Security Issues“, he noticed.

Gutiérrez reported that a task force has been formed within the CAN to analyze the regional situation and on that basis “will propose measures to make concrete decisions.”

“One of the things that I find most important is the transfer of information, the sharing of information from the databases that all countries have,” he said.

In this sense, he explained that the Andean Community is working on proposals on drug trafficking, trafficking in weapons and war equipment, irregular migration between Member States, illegal mining and smuggling.

“We are going to make a number of proposals that need to be discussed… to see what is possible in the short, medium and long term“, held.

In this context, the Secretary General stressed that on Sunday “the ministers should adopt tasks, if possible, with dates” and emphasized the importance that the countries “attach to the integration of the Andes”.

“It gives me great satisfaction that countries recognize that the Andean sphere of coordination is useful even to address these issues that have not been on the agenda,” he concluded.

The CAN countries agreed to meet in Lima on January 21 to “take concrete and effective measures”, to fight against transnational organized crime, following the wave of violence that broke out in Ecuador. (JO)