Peru assumed the Andean Community’s rotating presidency on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, giving its government responsibility for setting the bloc’s working agenda for 2026–2027. Ecuador handed over the role at a ministers’ meeting in Quito. The presidency changes hands among member states each year, but people outside the ministerial and trade bodies aren’t identified as having a role in setting priorities.
Who Sets the Agenda
The Andean Community, also known as CAN, comprises Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador. Foreign ministers and the trade commission held a joint session for the handover. Delegations from Bolivia and Colombia attended, along with Secretary General Gonzalo Gutiérrez. Ecuador held the presidency from September 2025 to September 2026.
Foreign minister Carlos Espá set out Peru’s priorities: security against transnational threats; disaster risk and environmental work; and Andean citizenship with border integration. State news agency Andina reported that digital transformation, innovation and culture were additional priorities. Peru also wanted to convene the Andean Presidential Council, the bloc’s summit of heads of state. No date for a presidential summit had been published.
Ecuador’s foreign minister Roberto Kury reported 13 operational measures and 96 concrete actions against organized crime during Ecuador’s year in the presidency. They targeted arms trafficking, illegal mining, people smuggling and money laundering. The report counted government measures and actions, but the article offers no account from residents or communities affected by those issues.
Rules Across Borders
The bloc’s trade commission approved rules for tourists bringing private vehicles across borders, extending coverage to cars towing small boats or motorbikes. It also adopted a community statistics program for 2026–2030. Ministers instructed officials to work toward a single Andean sky and a regional coastal shipping regime. The bloc’s official bodies made these decisions and assignments; the article reports no community-led process around them.
Gutiérrez said the single-sky proposal aimed to enable direct flights, including Guayaquil to Cusco without a change of planes in Lima. He said the plan would require common rules on passenger data and security standards. It’s a long-term project, not an immediate change for travelers. Officials gave no target dates for the proposed single sky or shipping regime.
Trade by the Numbers
The CAN General Secretariat said members exported US$187.46 billion to the world in 2025, an increase of 11.5%. Peru accounted for US$90.47 billion, or 48.3% of the total. Exports among member countries reached US$9.84 billion, up 8.0% from 2024 and about 5% of the bloc’s total sales. Those figures describe trade totals; the article doesn’t say how people in member countries shared in the gains.
Ecuador and Colombia raised tariffs on each other during the year. The dispute ended after 124 days in June 2026. Trade and tourism minister Rogers Valencia called the moment “the moment to take decisions” for the region, as ministers and officials set priorities and work programs.
Andina reported that Peru had prepared for President Keiko Fujimori and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa to formalize the handover. No date for that step had been published, and Peru’s full 2026–2027 work plan hadn’t been released. The article identifies no grassroots response, mutual-aid effort or public consultation around the transfer of agenda-setting duties.