Peru took over the Andean Community’s rotating presidency from Ecuador on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at a ministers’ meeting in Quito. Foreign minister Carlos Espá said Lima will place regional security, disaster risk and border integration at the top of its 2026–2027 agenda.
The Andean Community, known as CAN, comprises Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador. Its pro tempore presidency rotates among members each year and sets the bloc’s working agenda. Ecuador held the post from September 2025 to September 2026, a span of one year. Delegations from Bolivia and Colombia attended the joint session of foreign ministers and the trade commission, together with Secretary General Gonzalo Gutiérrez.
Security First
Ecuador’s foreign minister Roberto Kury used the handover to review his country’s year. He reported 13 operational measures and 96 concrete actions against organized crime. Those efforts targeted arms trafficking, illegal mining, people smuggling and money laundering.
Espá named three priorities for Peru: 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 also made the list. Peru wants to convene the Andean Presidential Council, the bloc’s summit of heads of state. Trade and tourism minister Rogers Valencia called this “the moment to take decisions” for the region.
But no decisions have been scheduled. Andina reported that Peru had prepared for President Keiko Fujimori and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa to formalize the handover. No date for that step or for a presidential summit had been published.
Trade Rules and the Numbers
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 then directed officials to work toward a single Andean sky and a regional coastal shipping regime. Gutiérrez said the single-sky proposal aims to allow direct flights, including Guayaquil to Cusco without a change of planes in Lima. He said common rules on passenger data and security standards would be required. That makes it a long-term project, he indicated, not an immediate change for travelers.
The export figures show where the bloc’s strength lies. The CAN General Secretariat said members exported US$187.46 billion to the world in 2025, up 11.5%. Peru accounted for US$90.47 billion, or 48.3% of the total. Exports among the four members reached US$9.84 billion, up 8.0% from 2024. That’s about 5% of the bloc’s total sales.
The bloc also saw members turn to trade barriers. Ecuador and Colombia raised tariffs on each other during the year. The dispute ended after 124 days in June 2026, about four months before today.
What Hasn’t Been Settled
Peru hasn’t released its full 2026–2027 work plan. Nobody has given target dates for the proposed single sky or the shipping regime.
Why This Matters:
The numbers frame the stakes. Roughly 95% of the bloc’s exports go outside the bloc, and a 124-day tariff fight between two members showed how quickly trade barriers can rise inside a customs framework. Businesses moving goods and people across these borders will judge the new presidency by results: fewer barriers, clear common rules and predictable timelines. So far, the agenda lists ambitions, not deadlines. Ecuador’s organized-crime figures give the security priorities real weight. Yet a single sky and a shipping regime depend on member governments agreeing on standards, and no schedule exists yet. From a market perspective, follow-through matters more than announcements. The export total for 2025 was US$187.46 billion.