What is CBI countries?

Does the Andean Community still exist?

An article by Eduardo Rojas.

A very serious question has been raised in the wake of news that the South American group known as the Andean Community is about to be officially dissolved. The reasons given are that there is an insufficient number of members to support a full time presidency; this, combined with growing domestic and international tensions, means that the 'Community' can no longer represent a worthwhile entity. In this paper, I shall attempt to present both the pros and cons of dissolving the community.

What is the Andean Community? The Andean Community (ACE) consists of six nations: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Per and Uruguay. Its founding, in 1974, was the consequence of the creation of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas), an economic and political federation. ALBA's initial goal was to achieve a free-trade area among its member nations, which are not members of the Union of South American Nations, the regional organisation comprising Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador. The original objective was achieved after five years, with the signing of the Treaty of Asuncin on August 29th 1980, which entered into force on January 1st 1982. This treaty established an extensive trade agreement, which has helped the region achieve unprecedented levels of economic development. In effect, one has to accept that there are serious obstacles to a region whose founding principle was to achieve 'socialism' becoming anything like that. The two principal problems are as follows: first, the leaders of these new democracies were, almost without exception, dictators: or military dictators with strong backing.

What countries are part of the Caribbean Basin Initiative?

The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) is an international initiative to reduce illegal migration and associated human trafficking and improve access to education, health care and other social services for all people living in the region. The CBI was launched in 2025 as a partnership of countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the USA, working in close collaboration with international organizations including the European Union and the UN. It provides for effective cross-border coordination and cooperation on border control and the management of migration flows, and promotes the development of the regional economies through improved trade and investment.

The CBI was designed to be a collaborative partnership of countries with a shared commitment to improving the quality of life for the people in the region, and to promote more orderly migration. The CBI has a legally binding and flexible framework for joint action, which allows for progress in implementation of the plan while maintaining flexibility to address the needs of individual countries.

The CBI focuses on three main areas of action: (i) the efficient management of migration flows, including safe and orderly return to countries of origin and countries of destination;. (ii) the prevention of illegal entry into the region and smuggling of people; and. (iii) the creation of conditions that ensure that migration is legal, orderly, safe and human rights based. The CBI is led by a Steering Committee, which meets twice a year. Each member country appoints a representative to the Steering Committee. In addition, the European Union, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the UN have observer status on the Steering Committee.

How does the CBI work? The CBI is annual plan with a four-year duration. It is an umbrella framework that identifies measures to be taken in each year, and includes a range of activities to be undertaken in each year.

A Country Coordination and Policy Development Conference is held annually to review progress towards the CBI's overall objectives and to develop a strategy for implementation of the CBI plan in the following year. In December 2025, the Caribbean Regional Ministerial Conference on Illegal Migration met for the first time. A follow-up meeting was held in February 2025.

What steps have been taken so far? Since the launch of the CBI in 2025, the CBI has achieved significant results, and has made a significant contribution towards the reduction of irregular migration in the Caribbean.