* Chávez says Venezuela is to withdraw from the Andean Community. Despite some member countries calls to relaunch the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), President Hugo Chávez Wednesday decreed the death of this group.

* His comments came during a work meeting with the presidents of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia held in Asunción, Paraguay.

* "For some years now, I have been warning that the Andean Community is dead. Right now, I am the president of the CAN, what am I presiding? A big lie, especially now, when both Colombia and Peru have initialed Free Trade Agreements with the United States. They have killed CAN for good!"

* Chávez added his country was leaving the CAN because it was "nonsense." Chávez hinted that Mercosur should undergo deep transformations, "otherwise, Mercosur will die like the CAN died."

* Meanwhile, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe proposed the presidents of the countries comprising the CAN to hold a meeting intended to overcome this impasse.

Colombia waits for an official declaration
* The Colombian Government is waiting for an official declaration from Venezuela regarding President Hugo Chávez announcement that his country is withdrawing from the Andean Community of Nations (CAN.)

* Chávez argued that Venezuela is retiring from the trade bloc because Bogotá and Lima have signed Free Trade Agreement with Washington.

* Colombian Foreign Trade Minister, Jorge Humberto Botero, said that this issue must be dealt with "a lot of caution," because Caracas has not issued any official announcement on leaving CAN.

Impact on workers
* Workers' Confederation of Venezuela (CTV) Secretary-General Manuel Cova said Venezuela withdrawal from the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) would impact negatively on two million Venezuelans.

* "The President of the Republic cannot act on key issues for Venezuelans according to his political interests," said Cova, who thinks Venezuela withdrawal from CAN should have been consulted with workers and businessmen.

* The president of the CTV said that Venezuela's decision to leave CAN affect almost two million Venezuelans who benefit from trade among its member countries.

* On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez decreed CAN death during a working meeting with the Presidents of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia held in Asunción, Paraguay's capital city.

* In Brazil, on Thursday, the Venezuelan ruler argued that the pacts both Colombia and Peru signed with the United States amounted to a sort of small Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) that harmed Andean integration. Chávez further said such agreements run counter regional trade conventions.

Colombia rejected Chávez' assertions
* The Colombian Ministry of Industry and Commerce, in a document forwarded to El Universal, said the Colombia-US FTA was executed with "respect for Andean regulations and for the sensibilities of the partners."

* "Under the FTA, CAN is protected. The Andean legal framework prevails over the FTA, as expressly provided for in the final text of the FTA," said Colombia Commerce minister Jorge Humberto Botero in the document.

* Venezuela, however, did not include a similar provision when it officially sought its entrance to the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) in 2005.

* Colombia claims it requested each partner under CAN to provide information on the products they deemed sensitive to the FTA.

* Regarding Venezuela, bilateral trade was protected by implementing a seven-year tax relief treaty for Venezuelan petrochemical exports to the United States, a 10-year tax relief treaty for Venezuelan iron and steel exports. Likewise, in the automotive sector, a number of special terms and trade preferences were set.

Implications
* The implications of Chávez' announcements are not known to Venezuelan officials either, at least not officially. Venezuelan Foreign Affairs minister Alí Rodríguez Araque told his Colombian counterpart Carolina Barco he was not aware of Chávez' decision.

* Barco "called minister Rodríguez and he told her he did not know the implications of President Chávez' words," Botero told Colombian media, AFP reported.

* "The Venezuelan Foreign Affairs vice-minister (Pável Rondón), who was in Brussels with CAN secretary general and Colombian Foreign Affairs vice-minister (Camilo Reyes), had no information on the implications of President Chávez' assertions either," Botero added.

* Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Chávez' announcement should be "addressed carefully and calmly," Efe reported.

* "We want an open CAN that is able to overcome poverty. Therefore, we want to address this issue with reasoning and calmly, in analytical debates, based on the principle that we are going to find ways for all of us to do fine."

* Meanwhile, Alan Wagner, secretary general of CAN, proposed holding a presidential summit to deal with Chávez' decision to withdraw from the bloc, AFP reported.