In Spite of Everything.

THEIR PRESIDENTS FLEE TO FOReign lands, their economies hit the skids, their hinterlands are plagued with terrorist activity. Yet their exports just keep on coming.

The Andean Community countries--Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador--closed 2000 with US$5 billion in intra-regional trade, up more than 27% from a year earlier. Rising oil prices fueled much of the gain.

"In a year that was complicated by difficult political situations... our trade recovered to 27.4%, which is triple the rate of growth for world trade," says Sebastian Alegrett, Andean Community secretary general. He predicts the export levels will reach $10 billion by 2005.

Coming off the fiscal crisis that forced it to dollarize, Ecuador led the regional trade rush with a 45% hike in exports. Venezuela followed at 29% and Peru at 26%. Still, most of the countries--recuperating from the region's 1998 downtown--trail the record export levels of the mid-1990s.

In value, Colombia led the pack, exporting $2 billion in products. Bolivia, hit the $358 million mark for its best performance in the 31 years of the Andean Community's existence.

Big numbers may mean more clout. Andean Community and Mercosur leaders will meet in the third quarter of this year to discuss forming their own free trade zone by an optimistic January 2002 deadline.