Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and his four Andean counterparts Monday discussed regional integration, urging the five-nation Andean Community (ANCOM) to further cooperate in reducing poverty.

"We have to defeat poverty which conspires against democratic will," Toledo told leaders from Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, and representatives from other Latin American organizations.

Toledo said the inter-community trade increased 59 percent between 2003 and 2004, which has generated 700,000 jobs.

"From January to June this year, the trans-Andean trade grew by24 percent," said the Peruvian president, adding that the growth provides more opportunities to combat poverty.

Ecuadoran President Alfredo Palacio, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez attended the annual ANCOM summit, along with Bolivian Foreign Minister Armando Loayza, who represented the interim President Eduardo Rodriguez.

The one-day summit was expected to have a wide range of issues under discussion, including regional integration and the fight against drug trafficking within member nations Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela.

At the end of the summit, the leaders will sign the Declaration of Lima.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2005)