• The FTAA should be buried forever!
• No to "free trade", militarization and debt!
• To truly end poverty, unemployment and social exclusion

INTEGRATION FOR AND FROM THE PEOPLE IS NECESSARY AND POSSIBLE

Delegates of social organizations from all regions of the continent - from Canada to Patagonia; workers, farmers, indigenous, young and old, of all races, women and men with dignity, have come together in Mar del Plata, Argentina, to demand that the powerful, who normally ignore us, listen to the voice of all of the peoples of our America. As we have done previously, in Santiago de Chile and in Quebec, we have come together at this Summit of the Americas, which brings together the presidents of the entire continent with the exception of Cuba, because despite the official discourse which continues to be full of words about democracy and the fight against poverty, the people continue to be excluded from the decisions that are made about our futures. We are also here in the III People's Summit, to deepen our resistance to the neoliberal calamities orchestrated by the imperial power from the north and to continue in the construction of alternatives. We are demonstrating that it is possible to change the course of history and we commit ourselves to continue on this path.

In the year 2001, at the official Summit in Quebec when the vast majority of the governments were blindly inclined towards neo-liberal orthodoxy and the dictates of Washington, with the honorable exception of Venezuela, the US managed to establish January of 2005 as the fatal date on which their new project of domination called the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) would enter into effect. The Fourth Summit of the Americas, to be held in Argentina, was programmed to be the event at which the negotiations for this perverse project would be signed. However, on the first of January, 2005 we woke up without the FTAA and this official Summit has occurred with negotiations irreversibly stalled. We are here today to celebrate this!

However, the US has not changed its strategy of consolidating hegemony in the continent through bilateral and regional Free Trade Agreements such as CAFTA, which was ratified by a very close margin, and AFTA which they now seek to force on the Andean countries. In addition Washington is advancing with an "Agreement for Security and Prosperity in North America" (ASPNA). Despite irrefutable evidence of the disastrous consequences of more than 10 years of NAFTA, now the FTA-plus has the objective of imposing US 'security' policy on the entire region.

The US is not content to simply advance with the placement of pieces in their puzzle of domination in the continent. They insist on placing the pieces into a hegemonic framework without renouncing the FTAA. Now, together with their ally governments they come to Mar del Plata with the pretension of breathing new life into the cadaver of the FTAA, when the people have clearly expressed their rejection to an integration subordinated to the US.

The US strategy to favor North American corporations has been accompanied by an increase in US military bases and militarization of the continent. Now, to finish off the genocide, George W. Bush has come to the Summit in Mar del Plata with the intention of elevating his 'security' policy in the continent under the pretext of combating terrorism, when the best way of achieving that goal is to end his policies of colonial intervention.

In the final declaration which is being discussed by our governments, a real threat exists that, although nuanced, the worst intentions of the US could come to pass. The declaration is full of empty words and demagogic proposals to combat poverty and generate decent employment. The reality is that these offers only serve to perpetuate a model which as deepened the misery and injustice of our continent which possesses the worst distribution of wealth in the world.

This is a model that favors a select few, deteriorates labor conditions, accelerates migration, the destruction of indigenous communities, the deterioration of the environment, the privatization of social security and education, the implementation of laws which protect corporations rather than citizens, as in the case of intellectual property.

In addition to the FTAA, they insist on moving forward with the Doha Agenda in order to assign more power to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to impose unequal economic rules on the least developed countries and further promote the corporate agenda. Our natural resources and energy reserves continue to be exposed to plunder. The distribution and commercialization of potable water is privatized. The appropriation and privatization of our aquifers and hydro reserves is promoted, converting access to water as a human right into merchandise for transnational corporations.

In order to impose these policies, the empire and its accomplices rely on external debt as blackmail, impeding the development of our people in violation of all of our human rights. The declaration of the Presidents offers no concrete solutions such as; the cancellation of payments on this illegitimate debt, restitution of the excess which has been charged and repayment of the historical social and ecological debts to the peoples of our America.

The delegates of the different peoples of America are here not only to Denounce. We are here because we have been resisting the policies of the empire and its allies. At the same time, we are constructing popular alternatives through the solidarity and unity of our people, constructing a social fabric from below, from the autonomy and diversity of our movements with the intention of attaining a society which is inclusive, just and has dignity.

From this III People's Summit of the America's we declare:

1) Negotiations for the creation of a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) should be SUSPENDED IMMEDIATELY AND DEFINITELY, as well as all bilateral and regional FTAs. We join in the resistance of the peoples of the Andean Region and of Costa Rica against the FTAs and with the peoples of the Caribbean so that the EPAS will not come to signify a new era of disguised colonialism and with the struggles of the people of North America, Chile and Central America to repeal the treaties which weigh so heavy on them.

2) All agreements between countries should be based on principals of respect for human rights, the social dimension, respect for sovereignty, complementarity, cooperation, solidarity, and the consideration of economic asymmetries so that the least developed countries are favored.

3) We pledge to support and promote alternative projects for regional integration such as the Boliviarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).

4) We affirm the conclusions and actions which have emerged from the forums, workshops and encounters of this Summit and we commit to deepen our process of constructing alternatives.

5) All of the illegitimate, un-payable and unjust external debt of the South should be cancelled immediately and without conditions. We assume our position as creditors to collect the social, ecological and historical debt with our peoples.

6) We support the struggle of our peoples for an equitable distribution of wealth, dignified work and social justice in order to eradicate poverty, unemployment and social exclusion.

7) We agree to promote the diversification of production, the protection of native seeds which are patrimony of humanity, food sovereignty of the peoples, sustainable agriculture and an integral agrarian reform.

8) We vigorously reject the militarization of the continent which is promoted by the empire from the North. We denounce the so-called doctrine of 'cooperation for hemispheric security' as a mechanism for the repression of popular struggles. We reject the presence of US troops on our continent; we do not want military bases or conclaves. We condemn the state terrorism of the Bush Administration which intends to bloody the legitimate rebellions of our people. We commit to the defense of our sovereignty in the Triple Border, heart of the Guarani fresh water reserve. We demand US troops out of Paraguay.

9) We condemn the immorality of the government of the United States, that talks about a struggle against terrorism while it protects theterrorist Posada Carriles and continues to detain five Cuban patriots in jail. We demand their immediate release!

10) We repudiate the presence of George W. Bush in our dignified lands of Latin America - he is the principal promoter of war in the world and heads the neoliberal creed which even impacts the interests of his own people. We send a message of solidarity to the dignified women and men of the United States, who are ashamed at having a government which has been condemned by the humanity of the world, and who resist with all their strength.

After Quebec, we constructed a huge campaign and held continent wide popular consultations against the FTAA. We managed to stop it. Today, in response to attempts to revive the negotiations and to attach the US military objectives - in this III People's Summit, we commitment to doubling our resistance, strengthen our unity in diversity and to convene a new and even larger continental mobilization to bury the FTAA forever and at the same time to build a new alternative America that is just, free and rooted in solidarity.

Mar del Plata, Argentina, November 4, 2005