The emerging history of our peoples is like underground
rivers which are joined by others and at a certain moment
converge on the main stream and emerge at the surface.
They change course, transforming reality and life. We are
in that historic stage of transforming the reality
imposed on us of domination, of the one-dimensional
thinking of neo-liberalism, of cruelty against our
peoples, of pitiless looting of resources, of the
destruction of biodiversity, of making vassals out of
autochthonous peoples, of increasing poverty and the
continuous violations of human rights.

The Peoples’ Summit III is a space for reflection, for
proposals for continental building and unity, in defense
of the right of Peoples to their sovereignty, for
cultural identity and self-determination. It promotes the
need for social and structural change, based on the
cultural diversity and the unity of our peoples at a
continental level, as well as on the rejection of
domination.

Many of the bad things which our peoples suffer could not
happen without the complicity of governments that submit
to the policies imposed by the IMF, the World Bank and
the government of the United States. Policies like FTAA
and other free trade agreements; the militarization of
the continent and the establishing of U.S. military bases
in our countries; the Puebla-Panamá plan, Plan Colombia,
and the entry of North American troops as in the case of
Paraguay, where they are also installing an office of the
FBI - to control the Triple Frontier and to generate
tensions and conflicts with the people of Bolivia and the
entire region.

Within this escalation of domination, Haiti has been one
of the main axes of military imposition since foreign
troops were sent in by the U.N., with a total of 7,400
military troops in the poorest country of the continent.
Amongst the military forces are soldiers of Latin
American countries which have endorsed the coup d’etat.
Haiti does not need armed forces but rather doctors,
teachers, technical teams for life and development.

The 3rd Peoples’ Summit will surely reject the continuing
threats and attempted coups d’etat against the government
of Hugo Chávez Frías, President of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela. In the same spirit, it will reject
and denounce the blockade of more than 45 years’ against
the sister people of Cuba, unilaterally imposed by the
U.S., in violation of resolutions of the United Nations
on the rights of the Cuban people to their sovereignty
and self-determination.

It will denounce the policies of the IMF, the World Bank
and other multilateral institutions that seek to impose
their projects of privatization and External Debt on the
countries of Latin America; a debt that is illegitimate,
immoral and unjust and has already been paid-off many
times over. These policies oblige us to continue paying,
including the most impoverished and needy countries like
Haiti, thus generating more hunger, destruction and
social exclusion.

It will denounce as well the governments that have
negotiated bilateral agreements with the U.S. that will
lead to bankruptcy for small and medium-sized producers,
both rural and industrial, as a consequence of that
country’s subsidies to its producers, thus provoking more
hunger, poverty and social exclusion. It would be
important for the 3rd Peoples’ Summit to also call for the
immediate investigation of crimes against humanity
committed by U.S. President, George W. Bush, British
Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Italian President, Silvio
Berlusconi, responsible for the invasion and massacre of
the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan. And there should be
an investigation of the situation at the U.S. military
base in Guantánamo, Cuba, where they torture, murder and
subject prisoners to cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment, which offends humanity.

Today the great power wants to endorse the atrocities
committed in violation of international Agreements and
Protocols and resolutions of the United Nations, such as
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The U.N.
should act before it is too late, to avoid worse damage
to humanity. It is necessary and urgent that the OAS as a
continental body initiate a profound reform of its
structure. It should act on a fair and equal basis and
not under pressure from the U.S., putting itself at the
service of our peoples.

The organizations and social movements that will meet in
the 3rd Peoples’ Summit reject all types of terrorism,
wherever they may come from. We call for our right to
self-determination and sovereignty. We call upon our
governments to be coherent and united throughout the
continent, strengthening regional alliances to jointly
find solutions to the serious problems that affect the
life of our peoples, such as the continuing concentration
and foreign takeover of our wealth, the looting and
expropriation of our resources, and the commercialization
of everything, including life itself.

Too often, the only response that governments have in the
face of social demands and protests is repression; from
the 3rd Peoples’ Summit, we call for and we demand that
they be at the service of the peoples and not financial
capital, which they favour over human capital and the
rights of peoples.

Listen to the clamour of our Peoples! who day-by-day
emerge with greater force and continental unity to take
responsibility for our own lives as builders of our own
history.

Translation: Donald Lee