The members of the Roma (Gypsy) people- belonging to the "Organizing
Process of the Roma (Gypsy) People of Colombia" (PROROM) and the
"National Association of the Roma (Gypsy) People of Ecuador" (ASOROM)-
attending the "Andean Forum for Diversity and Pluralism", celebrated
from the 16th- 18th of November, 2000 in Quito, Ecuador,

Considering:

- That distinct kumpania and Roma family groups have been found living
in various Latin American countries and in the Andean Sub-region since
the colonial period. In this sense our presence preexists the
formation of many of the actual Republics.

- That collectively, the Roma community is not a recent arrival or
foreigner, but instead a group with a long history and presence in
some of the countries of the region.

- That we have contributed to the construction of the formation of
nationalities in distinct countries of the region, despite the fact
that the histories of these countries systematically deny our
presence.

- That the Roma people have never attempted to dominate or impose
their culture on others, and in fact, have always been characterized
by their respect of diversity and pluralism.

- That the Roma population in Latin America is estimated at more than
1,500,000 people and in the Andean Sub-region the number may surpass
50,000. Despite our significant demographic presence, we have been
forced into invisibility.

- That throughout history our community has been a constant victim to
racist, discriminatory, xenophobic and intolerant practices and
procedures that have caused other sectors of the population to
consider us in the worst and most pejorative terms.

- That when one speaks of the diversity of peoples and cultures in
Latin America, the existence of the Roma community is always omitted.

- That we are a people and as such we want to be recognized. In this
context we do not accept the label "ethnic minority," by which we are
known in some international contexts.

We declare:

1. We express our warmest greetings of fraternity and solidarity to
all indigenous and black delegates of Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru
and Venezuela attending this significant stage of reflection and
discussion. In the same way, we would like to extend our profound and
warm thanks to the Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del
Ecuador, CONAIE, and the Agencia Latinoamericana de Informacion, ALAI,
for having brought about our participation in the Forum.

2. We declare our interest and desire to contribute, from our
situation as a people, historically victimized by the blight of
racism, discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance, from our world-
view and specific cultural tradition, as well as from our traveling
and nomadic life, to all that concerns the "World Conference Against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance."

3. We make an urgent call of solidarity to the indigenous and black
communities in the Andean Sub-region, that they support our
aspirations, demands and vindication so that our people can leave the
invisibility in which we have been submerged, and our collective
rights can be recognized and respected fully and completely. In
particular, we have always believed in the possibility of the creation
of mechanisms and methods of intercultural relationship, which do not
necessarily imply our assimilation nor the denial of our identifying
values.

4. We urge the indigenous and black communities to afford us their
fraternal support so that in all processes of the "World Conference
Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance" an appropriately ample participation of delegates from
the Roma communities of the Americas will be guaranteed. We believe
that the adequate participation of delegates of the Roma peoples from
different countries throughout the continent contributes substantially
to the breakdown of those racist and discriminatory stereotypes with
which we have been historically labeled and which, unfortunately, are
still with us.

5. We believe that the ability of the Roma people of Latin America to
transcend their marginalization, exclusion and often precarious living
conditions, demands the full recognition of our existence as a people.
In this context, the specific recognition that the Roma people, given
their transnational influence and their long presence on the
continent, is also an American people that has contributed, in a
relevant manner, to the construction of a multiethnic and
multicultural Latin America.

6. We establish the necessity for the countries of the region to
design - with ample participation and with the free consent and
previous support of our people - legal instruments and norms that
guarantee our collective rights and our ethnic and cultural integrity.
A first step towards this is applying to our people the legal
dispositions contained in ILO Convention No. 169, of 1989, on
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in all those countries which have
subscribed to and ratified this international tool, as we wish our
people to have a traditional social organization that can clearly be
defined as tribal. A second step is that those countries whose
Political Constitutions have recognized important rights of
indigenous, black and so-called 'ethnic' groups, extend this to
include the Roma people.

7. Finally, we express our desire and availability -from our recent
and modest organizational experiences: PROROM and ASOROM - to promote,
bring about and implore our contacts with Roma organizations and
persons from diverse parts of the Americas, for their involvement and
participation in the process which will culminate in 2001 in Durban,
South Africa in the "World Conference Against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance". In this sense we
place ourselves entirely in the disposition of the organizers of the
NGO Forum of the Americas which will take place in the first months of
2001 in Quito, Ecuador in order to serve as coordinators and/or
facilitators of the participation of Roma delegates from different
countries in the Americas.

Signed in Quito, November, 17, 2000, by

VENECER GÓMEZ FUENTES, General Coordinator, Proceso Organizativo
del Pueblo Rom (Gitano) de Colombia, PROROM,
E- mail: viamultiple@hotmail.com

ALFREDO YANCOVICH,
Spokesperson,
Asociación Nacional del Pueblo Rom (Gitano) del Ecuador, ASOROM,
E- mail: asorom@yupimail.com