Continental social leaders present proposals to United Nations

2000-10-18 00:00:00

New York - Leaders from the largest social movements in America continue
their activities in New York City, as part of the Cry of the Excluded
Delegation. Yesterday they met with representatives of the United Nations
Secretary General, Koffi Annan, with United Nations Human Rights officials,
and with the United Nations Development Program's officer for Latin America.

The Cry of the Excluded delegation's main goal is to bring attention to the
Colombia aid package, the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), the
debt crisis in Latin America, and the situation of undocumented immigrants in
the United States.

The delegation is composed of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel
and Bishop Frederico Pagura, from Argentina; Gilmar Mauro, representative of
the Landless Workers Movement in Brazil; Blanca Chacon, International
Secretary of the Indigenous Nations Federation, in Ecuador; in addition to
other social leaders from the National Indigenous Congress in Mexico; the
Latin American Congress of Farm Workers Organizations, and the National
Coalition of Undocumented Workers, in the United States.

These leaders are meeting for the first time in the United States to discuss
concrete proposals concerning sustainable development and human rights in
Latin America. They asked the United Nations to intervene in stopping the
imminent war in Colombia, which can affect the entire region. They also bring
a proposal to transform the external debt payments into social programs that
will provide health care, education, housing, and other social services to
Latin American people.

Today, the delegation will meet with several non-governmental organization
based in New York City to articulated future proposals. The Cry of the
Excluded was founded in 1995 in Brazil, and today it is organized in 14 Latin
American countries. Since two years ago, the Cry of the Excluded became a
Continental social movement, including North American organizations. It
constitutes a massive grassroots movements that has mobilized approximately 12
million people this year, including sectors of urban and rural organizations,
as well as religious groups.