Latin America and the Caribbean are still paying the colonial tribute.  The foreign debt, contracted under illegitimate, deceptive, illegal or corrupt terms, undermines the sovereignty of the peoples and forces them to hand over all their wealth.  Odious debts, contracted by dictatorships, designed to subjugate and repress, combine with expansive debts: those that paradoxically, the more they are paid off, the more they grow. These debts were not contracted by the people but against them.

The gunboats of the powerful who imposed the loans, eager to become creditors so as to maintain conditions to control and loot the territories of Latin America and the Caribbean following the wars of Independence, reappear today under the guise of the Fourth Fleet, Plan Colombia, the Merida Initiative and the Southern and Northern Commands, but under cover of subtle financial mechanisms.

Debts incurred in this way are illegitimate and have already been paid several times over. They make the acquisition of foreign exchange a must, thus eternally postponing the search for the welfare of the peoples.  They justify and encourage impunity and corruption.

Ecuador, on November 20 2008, after conducting an exhaustive audit of the case, disowned its commitment to a huge and damaging illegitimate debt, exercising sovereignty and the right to self-government.  In an act of great historic significance, it was proposed that those responsible for contracting the debt and using it in the name of the people should be prosecuted.

Given the financial crisis and economic recession triggered by the voracity of the transnational corporations, which now want our peoples to pay the cost, it is crucial to expand to the global level the definitive rejection of the payment of illegitimate debt.

We, intellectuals, artists and social activists, committed to democracy, freedom and the process of emancipation of the peoples of the world, uphold the decision of the Ecuadorian government not to take responsibility for a debt that it is not their own.  We also take on the task of promoting the creation of a global network against illegitimate debt and colonial taxes, in coordination with all the existing initiatives against the payment of debt.

Enough of the colonial tribute. We aspire to and will fight for a free and sovereign Ecuador and Latin America.

(signatures updated to 1/12/08)
 
Germany
Ulrich Brand, Dario Azzelini, Rainer Schlittgen, Ricarda Schlittgen, Gerhard Dilger, Irena Reinkemeyer-Hebel, Stefan Herbst,
Argentina
 
Ego Ducrot, Stella Calloni, Susana Moreira, Miguel Mirra, Guillermo Almeyra, Silvia Maldonado, Juan Wahren, Cristina Castello, Jorge Beinstein, José Seoane, Clara Algranatti, Emilio Taddei, José Luis Coraggio, Julio C. Gambina, Miguel Teubal, Patricio País Garay, Claudio Katz, Red Nacional de Medios Alternativos (RNMA), Carlos D. Pérez, José Pedro Lopardo Tellechea, Luciana García Guerreiro, Daniel Campione, Agustín Crivelli, Claudia Vespa, Lía Bruno, Javier Romero, Pedro Lanteri (Director de La Voz de las Madres), Susana Novick, Edith Alejandra Pantelides, Susana Murillo, Juan Minghetti, Gloria Colombo, Ricardo Montes, Santiago Lizuaín, Aldo Casas (Herramienta), Diego Ariel Fernández, Noemi Abad (Directora de Ecoportal.Net y de la Revista Ambiente y Sociedad), Ines Izaguirre, Carlos Aznarez, Mariana Portapila (Secretaria ATTAC Argentina), Norberto Ganci, El Club de la Pluma, Eduardo Lucita, Ariel Magirena (Canal 7), Patricio Varela, Fernando M. López, Bibiana Apolonia del Brutto, Virginia Amarilla, Irma Antognazzi, Camel Rubén Layún, Leandro Andrini, Foro Artiguista Entrerriano, Mauricio Castaldo, Adriana Riss, Aritz Recalde, Héctor Hugo Boleso, Andrés Méndez, Nora Ciapponi, Ana M Rodi, Maristella Svampa, Susana Fiorito, Andrés Rivera, María Elena Saludas, Fernando Lagrave, Sergio Leandro Agoff, Claudio Casparrino, Karim Nasser, Orietta Favaro, Mario Cafiero, Dora N. Rubillo, Aldo Tarantino, Luis Pil Ojeda, Ernesto Moreau, Silvia Starkoff, Gavino Casco, Claudia Korol, Eduardo Lucita, Gloria Rodríguez (Directora Escuela de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de Rosario), Ada B Caracciolo, Marcelo Langieri, Paula Abal Medina, Victor Mazzalay, Alejandro Wajner, Leonardo Montero, Susana Sel, María Amalia García, Daniel Mojica.
Belgium
François Houtart, Eric Toussaint (presidente Comité por la Abolición de la Deuda del Tercer Mundo), Bernard Duterme (CETRI), Francine Mestrum, Paul-Emile Dupret (Parlamento europeo), Patricia Parga-Vega, Alicia Jardel,
 Bolivia
 Francisco Mollo Calle (Presidente Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores Ecológicos de Bolivia), Alex Contreras Baspineiro, Escuela del Pueblo "Bolivia Digna", Pablo Stefanoni (director de Le Monde Diplomatiqueedición boliviana), Gertrudis Contreras, Hervé Do Alto,
 Brasil
Frei Betto, Joao Pedro Stédile (Vía Campesina), Theotonio Dos Santos, Carlos Walter Porto Gonçalves, Carlos Eduardo Martins, Marilia Guimarães, Sergio Lessa, Gustavo Erwin Kuss (Coordenação dos Movimentos Sociais- CMS-PR), Marise Ramos, Roberto Leher, Gaudencio Frigotto, Maria Luisa Mendonça (Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos), Plinio S. de Arruda Sampaio, Bernardo Mançano Fernandes, Ivete Caribé da Rocha, Davi Gustavo de Carvalho, João Alexandre Peschanski, Luiz Alfredo Salomão, Zilda Márcia Grícoli Iokoi, María Teresa Solórzano, Mariana Pessah, Marianne Spiller, Gladys Floriani (Directora de la Casa Latinoamericana de Paraná), Maria Orlanda Pinassi, Reinaldo A. Carcanholo, Nalu Faria, Grasiela Cristina da Cunha Baruco, Marcelo Dias Carcanholo, Jorge Luiz A. Natal, Tárzia Medeiros, Pedro Ayres, Cassia Bechara, Pe. Lino Allegri,
 Canadá
Paul Cliche, Pierre Mouterde, Michael Lebowitz, Reginaldo Rodríguez,
 Chile
 Marta Harnecker, Orlando Caputo, Manuel Cabieses, Maria Cristina Cruz Ulloa, Esteban Silva Cuadra (Comité Central del Partido Socialista), Lagos Nilsson, Graciela Galarce, Gustavo Ruz Zañartu, Rodrigo Sánchez Edmonson,
 Colombia
Francisco Beltrán, Gilberto Herrera Stella, Cecilia Ibagos Trujillo, Tarcisio Agramonte Ordóñez, Catalina Toro, Red Colombiana de Acción Frente al Libre Comercio (RECALCA), Fernando Arellano Ortiz, Bayardo Ariza Olarte, Bernardo Parra Restrepo, Miguel Eduardo Cárdenas, Agustín Contreras, Virgilio Salerno (Director de Virtin Red Informativa), Jaime Zuluaga Nieto, Hildebrando Vélez,
 Costa Rica
 Gerardo Cerdas, Grito de los Excluidos/as, Alfredo Malespín (Secretario Ejecutivo de la Mesa Nacional Campesina), Eva Carazo, Iris Fernández Solano, Ariane Grau Crespo, Beatriz Castro Zúñiga (Red Costarricense de Agendas Locales de Mujeres),
 Cuba
Rev. Raúl Suárez Ramos (Director del Centro Dr Martin Luther King, y Diputado Nacional), Roberto Fernández Retamar, Isabel Monal, Fernando Martínez Heredia, Osvaldo Martínez, Pedro Monzón, Gilberto Valdés, Georgina Alfonso, Yohanka Leon, Alberto Perez, Humberto Miranda, Carlos Tablada, Joel Suarez, Adalys Vazquez, Ariel Dacla, Daysi Rojas, Centro Memorial Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr., Miriam Rodriguez, Diana M. López, Ramón Alejandro, Pedro Campos, Olivia Miranda Francisco, Idania Trujillo de la Paz, Jorge Ángel Hernández, Lydia Guevara Ramírez, Lázaro Peña, Graciela Guerrero Garay, Eugenio Espinosa,
 Dominicana
Chiqui Vicioso
 Ecuador
 Alberto Acosta (Ex Presidente de la Asamblea Constituyente), Humberto Cholango, Confederación Kichwa del Ecuador (ECUARUNARI), Blanca Chancoso, Sally Burch, Osvaldo León, Eduardo Tamayo, René Báez, Enrique Ayala, Escuela Política de Líderes "Dolares Cacuango" –Ecuarunari, Rafael Quintero , Erika Silvia, Pablo Ospina, Patricio del Salto, Helga Serrano, Diana Roldós, Margarita Aguinaga (CADTM), Ma. Del Pilar Troya, Inés Garzón Guerra, Movimiento Nacional de Mujeres de Sectores Populares, Rocio Bastidas Granizo,
 El Salvador
Alvaro Dario Lara, Network of Environmentalists in Action, Citizens Action Network Against Free Trade SINTI Tech
Spain
 Francisco Fernández Buey, Juan Carlos Monedero, Pascual Serrano, Local Assembly of the United Left - Alternative Citizen Of The Boal, Juan Ramón Rodríguez Madridejos, José Guarc Pérez (Director of the magazine Militant Rural World), Maite Mola (Directorate of the Communist Party and United Left), Maria José Rengel Mas, Félix Vázquez-Sixto, Monserrat Ponsa, Revista Viento Sur, Jaime Pastor, Miguel Angel Jordán León, Oficina de Derechos Sociales Patio Maravillas,
The United States
 Immanuel Wallerstein, Rev. Roy Bourgeois (School of Americas Watch), James Cockcroft, Karen Lee Wald, Refugio Del Rio Grande, Daniel del Solar,
 
France
 Pierre Salama, Michael Lowy, Armand Mattelart, Ignacio Ramonet, Mireille Fanon-Mendes, Christophe Grigri, Michelle Aslanides, Michele Mattelart, Hernando Calvo, Alejandro Teitelbaum, Lidia Añaños Galindo (Association of Latin American Publications), Anne Robert, Franck Gaudichaud, Francis Gély,
 Guatemala
 Simona Violetta Yagenova, Marcos Xicay Muj, Mildred López, Percy Alvarado, Mirna Ramírez
 Haití
 Lise-Marie Dejean, Didier Dominique,
 Honduras
 Wendy Cruz, Juan Almendares (President of the Mother earth movement), Lorena Zelaya,
 Italy
 
 Giulio Girardi, Marco Consolo (The Communist Refoundation Party - European Left), Bruno Antonio Bellerate, Antonio Melis, Luciano Vasapollo (Magazine Director of Our America), Alessandra Mecozzi,
 Martinica
 Philippe Pierre-Charles'Groupe Revolution Socialiste, Felix Relautte (CADMT),