Peace in the Americas
Jubilee South Declaration
No to Military and Market Conquest
Yes to Peace and Economic Self-determination!
In response to the decision of the Bush Administration to carry
out a massive military invasion against Iraq and the people of
the Middle East, Jubilee South joins the global mobilization of
people along with worthy governments to stop and revert this imperial
onslaught. We have met in Porto Alegre Brazil within the World
Social Forum process, convinced that it is necessary to analyze
and denounce the militarist escalation now taking the form of
tens of thousands of US troops dispatched the world over as part
of a policy of greater direct intervention in the economic and
security policies of nations and governments.
Since its creation in Johannesburg in 1999, Jubilee South struggles
against external domination in all of its forms and particularly
those that take the form of the so called external debt. Neoliberal
doctrine demands the recognition and servicing of an illegitimate
debt—a form of domination today increasingly linked to the
US doctrine of “pre-emptive war” that also seeks to
secure imperial interests and control of global resources and
markets by resorting to direct and structural violence.
The organizations, movements and campaigns joined in Jubilee
South insist that neither the government of the United States
nor any other government has the right to intervene in the internal
affairs of another country. It is the people themselves who have
the right and the duty, through their organization and mobilization,
to replace regimes that are submissive to the interests of the
big powers or incapable of upholding fundamental principles such
as the peaceful settlement of disputes, the right to national
self-determination and the right of all people to a dignified
life. That is why we salute the election of “Lula”
as President of Brazil, which stands as an example of democratic
change indispensable to global peace and international cooperation
against all forms of violence. We call on all governments to prevent
the United Nations from acting as a fig leaf to legitimize the
military actions of the U.S. and its “allies”, in
violation of the U.N Charter. The “crusade against terrorism”
must be replaced with a crusade for life and against State terrorism
and the economic terror perpetrated by multilateral institutions
like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the
World Trade Organization, taking the form of the death of thousands
each day on account of malnutrition and preventable illness.
As citizens of the world we condemn the endless war proclaimed
by Bush and the decision to attack Iraq. We demand that our governments
speak out and desist from collaborating in any form with US counterinsurgency
projects and military adventurism. We will continue to denounce
those governments which accept the militarization of our continents,
including the presence of foreign military bases and foreign troops.
We demand an end to joint military exercises which are taking
place across the globe under US direction. Debt extortion, unfair
trade and militarization are three inseparable facets of a single
neoliberal imperial model which spells hunger and misery for our
people, the loss of sovereignty of our countries and the repression
of popular struggles. Such a model sustains the unethical concentration
of wealth in the hands of a few on the basis of the pain endured
by the many.
We respond to the globalization of death and misery with the
globalization of life and solidarity. We form part of the local,
national and regional social processes spawned by the World Social
Forum in Porto Alegre and now expanding the world over. A horizon
of hope and solidarity among peoples is taking shape and providing
international support for the multiple forms of creative resistance
being expressed in a wide diversity of struggles. Jubilee South
extends its militant solidarity to all those who are struggling
to make another world reality, including in particular the peoples
of Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq. We are with you.
The XXIst century must not be remembered as the century of endless
U.S. war, of uncontested neoliberalism, of racial and gender discrimination,
of domination through transnational corporations and military
force. Humanity today has the ethical values, knowledge and scientific
skills to guide a different globalization characterized by authentic
justice and humanism Let us rise to the challenge of replacing
war with peace, debt with life, external domination with sovereignty.
Another world is possible!
Porto Alegre, Brazil - January 22, 2003
www.jubileesouth.org
- mail@jubileesouth.org
Epica's Peace in the Americas Program
This program seeks to raise awareness in
the Global North about the historic roots of war and poverty in
the Americas and the negative impact of the current trends of
corporate globalization and militarization. It also seeks to support
grassroots movements of the Global South as they struggle to build
just, equitable and sustainable alternatives. For the next three
years, we will accompany and support the Convergence of Movements
of the People of the Americas (COMPA), and produce resources that
will educate people in the Global North about important issues
of trade, development and debt, including the Free Trade Agreement
of the Americas and Plan Puebla-Panama. Given the current war
context, this program will seek to expose the causes and effects
of militarization in the Americas and to inform debate on the
issues of militarization around the world.
See also:
from Catholics for a Peaceful End
to War and Terrorism
Letter drafted by a group
of organizations with a Catholic constituency in Washington DC,
as a contribution toward building a peaceful tomorrow. It includes
a number of concrete actions and contacts at the end of the reflection.
EPICA is an active member of the coalition, and contributed to
the following statement...Read
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