2005 Call to attend the III Peoples’ Summit and mass mobilizations, November 1st to 5th, Mar del Plata, Argentina In recent times popular movements throughout the Americas have waged diverse and extraordinary struggles against the imposition of a neo-liberal economic and social model. The deepening and strengthening of popular resistance has already brought changes to the socio-political landscape in our hemisphere and it stands in marked contrast to the dominant agenda that seeks not only to deepen the re-colonization of our societies but also to confront our efforts to build alternatives. The struggle against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) has been successful at effectively blocking an annexationist project from being implemented on schedule on January 1st, 2005. There has also been a marked increase in the level of struggle throughout the Americas, as well as increased awareness by our peoples that genuine democracy, sovereignty, and social equality can only be achieved through an integrated process of popular solidarity. The FTAA, however, is not dead and finished. Key components of this criminal neo-liberal policy are now being expressed through renewed attempts to advance ‘free trade’ through other fora – such as WTO negotiations, various multilateral FTAs, and even continuing attempts to revive the FTAA process itself. We must still combat the renewed pressure to pay the illegitimate and fraudulent external debt, and stand firm against the militarization of our societies through which governments attempt to control and repress popular resistance. These policies are designed to permit the continued plundering of our wealth and natural resources, where privatizations and greater social inequality and poverty strike at the heart of our societies. On November 4th and 5th, 2005 in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina, the Organization of American States (OAS) will hold the IV Summit of the Americas, where 34 heads of state from all over the continent will meet – with Cuba expressly excluded. At this Summit, the U.S. government and its followers will continue in their attempts to impose a project of continental domination and pillage – notwithstanding the existence of governments in our hemisphere who express a willingness to distance themselves from U.S. hegemony. Faced with this reality, and committed to the process of mobilization and movement building leading to Peoples’ Summits, such as those that took place in Santiago, Chile (1998) and Quebec City (2001), we will raise our voices and unite our struggles in making our presence felt at this Third Summit of the Peoples of America. We will say: No to free trade; No to the payment of the external debt; No to militarization and war; No to poverty and the exclusion of millions of people in our America. We will come together in Mar del Plata to strengthen all the struggles and resistance efforts that popular movements have been building throughout the continent. We will meet as well, to debate and advance the construction of alternatives to neo-liberalism and war, while taking into account all the experiences and proposals that are being put forth throughout our hemisphere. We do this because we believe that another type of sovereign, popular integration is as possible as it is necessary. We unite in order to defend life and peace, as creditors not debtors, demanding a fundamental redistribution of wealth. The popular movements from the American continent gathered in the Fourth Hemispheric Conference against the FTAA held in Havana, in the free and sovereign nation of Cuba, issue this call to all those in our America who resist neo-liberalism and imperial policies while building together a continent-wide mobilization, to gather at the Third Summit of the Peoples of America. We must meet in order to strengthen resistance and build alternatives. We will hold massive demonstrations in Mar del Plata, Argentina, as well as at other places throughout the hemisphere, against the presence of the genocidal George W. Bush on Latin American soil. We await your arrival in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from November 1-5 in order to further our common struggle to make another America possible: the America of popular creativity, and of the many faces of resistance; the America of alternatives to neo-liberalism and war; the America of our original peoples, of women in struggle, of farmers, of workers, of young people; the America of sexual, cultural and religious diversity - a peoples’ America. Join us as we defend with dignity what belongs to us all. BUSH OUT OF OUR LAND! LET’S BUILD THE THIRD PEOPLES’ SUMMIT TOGETHER! NO to the FTAA, the Debt, Militarization and Poverty! NO to Free Trade, YES to the integration of the people! ANOTHER AMERICA IS POSSIBLE! Issued at the Fourth Hemispheric Conference against the FTAA held in Havana Cuba, April 30, 2005