Make This 'Century of the Americas,' Summit Says

Make This 'Century of the Americas,' Summit Says


QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) - Leaders of 34 countries in the Americas called on Sunday for creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas by the end of 2005 and vowed to work for democracy and human rights.

In the final ``Declaration of Quebec City'' after a three-day summit, they said democracy was fundamental to all their objectives and any country where a coup took place would be blackballed from the Summit of the Americas process.

They vowed to try to halve the number of very poor people in their countries by 2015.

``We are united in our determination to leave to future generations a Hemisphere that is democratic and prosperous, more just and generous, a Hemisphere where no one is left behind,'' the statement said.

``We are committed to making this the century of the Americas.''

Venezuela's populist President Hugo Chavez reserved his position on three clauses of the declaration, objecting to the December 2005 FTAA target date and two references calling for strengthening ``representative democracy.''

He was the only leader to reserve his position on the joint statement. Communist-ruled Cuba was the only country in the Americas not invited to the summit.

Following are key passages from the declaration issued at the end of a three-day summit:

-- DEMOCRACY -- ``We have adopted a Plan of Action to strengthen representative democracy, promote good governance and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.'' (Chavez reserved his position).

-- THREATS TO DEMOCRACY -- ``...any unconstitutional alteration or interruption of the democratic order in a state of the Hemisphere constitutes an insurmountable obstacle to the participation of that state's government in the Summit of the Americas process...we agree to conduct consultations in the event of a disruption of the democratic system of a country that participates in the Summit process.''

-- ``...we instruct our Foreign Ministers to prepare, in the framework of the next General Assembly of the OAS (Organization of American States), an Inter-American Democratic Charter to reinforce OAS instruments for the active defense of representative democracy.'' (Chavez reserved his position).

-- HUMAN RIGHTS -- ``We support strengthening and enhancing the effectiveness of the inter-American human rights system.''

-- PEACE AND SECURITY -- ``We reaffirm our commitment to maintain peace and security through the effective use of hemispheric means for the peaceful resolution of disputes and the adoption of confidence- and security-building measures.''

-- ``We will take all feasible measures to ensure that the children of our countries do not participate in armed conflict and we condemn the use of children by irregular forces. We reaffirm that the constitutional subordination of armed forces and security forces to the legally constituted civilian authorities of our countries, as well as respect for the rule of law on the part of all national institutions and sectors of society, are fundamental to democracy.''

-- ``We will strive to limit military expen***ures while maintaining capabilities commensurate with our legitimate security needs...''

-- CORRUPTION -- ``We pledge to reinvigorate our fight against corruption.''

-- DRUGS -- ``We renew our commitment to the full implementation of the Anti-Drug Strategy in the Hemisphere, based on the principles of shared responsibility, a comprehensive and balanced approach, and multilateral cooperation.''

-- AIDS -- ``We acknowledge that another major threat to the security of our people is HIV/AIDS. We are united in our resolve to adopt multi-sectoral strategies and to develop our cooperation to combat this disease and its consequences.''

-- TRADE -- ``We direct our Ministers to ensure that negotiations of the FTAA Agreement are concluded no later than January 2005 and to seek its entry into force as soon as possible thereafter, but in any case, no later than December 2005.'' (Venezuela reserved its position).

-- ENVIRONMENT -- ``We commit our governments to strengthen environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources with a view to ensuring a balance among economic development, social development and the protection of the environment...''

-- LABOR -- ``We will promote compliance with internationally recognized core labor standards...''

-- POVERTY -- ``We commit to further efforts to reach international development goals, especially the reduction by 50 per cent by the year 2015 of the proportion of people living in extreme poverty.''



ANGELIQUE

éu?c s?a ch?a b?i - despi on 13/12/2001 07:03

Được sửa chữa bởi - despi on 22/12/2001 07:20