About the IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas
The V Summit of the Americas will be held in Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago, from Friday April 17th to Sunday April 19th, 2009.
It brings together Presidents and Prime Ministers of 34 states in the western hemisphere (with the exception of Cuba, which is intentionally excluded). This will be the first time that the Summit is held in a Caribbean country. It therefore presents a unique opportunity for social movements of the hemisphere that are opposed to neo-liberalism to meet and address an agenda for the people of the hemisphere; an agenda that is opposed to neo-liberalism.
The IV Peoples' Summit will be held in Trinidad to coincide with the V Summit of the Americas. It will be an encounter of social movements of the hemisphere opposed to neo-liberalism and that stand for social justice, equity, peace and sustainable development.
This Peoples' Summit is of profound importance for social movements of the hemisphere as it takes place in the context of significant changes in the geopolitical map of the Americas. Certainly, the hegemonic position of neo-liberalism that characterised the First Summit is now discredited and is under challenge. Social movements and now increasingly Governments are pursuing alternatives to the neo-liberal agenda.
We need also to consider the crisis of international capitalism as evidenced by: the collapse of the world's financial system; the crises of debt, food, energy and water; and the degradation of the environment and its implications. We will also meet in the context of the increasing threat of militarisation and the criminalisation of protests.
At this significant juncture in the history of our region and the world, it is absolutely critical that Caribbean activists, including Cuba, and members of social movements, civil society and other networks utilise this rare opportunity to fuel the work that we do through discussion, analysis and collaboration with brothers and sisters from other Caribbean states, Latin America and North America.
We invite social movements, networks and other civil society organisations to begin their preparations in order to join us for the IV Peoples' Summit, in Trinidad in April 2009.
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