Below is the text of the declaration presented in French, English and Spanish at the press conference in Quebec City by the spokespersons of the Second Peoples' Summit, Hector de la Cueva, of the Mexican Free Trade Action Network, Carol Philipps, of Common Frontiers - Canada, and Monique Richard of the Réseau québécois sur l'intégration continental:

On behalf of the Hemispheric Social Alliance, we wish to express our indignation at the refusal of the Summit of the Americas to meet with a delegation from the Second Peoples' Summit of the Americas. The numerous exchanges that we have had to date with Mr. Marc Lortie, personal representative of the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Jean Chrétien, have in fact met with failure.

We 2000 people represent the different sectors of civil society of the 35 countries of the Americas, and we have gathered in Quebec to express our concerns regarding the current negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Our experiences, culled from the different countries, particularly in the wake of NAFTA, lead us to fear that the current plans for continental integration will do little but widen the gap between North and South, between the rich and the poor, trampling on human rights, workers' conditions and the protection of the environment.

We wish to be clear : we are not opposed to the opening up of markets. We are, however, opposed to the current neoliberal model of globalisation. We wish to continue to build democracy, equality and solidarity in the Americas. The task underway at the People's Summit is to define the conditions to be put in place to bring about the type of development we wish to see. The representatives of the Summit of the Americas must listen to the perspective of millions of men and women, who from Baffin Island to Tierra del Fuego must live with the consequences of the decisions that their heads of state take behind closed doors and walls.

At the talks we have had to date with Mr. Lortie, we set five conditions, which we believe would lead to a satisfactory meeting between the Peoples' Summit and the Summit of the Americas. They are :

1. A Summit to Summit dialogue, recognizing the importance of the deliberations taking place at the Peoples' Summit;
2. A public dialogue, with media presence (we formally submitted a suggestion of a televised debate) with a group of heads of state and representatives of the Peoples' Summit;
3. The dialogue held must be substantive, focusing on the issues we have identified;
4. The meeting must take place in a neutral space
5. There must be a guarantee that any dialogue would not be followed by police repression. The meeting should therefore take place after the March of the Americas on Saturday.

The responses we have so far received meet none of these conditions. If consultation with civil society, transparency and participation are really on the agenda of the Summit of the Americas, the demands of the Peoples' Summit must be heard by the heads of state. To this end, we have today sent a letter to the Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, urging him to reconsider this question. In addition, we invite those participating in the forums of the Peoples' Summit, as well as the population in general, to contact Mr. Chrétien's office to ask him, as the Prime Minister of the country hosting the Summit of the Americas, to take the steps necessary so that the meeting we propose can take place.

Mr. Jean Chrétien's office address and phone numbers are as below :

Mr. Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister
Langevin Building
80, Wellington St
Ottawa K1A OA2

Telephone : (613) 992 4211
Fax : (613) 941 6900

We firmly hope that popular pressure will erode the resistance of the organisers of the
Summit of the Americas to organising such a meeting.