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Populist Summit of the Americas

The Populist Summit of the Americas is part of a larger process that involves building progressive political movements that are linked across national political boundaries through solidarities. That process has already begun with the holding of a Latin American Populist Summit in Colombia last February. The circle is now being widened to include North America, and there is a good possibility that next year some of the same persons may be together again for another gathering of Populist leaders in Mexico.

One of the striking aspects of what has occurred in Eastern Europe is its ripple effect - perhaps it is a manifestation of John Foster Dulles' "domino theory" in which one government after another is toppled through political empowerment at the grass roots. This "ripple effect" is just beginning to reach this side of the Atlantic. The Populist Summit of the Americas is a key event that will accelerate the impact of this effect on the grass roots not only in Latin America but in North America as well.

The objectives of the Populist Summit of the Americas are threefold:

1. To undertake an assessment of major global problems at the start of the last decade of the century, with special reference to the Americas and to the impact of these problems on working people and grass roots communities.

2. To frame a people's agenda for the 1990s in terms of both a vision for the next century and concrete issues that need to be tackled in realizing this vision - again with special reference to the Americas and to the concerns of working people in grass roots communities.

3. To formulate proposals for action that will address the major issues on the people's agenda in the coming decade.

Participants in the Populist Summit of the Americas are persons who have sought the highest elective office in their respective countries on a progressive economic, social, and political platform.

Organizer: Ward Morehouse, ITDG/NA (Intermediate Technology Development Group/North America), Suite 3C, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017; (212) 972 - 9877; fax: (212) 972 - 9878; e-mail: cipany@igc.apc.org.

*Jesse Jackson, Rainbow Coalition, United States.

Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, Partido de la Revolucion Democratica, Mexico.

Luiz Inacio ("Lula") da Silva, Partido dos Trabalhadores, Brazil.

Adalberto Carvajal-Salcedo, Alianza Democratica, Colombia.

Antonio Navarro, Alianza Democratica, Colombia.

* Invited but not confirmed, or has not obtained needed travel funds.