President George W. Bush
United States of America
April 16, 2001

Dear President Bush,

As your Administration considers the future direction of U.S. policy towards the Andes, we ask you to suspend and reformulate US support for the implementation of Plan Colombia, placing a greater emphasis on supporting the peace process.

We, the undersigned Latin Americans, know there are no easy answers or quick fixes to Colombia's tragic dilemma of warfare and drug related violence. And we believe the United States has a legitimate interest in reducing the damage done by illegal drug use. But we are gravely concerned that current policy will cause more harm than good in Colombia and in the region at large - while having little or no effect on the drug problems of the consumer countries.

Plan Colombia's predominantly military emphasis will intensify the internal conflict and undermine the ongoing peace process, which offers the only hope of a lasting solution to the conflict. The expected environmental damage, increase in forced displacement, and worsening of the humanitarian crisis will affect the entire Andean region. Yet history shows that forced crop eradication campaigns in Latin America have consistently failed to stop the flow of drugs north. After more than a decade of such efforts there has been no significant decrease in total drug production and trafficking. New sources of supply have inevitably arisen to satisfy undiminished global demand.

We join the European Union in calling for a consultative process to develop realistic proposals to address the root causes of the violence. Instead of expanding misguided, ineffective, and harmful policies, the international community should offer its resources for health, education, and economic development programs, and support efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the longest running conflict in the hemisphere.

As Latin Americans, we are witnesses to the terrible consequences our society suffers every day because of drug trafficking. Now more than ever, we are convinced that there is no choice but to work together, both within our countries and across borders, to reduce these harms and accept our "shared responsibility." Colombia and the Andean region need and deserve the support and solidarity of the international community to confront major challenges. We therefore hope that the Summit of the Americas provides you and the other participating heads of state with the opportunity to explore more peaceful and effective approaches to our common drug problems.

Sincerely,

Signatories

Argentina
Graciela Fernandez Meijide
Former Senator, Former Minister of State

Adolfo Perez Esquivel
Nobel Laureate, President, Peace and Justice Service Foundation

Juan Gabriel Tokatlian
Professor of International Relations, University of San Andres

Horacio Verbitsky
Journalist, President, Center for Legal and Social Studies

Juan Carlos Volnovich
Doctor

Bolivia
Carlos Aguirre Bastos
National Academy of Sciences

Antonio Araníbar Quiroga
Former Minister of Foreign Relations

Edgar Camacho Omiste
Former Minister of Foreign Relations

Roger Cortéz Hurtado
University Professor

Alfonso Ferrufino Valderrama
Former Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies

Julio Garret Aillón
Former Vice-President of Bolivia

Juan del Granado Cossio
Mayor of La Paz

Horst Grebe López
Former Minister of Labor

Lydia Gueiler Tejada
Former President of Bolivia

Carlos Quiroga Blanco
President, Commission for International Policy, Chamber of Deputies

Brazil
Pedro Casaldaliga Pla
Catholic Bishop, São Felix do Araguaia

Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns
Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo

Paulo Roberto Martins Maldos
Advisor to the Council for Indigenous Missionary

Mauro Morelli
Bishop of the Diocese of Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro

Maria Thereza Rocha de Assis Moura
Lawyer

Colombia
Apecides Alvis
President, Confederation of Colombian Workers

Armando Balbuena
President, National Indigenous Peoples' Organization of Colombia

Ana Teresa Bernal
National Coordinator of Redepaz

Jaime Bernal Cuellar
Former Attorney General of the Nation

Wilson Borja
President, National State Workers' Federation

Antonio Caballero
Writer and Journalist

José Fernando Castro
Former Human Rights Ombudsman

Piedad Córdoba
Senator

Gloria Cuartas Montoya
Former Mayor of Apartado

Parmenio Cuellar Bastidas
Governor of Nariño

Bruno Díaz
Bogota City Council

Eduardo Díaz Uribe
Former Minister of State

Juan Carlos Flórez
Bogota City Council

Daniel García-Peña
Former High Commisioner for Peace

Luis Eduardo Garzón
President of the Central Workers' Union (CUT)

Carlos Gaviria
Former Magistrate of the Constitutional Court

Ignacio Gómez
Journalist

Monsignor Leonardo Gómez Serna
Bishop of Socorro and San Gil

Camilo González
Former Minister of Health

Guillermo González
Journalist

Iván G. Guerrero Guevara
Governor of Putumayo

Claudia Gurisatti
Journalist

Hernando Hernández
President of the USO Labor Union

Guillermo Jaramillo
Governor of Tolima

Nestor León Ramírez
Former Mayor of San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá

María Emma Mejía
Former Minister of Foreign Relations

Alfredo Molano
Writer and Journalist

Antonio Morales
Journalist

Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia
Former Governor of Choco

Antonio Navarro
Member of Congress

Rafael Orduz M.
Senator

Juan Manuel Ospina
Senator

William Ospina
Writer

Rodrigo Pardo
Former Minister of Foreign Relations

Gustavo Francisco Petro Virego
Member of Congress

Roberto Posada
Journalist

Jaime Prieto Amaya
Bishop

Carlos Rosero
National Leader of Afro-Colombian Communities

Gonzalo Sánchez G.
Professor Emeritus, National University of Colombia

Horacio Serpa
Presidential Candidate

Floro D. Tunubala
Governor of Cauca

Alejo Vargas
Professor, National University of Colombia

Carlos Alfonso Velásquez R.
Retired Coronel, University Professor

Carlos Vicente de Roux
Former Presidential Advisor for Human Rights

Gloria Zea
Director of Museum of Modern Art

Jaime Zuluaga
Professor, National University of Colombia

Chile
Sergio Bitar
Senator

Ariel Dorfman
Writer

Paulo Egenau
Clinical Psychologist

Pablo Lagos Puccio
Lawyer

Ibán de Rementeria
Former UN Official, International Consultant on Drug Control Policy

Ecuador
Israel Batista
Secretary General, Latin American Council of Churches-CLAI

Monsignor Gonzalo López Marañon
Bishop of Sucumbios

César Montúfar
Professor, Director of International Studies
Simon Bolivar Andean University

Monsignor Luis Alberto Luna Tobar
Prelate of the Catholic Ecuadorian Church

Nina Pacari
Member of Congress

Julio Prado Vallejo
Former Chancellor

Julio Cesar Trujillo
Constitutional Academic
Ecuador

Guatemala
Helen Beatriz Mack Chang
President, Myrna Mack Foundation

Xabier Gorostiaga, S.J.
Professor, Rafael Landivar University

Rigoberta Menchú Tum
Nobel Laureate, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

Haiti
Claudette Werleigh
Former Prime Minister

Honduras
Leo Valladares Lanza
President, Ibero-American Federation of Ombudsman

Mexico
Sergio Aguayo
Professor, Mexican Academy of Human Rights

Miguel Concha Malo
Prior Dominican Provincial

Carlos Fuentes
Writer

Vilma Fuentes
Writer

Oscar González
President, Mexican Academy of Human Rights

Miguel Angel Granados Chapa
Journalist

Ignacio Hernández
Poet

Ofelia Medina
Actress

Jesús Ortega
Senator

Samuel Ruiz García
Former Bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas

Rodolfo Stavenhagen
National Social Sciences Award

Felipe de Jesús Vicencio
Senator

Luis Villoro
Philosopher

Nicaragua
Miguel D'Escoto, M.M.
Maryknoll Missioner

Panama
Miguel Antonia Bernal V.
Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Rights and International Public Law, University of Panama President of the Panama Institution of Constitutional Rights and of the Institute for Political and International Studies

Samuel Delgado Diamante
Former Governor of Colon

Peru
Alberto Adrianzén
Presidential Advisor

Rolando Ames Codram
Professor of Political Science, Catholic University of Peru

Alberto Arciniegas
Former President, Supreme Council of Military Justice

Javier Diez Canseco
Member of Congress

Julio Cotler Dolberg
Researcher, Associate of the Institute of Peruvian Studies

Juan Jose Gorritti Valle
Secretary General of the Peruvian Confederation of Workers

Alfonso Grados Bertorini
Former Minister

Agustín Haya
Former Member of Congress

Gloria Helfer
Former Minister of Education

Sofía Macher
Executive Secretary, National Coordinating Committee for Human Rights

Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Former Human Rights Ombudsman

Francisco Soberón
Vice President, Internacional Federation of Human Rights

Henry Pease García
Second Vice-President of Congress

Uruguay
Eduardo Galeano
Writer

Venezuela
Simón Alberto Consalvi
Former Minister of Foreign Relations
Venezuela

Carlos Ayala
Former President, Interamerican Commission on Human Rights
Venezuela

Julio Borges
Representative to the National Assembly for Justice First
Venezuela

Pedro Nikken
Former President, Inter-American Court for Human Rights
Venezuela

Rodrigo Penso Crazut
President of the Andean Consultative Labor Council
Venezuela

Luis Ugalde, S.J.
Rector of the Catholic Univeristy "Andrés Bello"
Venezuela