In the 17^th and 18^th of may 2002, the "Summit of Presidents from Latin America, Caribbean and Europe" will take place in Madrid, with Spain being head of the European Union.

In this meeting, the Spanish Government, as it has been doing in similar events in the past (like the two "Ibero-american Summits"; the "Table of Donors for Plan Colombia", in Madrid July 2000; the "Linguistic Forum of Valladolid", October 2001; or the "Meeting for Friends of the Peace Process in Columbia, Barcelona December 2001, …) , will try to assure his priority position in the trade with Latin America and to guarantee fruitful agreements for the Spanish trans-national companies operating in this continent, like BBVA (bank), Repsol(petroleum), Telefónica (telephones), … while the US and the rest of Europe will have an opportunity to make their profit as well.

Of course, the official goal of these meetings is to ensure the economical cooperation and cultural exchange, taking advantages of the "common history".

The countries promoters of Plan Colombia will also try to make sure the support of every presidential candidate in Columbia for this war plan, as well as their complicity in the war against "international terrorism", which includes the popular fights for dignity in Latin America.

Things like the third-world countries´ debt, environmental politics, the reform of the UN, human rights violation, drug traffic, etc. will be discuss in a framework where firms have much more to say than social organizations.

The "Transatlantic Parliamentary Assembly" will be created through the (forced) "approval" of the "Euro-Latinamerican Letter for Peace", in order to allow military interventions in these countries, wherever the expansion of northern capitalism finds opposition.

Because of this, many social organizations and solidarity groups related to Latin America and against this model of imperialist globalisation, believe that these anti-democratic Summit deserve a political and social collective answer. Our intention is to make visible the Latin America that they, from the offices of power, are trying to hide.

Our proposal is the Transatlantic Social Forum, as an alive non-predefined instrument of fight, which will definition will come from its first activity, the "International Encounter of Solidarity with Popular Resistance in Latin America" that is proposed to happen in Madrid, on January 2002.

forosocial@nodo50.org

Campaña contra el Plan Colombia, Campaña Estatal de Solidaridad con Cuba (Madrid), Casa de los Pueblos de América, CODEHCO, Comité de Solidaridad con El Salvador, Comité de Solidaridad con Guatemala, Comité de Solidaridad con los Pueblos, Colectivo 26 de Julio, Colectivo Ecuador, Colectivo Garibaldi, Colectivo Gramsci, Colectivo Gente de Barrio, Juntas