Powerful Call for a Sovereign and Anti-Imperialist Latin America

summary of the Political declaration

The declaration of the III Social Summit of the Peoples, held in Santa Marta, brings together diverse social, Indigenous, feminist, youth, labour and environmental movements from across Latin America and the Caribbean to reaffirm their commitment to building the region as a genuine Zone of Peace based on sovereignty, self-determination and social, economic and cultural integration. The text situates the Summit in the context of a global capitalist crisis, the decline of US hegemony and the emergence of a multipolar world, arguing that Latin America and the Caribbean have a strategic role in shaping a fairer international order.

The Summit denounces the advance of the far right, imperialism, colonialism and Zionism, and expresses solidarity with peoples under attack — especially Palestine, as well as Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and others. It calls for an end to blockades and foreign aggression, supports decolonization struggles such as those of Puerto Rico and the Malvinas, and demands urgent regional mobilisation to defend sovereignty.

It proposes creating an internationalist humanitarian contingent supported by Global South structures such as BRICS Plus, urges Colombia to present a “Uniting for Peace” resolution at the UN, and supports a participatory Constituent Assembly process in Colombia. The Summit also seeks permanent dialogue with CELAC and aspires to become a consultative mechanism within it.

The declaration outlines a broad mandate: defending decent work and migrant rights; advancing intersectional and emancipatory feminisms; promoting agrarian reform, food sovereignty and regional reindustrialisation; ensuring environmental and climate justice; confronting transnational corporate power; opposing Free Trade Agreements and investor–State arbitration; building a new financial architecture with BRICS; strengthening youth participation; ensuring technological and communication sovereignty; securing the right to health through pharmaceutical autonomy; and defending Indigenous rights, including the cultural protection of the coca leaf.

Ultimately, the Summit positions itself as a collective effort to defend Latin America and the Caribbean from imperialist threats and to advance a democratic, sovereign and peaceful model of regional integration grounded in social and environmental justice.