Montreal, October 11, 2002

Lic. Miguel Angel Guerrero, Consul General of the Government of Mexico

Dear Sir,

The Social Justice Committee has worked for the defence and promotion of human rights for more than twenty–five years.

We would like to express now our solidarity with Mexicans and Central Americans who are protesting against the Plan Puebla–Panama.

As you know, many human rights organizations, campesino and indigenous organizations, as well as academicians of several universities, have organized international meetings to protest against this model of development that is being forced on the region. They complain about the displacement that different communities will have to suffer, the flooding caused by hydro–electric dams, deforestations due to thousands of kilometres of new highways, etc. In other words, a great number of people see the Plan Puebla–Panama as a source of poverty for the people and destruction of the environment.

In addition to that, people are complaining about the lack of participation in the decision making process. As you know, the communities have the right to be part in this process, to decide what kind of development they want for themselves, according to documents from the United Nations and from the International Labour Organization.

The Social Justice Committee, together with many other organizations from other countries, in North–America and Europe , agree with this analysis of the Plan Puebla–Panama and we wish to express our rejection of the plan and our solidarity with the affected communities.

Sincerely,

Karen Rothschild, Ernest Schibli, Gloria Pereira–Papenburg, for the Social Justice Committee