A new political space wanting to shape the future of Latin America was born in Mexico City on 1 November 2023. In an unprecedented meeting, more than 30 organisations, leaders and young people from Latin America gave life to the Free America Forum. A space to defend an agenda of Freedom and Democracy, as an alternative to the populism of the Puebla Group and the Sao Paulo Forum.
“Those of us who believe in the ideas of freedom and democracy are more and we are also better,” said Mexican Congresswoman Mariana Gómez del Campo, president of ODCA, when she opened the Free America Forum.
This group, together with political leaders from 18 Latin American countries, parliamentarians from Ukraine, Germany, the European Parliament, political representatives from the United States, civil society activists and human rights defenders, ratified their commitment to freedom and democracy.
The result of this first meeting was the signing of the Mexican declaration “For a Free America”, which alerts the world to authoritarianism and its consequences in the region, the need for respect for democratic principles such as free elections, the separation of powers, the need for independent justice, limits to the actions of those in power and respect for human rights.
As part of this declaration, the Free America Forum warns how the conditions of poverty and inequality have been “breeding grounds” for populist alternatives and how we must focus on “the integral development of the people”, guaranteeing a free and competitive economy. In the fight against organised crime, he called for the use of “the full force of the law and the rule of law”, rejecting “radically any negotiation and complicity with those who extort, steal, kidnap, murder and sow terror on the continent”.
In the face of human rights violations, they expressed their support and solidarity with the peoples of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua as “sister nations that Bolivarian socialism has subjected to atrocious dictatorships and suffering”. The declaration also condemns the “unjustified aggression” of Vladimir Putin’s Russia against Ukraine.
This new space linking defenders of democracy around the world was created to counterbalance those who venerate and validate dictators and promote authoritarian narratives.
This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.