1. Accepting our historical role and commitment as expressions of struggle of the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples and nations, Rom people (gypsies), Jews, Asians, migrants, internally displaced persons and refugees, and the various social players who resolutely combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, intolerance and other forms of discrimination.

2. Reaffirming those international principles, standards, rules and instruments relative to the promotion of human rights, in particular the United Nations Charter, which are based on the dignity and equality of human beings; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the American Convention on Human Rights, the United Nations Declaration on the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination; the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women; the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women; the Convention of the Rights of the Child; the United Nations Convention on Refugees; the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Disabled Persons; and the various Agreements and Recommendations of the International Labour Organization against Racial Discrimination and in favour of Equal Treatment and Opportunities for Migrant Workers and their Families, in particular Convention 169 on Indigenous Peoples.

3. Signalling that, however, the standards laid out in such agreements and conventions must be effectively applied, as their non-enforcement, discriminatory implementation or the failure to apply them universally and indivisibly to all peoples and individuals without exception, only aggravate the situations they are called upon to remedy.

4. Valuing the wealth and multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual and plurireligious contribution constituted by our peoples, we denounce, however, that this wealth is habitually denied, in fact and in law, by the dominant sectors in our societies. We reaffirm that this diversity can never justify discrimination based on sex, race, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation or disability.

5. Bearing in mind that the diverse forms of institutionalized discrimination –political, economic, legal and/or sociocultural– present in our societies violate the rights of peoples and individuals from the popular sectors, and of holders of diverse religious beliefs and sexual expressions, and segregate and discriminate by gender, physical condition, age, state of health, or on the basis of immigrant or internally displaced status, and create a society based on the exploitation of people and the denial of their human rights.

6. Considering that, in spite of the millions of people who are affected by racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the States of the Americas still do not acknowledge the daily evidence of these and therefore fail to sanction them or adopt concrete measures to help eradicate them.

7. Reaffirming the legal duty of States to uphold and respect the entitlement of all persons to enjoy all their rights, without distinction as to race, colour, ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, language, religious belief, or any other kind whatsoever; irrespective of their national origin, migrant status, social or economic position, descent, disability or any other kind of social condition; and reaffirming the role and duty of the international institutions and international cooperation to attain equity and global justice.

8. Affirming that the indigenous peoples of the Americas are bearers of collective rights which cannot be reduced to individual rights, and which must be considered as an inalienable condition of their dignity and historical and cultural identity. This is the condition that unarguably legitimizes the claim of the indigenous peoples to self-determination and to the legitimate enjoyment of their resources and dominion of their territories.

9. Signalling that the main victims of racism have historically been Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, immigrants, Rom people, Asians, Jews, refugees, exiled and displaced persons –the majority of whom are doubly or multiply discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation, age, gender, state of health, religious belief, social standing, national origin or disability– who together form the majority of the discriminated in the Americas.

10. We affirm that one of the most hidden forms of racism in the Americas is that which affects the Indo-mestizo population, who are denied the cultural recognition of their indigenous affiliation. We call upon all persons of indigenous or African descent to recognize their cultural tradition that has until now been submerged or dominated, and to claim their place in the universal and American struggle against the racism and discrimination which impair their right, too, to identity and social and cultural equality.

11. Assuming that diversity is a social, political and cultural reality, and that recognition and respect for difference is fundamental to the construction of democratic coexistence.

12. Recognizing that democracy is the structure which harbours ongoing dialogue in common understanding and consensus, respecting the right to diversity, we encourage the participation of civil society organizations on the basis of their capacity and representativeness.

13. Recognizing all persons as citizens with full rights on an equal footing, notwithstanding the recognition or denial of citizenship by States, we have agreed to declare as follows.

DECLARATION.

A.

1. We recognize that in this, our America, there coexist different races and cultures who joined the indigenous peoples, which makes us the privileged heirs of a very rich diversity.

2. We claim our right to our own interpretation and historical truth, and demand the recognition of the historical significance of the resistances, struggles and conquests of racially and ethnically discriminated peoples, and of all groups whose entitlement to defend and promote their human rights is hidden, nullified or impaired by threats or injury to them arising from racism, xenophobia, intolerance or other forms of discrimination. Likewise, we urge a critical approach to predominant revisionist versions of events, which have aided the concealment and denial of the past and present reality of exploitation, slavery, servitude and the holocaust, and also the lessons that arise from these experiences.

3. We condemn as genocide, ecocide and ethnocide, all ideologies and justifications of discrimination on the basis of race, migrant status, national origin, gender, age, ethnic origin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or culture in any field, whether governmental or non-governmental.

4. We declare that slavery and servitude of peoples descended from Africans, Caribbeans, indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups and sectors of society, the effects of which continue to exist under the wing of racist and colonialist ideology, were crimes against humanity. This conference recalls the right of the affected peoples to reparation and signals States as responsible for initiating reparation as a moral and ethical obligation which should guide national and international policies in their countries, and international agencies as responsible for administering and issuing such reparation.

5. We acknowledge that the system of supremacy and privilege of the white race, constitutes a fundamental component of structural racism, which has been created by the accumulation of wealth and status through a coercive apparatus. We demand policies which not only guarantee the rights of the oppressed, but also ensure the elimination of this privilege.

6. We resolutely condemn racist and xenophobic policies, practices and prejudices which are used to abuse immigrants and justify their economic exploitation and cultural impoverishment.

7. We condemn any cultural or legal intolerance that sanctions or segregates persons by discriminating or censuring on the basis of age, gender, religious belief, ideology, sexual orientation, disability or HIV-infection.

8. We condemn racial discrimination as a phenomenon that wholly threatens the survival of the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples in all aspects of our individual and collective integrity, our vision of the cosmos, our forms of organization and our cultural, spiritual and traditional values.

9. We condemn all acts of genocide, ethnocide and ecocide that result in the extinction or our peoples, and demand justice and punishment for the perpetrators of such acts.

10. We consider that racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia are directed in a differentiated and more profound manner against women, and exacerbate the precarious conditions and systematic political, social, economic and cultural exclusion of indigenous, Afro-descendant, migrant, internally displaced, refugee, gypsy, Jewish, Asian and Muslim women. We therefore exhort States to make this situation visible and contribute to overcoming all forms of discrimination.

11. We condemn those authoritarian, racist and sexist human reproduction policies which violate the reproductive and sexual rights of women.

12. We consider that racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia are directed in a differentiated and more profound manner against children and young people, and exacerbate the precarious conditions and systematic exclusion from the political, social, economic and cultural system of children and young people who are indigenous, Afro-descendants, migrants, internally displaced, refugees, gypsies, Jews, Asians or Muslims. We therefore exhort States to incorporate a child and youth perspective into all programmes of action against racism, racial discrimination and all other forms of discrimination.

13. We value highly the United Nations convocation for the world fight to eradicate racism, but we also regret the tardiness of this attempt, knowing that neither the adverse effects nor the responsibilities of this historical omission can be ignored. Likewise, we demand the prompt facilitation of the instruments necessary for compliance with this convocation, based on institutions and institutions that specifically address these issues in each of the countries.

14. We affirm that, by denying the existence of discrimination and racism, as occurs in the myth of “racial democracy”, governments and societies contribute directly or indirectly to reproducing and perpetuating these as ideologies and discriminatory practices, in flagrant contravention, moreover, of international rules.

15. We denounce all forms of racism and environmental discrimination which have repercussions on the health and quality of life of all peoples, especially the vulnerable sectors, indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. We particularly highlight the negative impact on the lives of women of multiple forms of violence in both public and private spheres.

B.

16. We denounce the fact that, in spite of the affirmation by the United Nations over fifty years ago, that "any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous," discriminatory models, values, and attitudes continue to emerge and multiply.

17. We reaffirm that contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance in our region are characterized by the imposition of the dominant ideology expressed by a longstanding ignorance, denial and unawareness of the historical effects and contemporary situations of general discrimination and intolerance that resulted from the conquest, colonization, slavery, and successive migrations.

18. We draw attention to the persistence of structural or institutional racism, which systematically excludes and marginalizes indigenous peoples from their right to territory, free determination, socioeconomic, political, and cultural development, and denies Afro-descendants and migrants, especially women, children, and young people, the exercise of their human rights and the benefits of development in education, employment, health, social allowances, etc. through discriminatory and restrictive public policies and legislation.

19. We consider that racism is a determining factor in the health of Afro-descendants and indigenous peoples. As a result of institutional and structural racism, the non-dominant racial groups, especially women, young people and children, suffer more illnesses and deaths, and have less access to health services.

20. We repudiate the dissemination in the media and in formal education of stereotypes and pejorative images of Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, women, migrants, internally displaced persons, refugees, Rom people (gypsies), Jews, Asians, Muslims and other groups affected by intolerance and discrimination.

21. We call for and encourage all legal and legitimate forms of cultural expression through alternative means of communication, as well as the public denouncement, rejection and boycott of products and mass media that transmit racist, xenophobic, homophobic or sexist content, especially when directed at a child audience.

22. We denounce the misuse and abuse of new communications technology, such as the Internet, to disseminate racist and anti-Semitic ideology and foment xenophobic and intolerant behaviour. We likewise call for the design of strategies to ensure the intelligent use of these new technologies, to place them at the service of the antiracism and anti-discrimination cause. For the sake of diversity in a pluralist society, we call upon States to pass relevant legislation and penalize practices that disseminate discrimination.

23. We propose that States collect, compile, and disseminate disaggregated data concerning participation in the criminal justice system by race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, and age, in relation to all types of crime and punishment, including the application of the death penalty.

24. We reject the hegemonic imposition of colonial legal systems that deny and annul the legal systems of indigenous peoples.

25. We affirm that the victims of racism, xenophobia and intolerance often face difficulties in defending themselves, and are thus doubly victimized. We likewise denounce the fact that Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, migrants, internally displaced persons, refugees, gypsy Rom people, Jews, Asians, and Muslims suffer grave discriminatory treatment in both the legal system and police proceedings, likewise that children and young people are particularly discriminated against in the exercise and defence of their human rights.

26. We call for efforts to be centralized and concentrated on building networks of legal defence to make enforceable the rights of victims of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism and discrimination. Likewise, to create systems of legal protection for the people in countries that do not have one. Such systems of legal protection existing in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Panama have created an international network for the protection and promotion of human rights, especially of migrants, in order to achieve concrete punishments for abuse, and overcome the current situation in which after the denouncement abuses remain unpunished, continue and increase.

27. We denounce the fact that the inhumane conditions of penitentiaries affect Afro-descendants, immigrants, indigenous peoples, internally displaced persons, refugees, gypsy Rom peoples, Jews, Asians and Muslims in a discriminatory manner.

28. We repudiate the discriminatory application of the death penalty; which is all the more condemnable because it is applied in a discriminatory manner to Afro-descendants, immigrants, indigenous peoples, internally displaced persons, refugees, Rom people (gypsies), Jews, Asians and Muslims.

29. We express our solidarity and support for families of immigrants imprisoned in countries which do not respect their visitation rights.

30. We repudiate all economic models which, particularly like the current model, in the form of unchecked neoliberalism, foment environmental racism, social inequity and economic, political and cultural exclusion, which jeopardizes human dignity, impoverishes the environment and natural resources, and reinforces and exacerbates the racist, discriminatory and excluding conditions that affect our peoples.

31. We draw attention to the fact that globalization has entailed the deterioration of the economic, social and cultural conditions of popular social sectors, especially Afro- descendant and indigenous peoples, thereby worsening poverty and social exclusion, exacerbating the inequalities between and within States, and countering the efforts that are underway to fight racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.

32. We recognize that Afro-descendant peoples, indigenous peoples and immigrants in Latin American and the Caribbean bear a disproportionate share of the burden of environmental deterioration caused by the actions or omissions of public and private agents.

33. We denounce and repudiate forms of racism and environmental discrimination that turn our living areas into wastelands of toxic waste and cause environmental imbalances, and also the use of substances that are harmful to human health.

34. We affirm that racism is also expressed through the actions of transnational corporations and multilateral financial agencies, and we call for the development of non-discriminatory directives by governments, international agencies and all the social players to address the modalities by which racism is perpetuated by market or private means.

35. We demand that States urge or oblige transnational corporations to design and fully implement codes of conduct specifically directed against racism, discrimination, xenophobia, sexism and disrespect for cultural diversity.

36. We ask that the action plans of States consider the need to fight racism on the domestic front, and incorporate the anti-discrimination perspective as a principle of the trade agreements to which they become signatories.

37. We consider that the unequal development of States in the world, in general, and in the Americas, in particular, encourages the forced migration of workers, under conditions in which their rights and those of their families are not respected, and we condemn all forms of violence against and trafficking of human beings, especially women and children.

38. We affirm that xenophobia in its current form in the Americas consists mainly of the rejection and abuse of migrant workers; and that as well being discriminated against as foreigners, they are singled out for discrimination by reason of race, ethnic origin and social class. Xenophobia thus constitutes a violent discourse that excludes and injures the affected party in every way. We request that all countries treat the trafficking of persons as a serious crime in their legislation.

39. We signal that xenophobia is particularly intensified by conditions of social and economic exclusion, in both countries of origin and destination.

40. We particularly repudiate the unpunished and lucrative business of migrant trafficking, and other abusive forms of organization of trade with migrant workers. It has even been observed that the institutional and legal vulnerability of migrants can subject them to situations which recreate servile forms of slavery.

41. We note and denounce the fact that States which receive migrants penaliz