Original: Spanish
Background:
1. At its twenty first Congress in Paris in November 1999, the Socialist International reaffirmed as its priority the fight against organised crime, international drug trafficking and money laundering.
2. The same meeting resolved to urge Colombia to persevere in all its efforts to achieve peace and a Permanent Committee was set up to monitor this.
3. In March 2001, 11 progressive political parties from countries neighbouring Colombia, meeting in Panama, decided to support the peace negotiations in Colombia, to seek a peaceful outcome to the conflict and also to persuade the international community to strengthen and widen the fight against drug abuse, drug trafficking and money laundering.
4. At its meeting in Buenos Aires on 11 June, SICLAC approved the document entitled Deepening Democracy, which examines common policies and strategies for creating a society of opportunity for all in which peace and safety are guaranteed.
5. For peace and safety to be ensured in Colombia a solution has to be found to the problem of drug trafficking and drug abuse all over the world. It is necessary, therefore, to review the results of the worldwide struggle against this scourge, including the so-called "Colombia Plan".
Resolves:
To support the proposal of the Colombian Liberal Party for a World Summit Against Drugs with the aim of defining new strategies and looking at new ways of tackling this issue.
To launch a process of preparation, information gathering, consultation with governments, experts in the field and other international organisations for the purpose of preparing fully for this Summit.
To send a delegation from the Socialist International, following the internal consultation aimed at selecting a single candidate from the Liberal Party for the Presidency of the Republic, to hold a meeting of the Committee in the country in April 2002 and arrange for the summit to be held during the period of the presidency which begins in August 2002.