Declaration on Mexico

Meeting of the Socialist International Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, Bogotá, Colombia, 4-5 October 1999

Original: Spanish

The Socialist International Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, SICLAC, meeting in Bogotá on 4-5 October 1999,

Recognising:

That in the Latin American context, the progress of development and social justice requires an environment of constructive peace and the eradication of all forms of violence;

That the armed conflict in a region of the State of Chiapas, which has been taking place since 1994 has passed through different stages and has reached a point at which it is essential to re-establish a climate of dialogue and negotiation to find just solutions which will satisfy all sides.

Agrees,

To urge those in conflict to resume negotiations and re-establish a dialogue which will allow peace to be achieved with justice and dignity in the region;

To recommend that the agreements signed at previous stages of negotiation by those concerned, be complied with;

To demand that all vestiges of human rights violations be eradicated and to thoroughly investigate any reports of such violations;

To recommend that the rule of law be fully respected in order to prevent the operation or resurgence of paramilitary groups which may provoke conflict in the region.

The Mexican political parties belonging to SICLAC undertake to do all they can to create the conditions for the resumption of dialogue and negotiations aimed at finding peaceful solutions to the conflict in Chiapas which will be acceptable to those involved.