The delegates of the national legislatures represented in the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA), currently being held in Ottawa, Canada:

Mindful that democratic processes must be strengthened to the utmost, particularly as instruments for the integration of the Western Hemisphere;

Reaffirm our firm conviction that the sovereign will of the people, as reflected in free elections, must be respected as the cornerstone for human development and peaceful coexistence;

We hereby resolve:

To express our support for the constitutional government of President Alfonso Portillo and the institutions that form part of the judicial framework of the Republic of Guatemala.

To repudiate any attempt to destabilize Guatemalan democracy, which will lead inexorably to instability throughout the Americas.

To urge the Guatemalan people to continue the democratization process which has as its sole objective attainment of the common good over private interests.

Adopted on March 9, 2001

We, the parliamentarians meeting in Ottawa, Canada, at the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas, hereby declare our solidarity with the Colombian people in recognition of their efforts to find a political solution to the armed conflict enveloping that country. In keeping with our role, we offer the FIPA as a possible international forum in which the various parties to that conflict may meet for dialogue, peaceful exchanges and achievement of the understanding necessary to halt the severe acts of violence to which Colombian civil society is being subjected.

Adopted on March 9, 2001