Letter on the Fifth Summit of Presidents of the Amazon and the Amazonian Dialogues

The Amazon, April 25, 2025

Mr. Gustavo Petro
President of the Republic of Colombia

Ms. Laura Camila Sarabia Torres
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia

Ms. Lena Yanina Estrada Añokazi
Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia

Mr. Guillermo Rivera
Representative of Colombia to ACTO

Ambassadors of Colombia in the Amazonian countries

Ref. V Summit of Presidents of the Amazon and the Amazon Dialogues

Dear Sirs

While congratulating the government and people of Colombia on hosting the V Summit of Presidents of the Amazon in August, and aware that your government, as the host country, is responsible for organizing spaces for dialogue between civil society and representatives of the governments of the Amazonian countries, we would like to share with you some of the criteria shared by the Amazonian networks that participated in the Belém Amazonian Dialogues, organized in 2023.

We believe that the Amazonian Dialogues held during the IV Summit of Presidents of the Amazon were a very positive experience that should serve as a basis for the Amazonian Dialogues that your government will organize in Colombia. At the Belém Amazonian Dialogues, several events took place for the first time that we wish to highlight:

• a) The development of the thematic axes and methodology for the Belém Amazonian Dialogues was carried out in a coordinated manner between six Brazilian ministries, led by the Secretary General of the Presidency, and eight networks, including the World Assembly for the Amazon, FOSPA, REPAM, APIB, and La Vía Campesina, among others.
• b) Dialogues were held between ministers from different Amazonian countries and civil society representatives in the main plenary sessions, which covered the following topics: 1) Land, territories, and peoples of the Amazon; 2) Health and food sovereignty; 3) Mining, hydrocarbons, and rights; 4) Climate change, forests, and deforestation; 5) Indigenous peoples and integration in the Amazon; and 6) Black Amazons. This debate was enriched by the holding of cross-cutting plenaries on women and youth.
• c) The implementation of 405 self-managed activities proposed by civil society organizations, which will surely need to be adapted to the reality of Colombia.
• d) The participation of six civil society representatives to directly express the main conclusions of the thematic axes to the presidents of the Amazon region during the Belém Summit.
• e) The publication of a 120-page report with the main conclusions of the Amazonian Dialogues.
• f) The adoption of paragraph 112 of the Belém Declaration, which welcomes the holding of the Amazonian Dialogues (Belém, August 4-6, 2023) and «takes note of their conclusions, which will also be considered by the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the ATT to decide on their progressive implementation and incorporation into the Organization’s areas of work.»

We believe it is essential that this new edition of the Amazonian Dialogues prioritize women and their diversity, given that their needs, demands, and vulnerabilities are a priority in the debate to build more just and equitable societies.

Likewise, we believe it would additionally be beneficial for your government to promote spaces for exchange between government representatives and civil society within the framework of ACTO, to see how progress has been made in the implementation and progressive incorporation of the suggestions from the Belém Amazonian Dialogues. We would particularly highlight the possibility of including in the declaration of the Fifth Summit of Presidentes of the Amazon a mandate to create a working group to design a mechanism for ongoing dialogue with civil society, which could be called ACTO-SOCIAL.

Based on the experience of the Belém Amazon Dialogues and the declaration of the presidents of that summit, the undersigned Amazonian networks would like to propose that a space for dialogue and exchange be held in June, in which we can share some proposals from civil society so that they can be considered in the process of developing the declaration of the Fifth Summit of Presidents of the Amazon.

As during the Belém Amazonian Dialogues, we are ready to meet as soon as possible with the representatives designated by your government to work together for the success of the Amazonian Dialogues of the Fifth Summit of Presidents of the Amazon.

Sincerely,

Pan-Amazonian Social Forum – FOSPA

Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network – REPAM

World Amazonian Assembly – AMA

cc: Martín Von Hildebrand, Secretary General of ACTO