Luis Macas, one of Ecuador's most highly-respected indigenous leaders, said the summit is a means of ''joining efforts to fight neo-liberalism, which runs directly counter to our communities, because it seeks to impose market values on the collective way of life that native peoples have developed over centuries.''

Macas, a founder and former president of the influential Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and a former parliamentary deputy, served as agriculture minister in the first six months of the current administration of President Lucio Gutiérrez.

''The sectors in power in the Americas and the U.S. government see the indigenous movement as a threat to the democracy that they defend, which excludes segments of society,'' said Macas at the opening of the summit.

Indigenous people, on the other hand, want a democracy ''based on coexistence revolving around the community.''

''In the community, we help each other, with solidarity, to build our houses, plant our crops, or build a road, and the decisions are taken collectively, in search of consensus,'' which forces everyone to participate with their opinions and suggestions, said Macas.

Out of a total population of more than 500 million people in Latin America, there are around 50 million indigenous people, 80 percent of whom live in poverty.

In Ecuador, ethnic Indians account for 30 percent of a total of 13 million people.

Indigenous democracy is ''inclusive, more participatory than the democracy in which one merely casts a vote that does not signify an influence in the later decisions of those who are elected,'' he said.

Macas was alluding to the case of Gutiérrez, who became president in January 2003 after promising an inclusive, progressive and participatory government -- pledges that he quickly abandoned once in office.

''He was elected with the support of the indigenous movement, but since he did not live up to his campaign promises, we had to pull out of the government,'' said the former agriculture minister.

Gutiérrez has applied policies that have had a divisive effect among the country's indigenous communities, complained Macas.

For example, the government has modified ''the decrees that govern the National Office on Intercultural Bilingual Education, the National Office on Indigenous Health, and the Council of Nationalities and Peoples of Ecuador, which used to be autonomous, and he has designated indigenous people with ties to his government, thus politicising those bodies,'' he said.

Since indigenous people began to organise, ''we have been building another world, which we will not do alone, but in unity with different social movements, and that is part of what the WSF is about,'' he added.

Rodolfo Fucops, a Mayan Indian leader from Guatemala, said the biggest problem facing indigenous peoples in the Americas are free trade agreements, which turn a blind eye to social questions.

In Guatemala, the free trade agreement signed this year between Central America and the United States, which is still pending parliamentary ratification, ''was not discussed with the indigenous peoples,'' who make up more than 60 percent of the population, said Fucops.

''The treaty's effects on the communities were not debated, although it is clear that it will have a major impact on national agricultural production, which will be unable to compete with U.S. products,'' he added.

The president of Ecuarunari, which represents the Quichua people and is the biggest member organisation of CONAIE, also expressed concern over Ecuador's negotiations of free trade with the United States.

According to Humberto Cholango, the indigenous groups will draft a document opposing the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the continent-wide project sponsored by Washington, and other free trade accords.

''It is important to work on a proposal for bringing together diverse political and social sectors at a continent-wide level to oppose the construction of the unipolar world that the United States wants to impose using economic instruments like the FTAA or (bilateral) free trade agreements, and political-military tools like the Plan Colombia'' anti-drug and counterinsurgency strategy, said Cholango.

The activist proposed the creation of a ''great Latin American alliance bringing together the indigenous movement, the different social movements, and progressive governments'' like those of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Argentine President Néstor Kirchner.

''That alliance could build an integrated Latin America to oppose the U.S. onslaught,'' he said.

Peruvian indigenous leader Miguel Palacín Quishpe, with the National Confederation of Communities Affected by Mining, also believes an agreement that Lima is discussing with Washington would hurt native communities in his country, where an estimated three million people out of a population of 26 million are ethnic Indians.

Indigenous activist Blanca Chancoso, president of the Ecuadorian chapter of the WSF and of the Social Forum organising committee, told IPS that the gathering which will run Sunday through Friday ''will be a democratic and pluralistic space, open to the participation of everyone who wants to share this commitment of building a different world.''

Economic analyst Alberto Acosta, a member of the Social Forum organising committee, said that ''Making an enormous effort, a group of organisations has convened civil society groups from throughout the hemisphere to analyse reality, share experiences in resistance, propose solutions to the challenges of the moment,'' and join together ''in the fight against neo-liberalism and all forms of domination and exclusion.''

''It is also a moment to share the continent's cultural wealth and diversity, with special recognition of the presence and vitality of indigenous peoples and people of African descent,'' said Chancoso.

The debates and discussions in the Social Forum will revolve around five main thematic areas. The ''economic order'' will include issues like human and environmental impoverishment, foreign debt, corruption, economic rights, and the construction of alternative models.

''The violent face of the neo-liberal project'' will focus on questions like U.S. hegemony, militarism, strategic control over biodiversity, sexist violence, and resistance.

In ''power, democracy and the State'', panellists will discuss questions like how to build democracy in a period of breakdown of international structures, and power dynamics and relations with international institutions at the sub-regional, regional and global levels.

''Cultures and communication'' will focus on cultural resistance, the construction of identities, critical and alternative language, and building democratic and participatory communication media.

''Indigenous peoples and people of African descent'' will cover areas like collective rights, territories, autonomy, diversity, multiculturalism, knowledge and intellectual property.

All Social Forum activities -- conferences, panels, workshops, artistic performances, indigenous and youth camps, and street demonstrations -- will be infused with a gender perspective and diversity.

The Social Forum has been organised with economic support from several international development agencies, universities in Ecuador, and the government of the province of Pichincha, where Quito is located.