Opinions

The victory of the right in last elections in Chile has stirred reflections on the crisis of the left. Of the 15 countries in Europe that had leftist governments in 1992, only 5 do today, and of these 3
-Portugal, Spain, and Greece- presently find themselves in grave financial and social difficulty. For people under 50 it is hard to grasp how deep the roots of this crisis go.

China has come under fire for its use of the death penalty – and for failing to publish official figures on capital punishment. Amnesty International has produced an annual report criticizing Beijing, and urging the government to be more transparent. Fewer people were executed in 2009 than in previous years, according to the document.

**Support for nuclear disarmament has spread to the heart of the Atlantic alliance and beyond.**

Obama’s call for a nuclear-weapons-free world in Prague unleashed a great outpouring of support from international allies and grassroots activists demanding a process to actually eliminate nuclear weapons. One recent and unexpected initiative has come from America’s NATO allies.

We often in the peace movement are in a reactive mode. But in order to successfully achieve our goals of ending war we have to flip the switch and become more proactive and force those in power to be reacting to us. Unless we begin to have a strategic discussion within the peace community then this will not likely happen.

In my country the state is ruled by those who have fallen into the traps of delusion and mediocrity, in a world that has reduced human rights into gruesome figures and statistics of politics and economy. The very sacredness of life and liberty has become an elusive and quite expensive concern. Human rights has become a privilege for a few at the expense of a broad humanity.

Journalist Luis Ammann points out that 2010 may be the tensest year in Argentine-British relations since the 1982 war and the Argentine government must demonstrate the temper necessary to place its actions in a non-violent framework. Recently, the United Kingdom unilaterally authorized the search for petroleum in the islands’ undersea platform.

Haiti has suffered a massive blow, an earthquake for which its infrastructure was not prepared, after decades—no, centuries—of military and economic manipulation by foreign governments, most notably the United States and France. Earthquakes alone do not create disasters of the scale now experienced in Haiti. The wealthy nations have for too long exploited Haiti.

We need to promote inter-cultural thought of diversities, open our minds to change, diversity and unconventionality. School and society need a pedagogic conception of ‘world understanding’ to oppose racism, intolerance and incomprehension in all their forms where the identity of others is trapped in negative stereotypes.

The recent statements of singer Morgan, who openly admits having used cocaine as an “anti-depressant”, are a clear example of how today’s society no longer accepts any sort of problem or concern: everything has to be “subdued”; a pill will make all troubles magically disappear. Young people especially, are the main target of campaigns that endorse these people as role models.

Alyn Ware, winner of a 2009 right-livelihood award promotes the Nuclear Weapons Convention and vegetarianism in his acceptance speech, at the award dinner in Sweden. He attacks the weapons industry and calls on individuals to act locally while thinking globally to tackle the threat of nuclear weapons and climate change. “It is a minority who are spoiling it for the rest”.