Region

At the last press conference before departing for Abu Dhabi, capital of the Arab Emirates, to the Football Club World Cup, the Argentine team Estudiantes de La Plata was declared Ambassador for the World March for Peace and Non-Violence, an initiative that travels around the world demanding nuclear disarmament and the signing of non-aggression treaties among countries.

The results of Swiss federal Referendums are, for the humanists of Switzerland, a black Sunday. It is not only a victory for the Swiss Peoples Party that promoted the prohibition of minarets, also fear
and ignorance have won. This is no positive credit, neither for
democracy nor for the Swiss population. Humanists are outraged and surprised.

Having obtained 63% of the votes among the 5.1 million eligible voters in Bolivia and 168,000 voters living outside Boliva, Morales becomes the most popular and most re-elected President. With this mandate, the first Assembly will allow Morales to draft an indigenous Constitution and reform institutions to reflect the will of the people as demonstrated by the election results.

Manuel Zelaya criticized the position of various governments, among them the United States, for supporting the efforts to “whitewash” the coup d’etat of June 28. In a letter to presidents of the Americas, to the OAS and to the UN, Zelaya referred to the countries that recognized the election carried out in Honduras under the de facto regime.

The conference was held from Monday November 30th to Wednesday December 2nd in the Centro Cultural de la Cooperación (Cultural Center of Cooperation) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The speakers, hailing from the spheres of academia, politics, and culture, gave talks on various aspects of the issue of foreign military bases in Latin America.

In a tribute to Martin Luther King from the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, Tomas Hirsch honors Dr. King’s dream. Mr. Hirsch spoke at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, and referred to present dreams for a world without nuclear weapons and without wars. He declares his disappointment for President Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan.

Members of the international team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence met with US Congressman Dennis Kucinich on Capitol Hill as well as staff members of Congressman John Lewis, Congressman Keith Ellison and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Congressman Lewis was to introduce a resolution in support of the World March to Congress that afternoon.

Ban Ki-Moon, U.N. secretary-general, designated American singer, Stevie Wonder, a U.N. Messenger of Peace. At a press conference also attended by the artist, Ban praised Wonder saying he was a “musical genius” and a “man dedicated to humanitarian causes who has campaigned against Apartheid (in South Africa), for children in need, and for people with disabilities”.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon received a delegation of the World March in New York and gave his enthusiastic support to this “noble” effort. Both parties offered to find ways to work together in the task of abolishing nuclear weapons. The March organizers agreed to adopt the Secretary General’s 5-Point Plan as one of its official documents.

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence arrived on the US west coast today, with events in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Red Bluff and San Francisco. In LA a March of over 500 people took to the streets in support of the global initiative passing through 100 countries to send a strong message to President Obama condemning his decision to increase US troop presence in Afghanistan.