Region

Given the rise of religious fundamentalism and blatant attacks on minorities especially minority women.  There is widespread practices of discrimination and social exclusion of women from Dalit (untouchable) communities, despite constitutional guarantees of equality and decades of targeted interventions by government. 

With a farewell at the World without Wars headquarters in Madrid, the Spanish members of the Base Team got ready to leave for New Zealand, where the World March for Peace and Nonviolence will start on the 2nd of October. In this gathering they talked about some of the particulars of this adventure for peace.

Last Wednesday, in Rome, Umberto Veronesi and Luisa Morgantini took part in the presentation of the World March for Peace and Non-violence which will reach the Italian capital on November 12th. A delegation will take part in the World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates the previous day in Berlin. Silo has been invited to speak.

In a place known as Chile’s Garden City, the community of Viña del Mar, world famous for its Song Festival and named the 2007 City of Peace, will come together along with numerous regional organizations, institutions, and artists supporting the World March for Peace and Non-Violence to celebrate its kickoff in New Zealand.

The U.S.-drafted resolution called for further efforts to achieve “a world without nuclear weapons.” But critics of the resolution said it failed to include mandatory provisions that would have required nuclear weapons states to take concrete disarmament steps. The resolution also lacked any call on nuclear states to halt production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.

An exhibition of pictures by the Argentine painter Irene Montemurro has opened in Madrid, in the Hispanic-Central American Centre. The painter supports the search for liberty in women through vitally nonviolent experience. The exhibition, which will continue on until 1st October, is dedicated to the World March for Peace.

Montserrat Ponsa, member of the base team, has begun the World March in her hometown, L’Ametlla del Vallès (Barcelona), before leaving for New Zealand. Journalist and the only Catalan who will complete the entire route, she was accompanied in her personal first steps of the March by her neighbors, local and regional politicians, and representatives of various organizations.

Through the initiative of the Governor of the State of Miranda, Venezuela, a wood was planted to mark the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. This initiative took place on the 21st of September and children and adults took part in the planting, representing different sectors of society, in a simple and moving action.

The Indigenous Peoples of Argentina have publicly expressed their support for the new Audiovisual Communication Services Law. The new legal framework recognizes their right to establish themselves as communication service providers and has as one of its objectives “the preservation and promotion of the identity and cultural values of the indigenous peoples.”

After Manuel Zelaya took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Honduras, the de facto government unleashed a strong chain of increasingly violent actions. With tear gas and mustard gas, they leveled homes and offices of social organizations illegally arresting people. Meanwhile demonstrations of people mounted throughout countries in Latin America denouncing the violence.