South America

Exactly one year ago, Pressenza was relaunched as an international press agency exclusively dedicated to peace and non-violence. The place and the occasion could not have been more inspirational. We were in the Park for Study and Reflection in Punta de Vacas, on the mountain frontier between Argentina and Chile for the symposium “Ethics in Knowledge”.

Activists from all over the world participated in Climate Action Day events that ranged from a human sun symbol to a show of flags from mountaintops. They called for an exigent, fair, and binding agreement based on the most recent scientific data that would be enforced rigorously enough to meet the target of an atmospheric CO2 level of 350 ppm.

Human rights and youth organizations, among them the Youth Network of Medellín (RJ) and the Foundation for Journalists for Peace (FUPERPAZ), are taking actions to highlight the role played by all of the conscientious objectors to the obligatory military service in Colombia. As such, they are trying to confront the militarization and violence that youth suffer in that country.

The proposal to include nutrition as a human right in the Federal Constitution of Brazil was passed in the first round by the House of Representatives with an overwhelming majority. This ammendment will be included among social rights already established in the Constitution: health, education, employment, and housing.

After Silo and the participants in the World March for Peace and Nonviolence received from the Nobel Prize winners, in the Berlin Summit, the mission of making widely known the ‘Charter for a World without Violence’, the Chilean organisers of this initiative were received at La Moneda to put up the text in the Patio de los Naranjos.

The Manta and Montecristi Declaration, which emerged from the international event held in Ecuador in support of the passage of the Peace Boat, asks governments throughout the world for the abolition of nuclear arms, the dismantlement and recycling of foreign military bases, and the implementation of peace constitutions such as those that exist in Ecuador, Japan, and Costa Rica.

The Peruvian Government has sent four ministerial delegations to various South American countries to put into practice a proposal made by Alan Garcia, the President of Peru, at the last South American Union of Nations meeting. The Proposal is promoting a commitment to non-aggression, with the aim of ending the huge arms purchase in a continent seeking to eradicate poverty.

A report prepared by Marco Gandásegui, professor at the University of Panama and researcher associated with the CELA, demonstrates that the United States approved a military budget of 626 billion dollars in October 2009, the highest sum for a country in all of history. Alarming statistics and tendencies for a world that is on the brink of a possible nuclear tragedy.

With the help of well-known personalities from the world of culture, politics and media, the organization World Without Wars in Argentina held a dinner show at the Armenian Center of Buenos Aires, which had a full house: 400 people contributed to secure resources that will be used for the televised broadcast of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

October 27, before departing for a European tour, singer-composer Gilberto Gil announces his support endorsing The World March for Peace and Nonviolence on its international campaign for peace and disarmament. The former Minister of Culture declares: “Peace is a daily task of construction, laying the foundation brick by brick, maybe one day it will start growing…”