South America

Children as young as 13 have been recruited, and boys as well as girls are at risk in the department of Vaupés, home to 27 different groups of indigenous people. Forced recruitment affects indigenous groups at risk of extinction. One of the most urgent cases is that of the Pizamira, whose members do not exceed 50 people.

Over one hundred religious, national, community organizations and leaders and academics today called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to “suspend negotiations for expanded U.S. military access or operations in Colombia,” a plan that has generated protest among Latin American countries, including Colombia, the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the hemisphere.

You live in a nice house in a tense neighborhood. Your neighbors haven’t been too pleased with you lately, and you have a terrible roach infestation running havoc in your house. But perhaps there’s hope. A big, strong guy lives near, and is offering help. He has big guns and says he has just the spray to get rid of those pesky roaches if you just let him crash at your place.

In Argentina, more former army officers have been found guilty of crimes committed under the military dictatorship. Former general Santiago Omar Riveros, who commanded the infamous Campo de Mayo barracks, received the heaviest sentence.

The junta led by General Leopolde Galtieri ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, during which time at least 30,000 people disappeared.

This talk was given by Dario Ergas on July 18th, 2009, to the Laura Rodriguez Foundation. It deepens on nonviolent responses, as a way of life, a search for the sacred, and the manifestation of what is truly human. It is mainly a moral act. Nonviolence is the force that will transform the world because I will transform myself in order to not become those with whom I struggle.

Latin American countries have agreed to hold a summit next month to discuss a deal giving US troops access to Colombian army bases. The agreement was reached at a meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in the Ecuadorian capital Quito where 8 of the 11 members participated. Alvaro Uribe and Alan Garcia from Colombia and Peru were not present.

The Center for Global Nonkilling is developing a series of partnerships and initiatives in Pernambuco, Brazil, one of the most violent regions in the world. With a population of 8,734,194 at least 10 murders occur every day, generating the highest murder rate in the country. In fact, the state’s capital (Recife) homicide rate is higher than Iraq’s.

A formidable group of professional film makers from all continents have resolved to document peace extending throughout all latitudes of the world. With their own scripts, these filmmakers following the World March for Peace and Nonviolence will develop, in the last quarter of this year, a documentary of the World March to be presented in the international festivals.

The United States today suspended their operations at the Manta military base, located on the Ecuadorian coast and is starting a process of definitive withdrawal from the facility it has occupied since 1999. Minister of Defence, Javier Ponce said that this is the start of the end until the installation is physically handed back.

Avaaz.org, a community made up of three million citizens, is calling on all residents of Latin America to sign a declaration which is to be sent to the negotiating table for the political conflict in Honduras. A formal request will be submitted to Oscar Arias, president of Costa Rica, “[in order for] the parties involved to be aware that the people of Latin America will only accept a political resolution based on democratic principles”.