Culture and Media

Mario Luis Rodríguez Cobos, Silo, died in Mendoza, Argentina on the 16th of September 2010 but none of the big European newspapers (nor the television channels) reported this fact. They therefore silenced the great initiatives and humanist proposals which came from the other side of the Atlantic and which are still there, constructing *“life to come”*.

Silent and humble: Silo lost in the huge auditorium, was the visible leader of the great humanist movement which celebrated an International Encounter in Quito. I attended keen to learn about his ideology, to contact his kindred humanists from the five continents; Tomás Hirsch, the Latin American humanist spokesperson, Giorgo Schultze, Rafael de la Rubia.

Here we transcribe the entirety of these lines by “Guri”, the owner of the ice-cream parlour in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza, Argentina. “About the death of Silo”, in which he recounts his 25 year relationship with Mario Luis Rodríguez, Silo, who always bought his ice-creams and ate them on the terrace of his ice-cream parlour.

The ceremony for Silo’s departure took place on Friday 17th September, in the city of Mendoza, in the presence of his friends and loved ones who attended from different parts of the world. Pressenza has released a video of this event. Now Silo’s disciples will spread the ashes in 20 Parks for Study and Reflection in America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

Following the death of Mario Luis Rodríguez Cobos (better known as Silo), the humanist organization Convergence of Cultures will pay tribute to its source of inspiration on October 2nd next, coinciding with the International Day of Non-Violence. They will participate along with other organizations inspired by his ideas, in ceremonies that will take place in different countries.

Silo’s spiritual dimension is inexhaustible and his death leaves us with a teaching whose scope, both unpredictable and vast, is difficult to measure. This phrase, uttered in these very complex and clichéd times, seems to speak of someone with an opinion on anything and everything; but Silo did not have anything to do with what is in the media, nor was he a stage act.

Silversmith Mr Chung Wei-wen is a Taiwanese working independently in the foothills above Taipei, producing silver accessories and teapots. Highly skilled and with strong demand for his artifacts, with his teapots he tries to reach into the mind of his clients with his more humanistic philosophy that pits itself against today’s profligacy and materialism.

*I got the emailed news from Santiago, Chile, about noon simply saying: “Mario leave this world this night. A big and warm hug. Luis Felipe”. This is my long time pal in the Humanist Movement and I was to hear that over forty of our friends were gathered in his apartment at the time of the emailing. I had not seen Silo personally since the Spain meeting around the year 2000.*

The following are the notes of the open talk by Fernando Alberto García at the meeting place of Humanist Rebellion base team of The Community for Human Development (Frías 262, Buenos Aires, Argentina), on Saturday August 28, 2010.
It is based on talks Fernando had with our friends in India during July of the same year.

The Argentine film “Cuestion de principios” (A Question of Principles) by Rodrigo Grande opens the 5th Latin American Cinema Festival in Sydney on Wednesday, which will screen over 60 movies in almost 20 days.
“Cuestion de principios” is inspired by the book of the same title by the late writer Roberto Fontanarrosa, who helped the filmmaker with the script.