The Hiroshima Flame for the abolition of nuclear weapons was successfully carried from 6th to 12th November with the journey starting in Paris and ending in Perpignan, with stops in Saintes, Saint-Pierre d’Oléron, Bordeaux, Agen, Cahors, Toulouse and Carcassonne. This trip, carried out in sometimes difficult outdoor conditions, provided the occasion with some remarkable events and exchanges of great human warmth.
The team escorting the Flame crossed South-West France and joined the World March for Peace and Nonviolence base team in Barcelona on 13th November. The base team, who set off from Wellington (New Zealand) on 2nd October, were in Rome the day before and in Berlin the day before that where they were welcomed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. This March, the first of its kind in the history of humanity, uses all possible means of transport – foot, bicycle, motorbike, car, train, boat, plane, in order to provoke a mobilisation in favour of a peaceful, nonviolent and united solution to the problems that mankind must resolve.
In Barcelona, a thousand demonstrators (according to police) showed up to support peace, nonviolence and nuclear disarmament in an enthusiastic atmosphere in the area between the University Square and Arc de Triomphe. A big meeting was held at the Arc in front of an international audience which included an important French delegation.
Rafael de la Rubia, founder of Mundo sin Guerras and initiator of the World March, explained the aim of this march, then each member of the international team, of which there are about 20 people, explained the intentions of their participation.
With regards to France, capable of killing nearly a billion people with their nuclear weapons, Jean-Marie Matagne, President of Citizens Action for Nuclear Disarmament and Eric Bastin, spokesman for A World Without War and Violence, highlighted that their country should participate with more conviction in the process of abolition of nuclear weapons set out by President Obama, all with regard to the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on 25th September 2009. They passed the torch that crossed France to the team of international marchers for it to continue its journey until it reaches the foot of the Andes Cordillera on 2nd January 2010.
The Hiroshima Flame, after stopping in Argentina, will go on to New York where there will be a huge demonstration for the abolition of nuclear weapons in May 2010. The 8th Review Conference for the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which will be decisive in the process of nuclear disarmament and for humanity also, will be held there.
For more information, please visit: www.marchemondiale.fr and www.acdn.net.
*(Translation provided by Heather Armiatge)*
