Politics

From 25 to 31 October, Jamaica will be the seat of the V Ministerial Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean on Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas. This Summit’s priority will be to encourage a reassessment of agriculture and the rural environment, in the face of development challenges and to favour urban-rural integration for improved development in those countries.

A group made up of Estonian Liberal and Green Party MPs, led by Toomas Trapido, welcomed the World March base team to Tallinn. Rafael de la Rubia, spokesperson for the march, presented the Parliament with the March Manifesto, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol and the *Charter for a World without Violence* drafted by Nobel Peace Laureates.

On October 25th, “The March for Equality” concluded in Madrid, having begun on September 23 in Barcelona. It finished with a protest against reform of the Immigration Law. The protest came to a close with the reading of a declaration that lists reasons for opposing this law, which is presently going through the parliamentary process.

As the centerpiece for Fall of Berlin Wall Celebration, convening in Berlin, Germany, 9-11 November 2009, the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will join heads of state and government invited by the German government for the national celebration.
Chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev and Walter Veltroni, co-chairman of the summit, the event is hosted by the City of Berlin.

The five anti-nuclear activists who used their bodies to peacefully block access to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston last autumn, told Reading Magistrates’ Court during their trial that they were acting in a non-violent way in order to prevent future war crimes involving nuclear weapons.
More details can be found at: www.tridentploughshares.org

Including the Mayor of Moreno, now more than a dozen cities in Argentina have endorsed the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. Mayor Arregui, in his message announcing participation in the initiative, which he made in the La Reja Park of Study and Reflection in Moreno, Buenos Aires, called on others to work “hard in the fight against violence and for world peace”.

Every year the United Nations organises this week to coincide with the anniversary of its founding. The aim is to raise awareness among all of the UN’s member states of the danger posed by the arms race, to propagate the need to put an end to it and to foster a better public understanding of the urgent task of disarmament.

CND welcomes the decision by politicians in Plymouth to oppose plans for a nuclear waste factory in the center of their city.
In preparation for a major protest demonstration march on Saturday 31st October, Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, welcomed the decision of Plymouth Council leader to challenge nuclear dump at Plymouth’s Devonport Dockyard.

The Nobel Peace Prize that U.S. President Barack Obama recently received continues to provoke strong debate. Writers, ambassadors and institutions have opined on the controversial choice. What is certain is that, with this award, it is hoped that Obama makes a contribution to the strengthening of Peace in his country and in the world.

Rural and indigenous movements, along with teacher, student and worker organizations declared their rejection of the agreement, which could be signed on 30th October, between the Governments of Panama and the United States to reinstall military bases. The project falls under Plan Colombia, now the Mérida Initiative, designed by the North American Government.