Politics

The organization “Circulo Latinoamericano de Estudios Internacionales”, part of Abolition 2000, is pushing for the signing of a letter requesting the withdrawal of all US bases from Latin America. Until now, the signatories are artists, politicians, and professionals from Mexican civil society, but they are looking to extend the initiative to signatories from the entire region.

This Friday, October 16th, marks the celebration World Food Day 2009, started and sponsored by the United Nations. This year’s theme “Achieving food security in times of crises” seeks to highlight the seriousness of the problems facing food supplies in the world, as well as the effects of biofuel production and climate change.

As Nobel Peace Laureates and Nobel Peace Laureate Organizations will meet on November 10th and 11th in Berlin, Germany, they are preparing the open letter we publish here in order that it can be signed by all individuals and organizations who agree on its content and on the concept that “Violence is a preventable disease”.

Both parties to the Honduras dispute say progress was made during crisis talks. The delegations reportedly reached partial agreement on a proposal submitted by Costa Rican President Óscar Arias. His proposal involves the formation of a government of national unity and elections to be held at the end of next month, as they were planned.

The first ever Legislative Bill for a Department of Peace in the Canadian Parliament was tabled on Sept. 30. The Bill calls for a Federal Department of Peace, headed by a Cabinet level Minister. This Department should coordinate and promote issues such as Nuclear Disarmament, Human and Economic Rights, Peace Education and Prevention of Violence in Canada.

US President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday less than a year after he took office with the jury hailing his “extraordinary” diplomatic efforts on the international stage. The President said he was “both surprised and humbled” by the Nobel Committee’s decision. The decision is seen as an encouregement towards peace efforts in his nine months office.

On Wednesday, October 7th, activists from the Humanist Movement entered the Obelisk, a national historic site located in downtown Buenos Aires, where they hung an orange banner almost 50 meters long with the logo of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, accompanied by orange pennants. The non-violent direct action was widely reported in local newspapers.

A report produced by the humanitarian organizations Amnesty International, Oxfam, Greenpeace and Fundació per la Pau (Foundation for Peace) reveals that Spain is currently the sixth largest arms exporter, after the United States, Russia, Germany, France and England. According to the report, in 2008 Spain made 934 million Euros worth of defense material transactions.

Midday Friday October 2nd, pedestrians in downtown Sao Paulo leaving their offices to have lunch were surprised by the breath-taking performance of mountain-climbers Bruno Sellmer and Fábio Cascino, who with the help of their young sons, scaled the façade of the Light Shopping Mall and unfurled a 30-meter banner to launch the World March for Peace and Non-Violence in Sao Paulo.

Among the official ceremonies for Peace Day, and by invitation of the Government of Zambia, the World March for Peace and Nonviolence has been officially announced. During the opening ceremony for the March, the Minister of Information and Communications and the African country’s Representative to the United Nations have publicly joined this inaugural global march.