Pressenza IPA

On December 28, Peace Boat’s 68th Global Voyage for Peace will set sail from Yokohama on a 103 day, 17 port journey around the world. The voyage will take a southern route, visiting ports in Africa and Latin America, as those on board focus on global efforts to end poverty. Peace Boat sees 2010 as an important and symbolic year for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

A diverse group of social organizations have launched a campaign nominating the former Cuban president Fidel Castro for the Nobel Peace Prize this coming year 2010. The nomination is based on Cuba’s achievements in health, education and reduction of infant mortality, among other improvements made under Castro’s leadership.

Anti-nuclear campaigners from Trident Ploughshares group, London & Oxford Catholic Worker, Campaign Against Arms Trade, World March for Peace and Nonviolence and Kingston Peace Council dressed in white “weapons inspector” overalls and festive hats serenaded employees of nuclear weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin outside the US arms giant’s central London office.

And this is powerfully resonant in Latin America. In other words, people feel the tremendous violence of the impossibility to live in minimal living conditions that equate to a decent life. And the worst of the situation is the injustice of the distribution of resources that cause suffering to a huge majority of people and is accepted as “the norm”.

Obama attempted to justify his concepts of “just war” and “just peace” in a tense speech that veered between the idea that “war is sometimes necessary” and the idea that “war is an expression of human error”; between his ideals of non-violence inspired by Luther King and his role as Commander in Chief of a country whose army is currently embroiled in two wars.

Rafael de la Rubia, international spokesman for the World March for peace and non-violence, wanted to celebrate the International Day for Human Rights. He is doing so from El Salvador, where he is currently with the World March Base Team. In a press release, he proposes that the right to peace be considered a human right.

On Aug. 27, the SS Oceanic departed Yokohama on its 107 day journey around the world visiting 20 different countries during its global voyage for peace. Among the 500 participants on board are 10 Hibakusha (Atomic Bomb Survivors) from Hiroshima and Nagasaki who have shared testimonies with people around the world. On Dec. 11 the ship returns from the global voyage.

Different residents from the communities of San Marcos walked with the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. The residents made their concerns known to the Base Team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence about acts committed by the transnational company Union Fenosa in the department of San Marcos in Guatemala.

In response to a question by SF Dail Deputy Caoimhghin O Caolain, the Minister for Defence Mr. Willie O’Dea TD admitted that the annual cost to the Irish people to have 7 Irish soldiers taking part in the war and occupation of Afghanistan was €270,000.
Roger Cole, Chair of Peace and Neutrality Alliance, responds to him here.

Upon arriving in Mexico City from the United States of America, the international team was greeted with a colorful ceremony in which the following words of David Samano were said. After touring several Mexican states, the team continued their tireless travels towards Guatemala, where they are currently on route to Punta de Vacas.