Pressenza IPA

Barack Obama is getting ready for his first trip to Moscow that will last from Monday 6th of July to Wednesday 9th. This is a re-start of a new area in the relations between Russia and the USA. Depending on those meetings is the future of the bilateral nuclear programme of disarmament and the anti missile shield affair (NMD) that the USA plans to build in Central Europe.

In this Summit a new treaty will be prepared in order to reduce the nuclear strategic arsenal of both countries, to replace the START-1 treaty that will expire on December 5th 2009.

North Korea made a new challenge today launching two short range SCUD missiles, from their east coast into the Sea of Japan, according to information from the local news agency, Yonhap.

Both missiles, with a range of around 500 km, seem to have been launched around 8 am local time (23:00 GMT) from a military base close to the coastal city of Wonsan located in the south east of North Korea.

The launch was made two days after the regime fired another four short-range missiles, also from the East coast into the Sea of Japan to coincide with US Independence Day on the 4th of July.

Whether in the Korean peninsula, in unstable Pakistan, or in the volatile Middle East, the risk of military or terrorist nuclear attacks is escalating daily. Yet one of the most real chances to rid the world of nuclear weapons is happening and will be won or lost far from the headlines.

Next week in Moscow, Presidents Medvedev and Obama could make history by agreeing to reduce their nuclear arsenals and set the world´s course towards a nuclear-free world. A group of highly influential figures called Global Zero has presented a four-step plan to achieve that goal and, though it seems incredible, they are successfully persuading the nuclear powers that the world is more secure without nukes.

Soka Gakkai International (SGI) has promoted a worldwide campaign to ban nuclear weapons and has just launched a DVD and a book including testimonies of Japanese women who survived nuclear bombings that hit Japan during the Second World War. Their testimonies of the horror of nuclear bombings call attention to the clear present danger.

This morning, representatives of social and political organisations – the Patriotic Committee of Paso Ancho, the Bolivarian Circle Yamileth Lopez, the Humanist Party, a few media such as Reuters and Pressenza, as well as citizens conscious of the importance of solidarity with the Honduran people – came to the Embassy to talk with functionaries and express their rejection of the coup d’etat in the neighbouring country.

The President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, has been taken captive by members of the military. In his recent speech to the OAS, he called on the population of his country to take non-violent options or civil-disobedience and calm organisation against the events that were being prepared.

Inaugurating the recent OAS Assembly in San Pedro Sula, President Zelaya spoke about nonviolence

“The topic of nonviolence is essential during this century. Violence has grown exponentially and has many faces. Nonviolence must be the guiding principle of society, of the state vis-à-vis citizens, and of the state vis-à-vis states.

Nonviolence must take the form of ongoing dialogue for the creation of a just, equitable, and inclusive world order, based on solidarity and respect for human beings, the dignity of individuals, and restructuring of the international community and its institutions.

Nonviolence is the principle of action that rejects force, which is the major cause of violence. While the causes of violence are numerous, as you all know, so too should be the responses and the actions of nonviolence.

This is the approach we must have in the short, medium, and long terms if we are to build a society based on other principles, principles that must steer our ways of acting and thinking in our society.”

During the event presentations were made about national and international initiatives for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. There were also testimonies by citizens who have endorsed the project.

Educators are promoting the declaration of the week from the 28th of September to the 3rd of October as the Week of Peace and Nonviolence in Mexico.

Russia is ready for deep cuts of strategic nuclear weapons in a new deal with the United States if the U.S. eases Moscow’s concerns about plans for a missile defense system, President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.