CPNN

Once again this month we see on CPNN that Latin America leads the way towards a culture of peace.

Articles this month come from Mexico (6), Brazil (4), Colombia (2) and Peru (1) along with two articles mentioning Cuba.

Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberto Menchu is promoting the culture of peace in Mexico. She was the featured speaker at an international peace conference in Mérida from February 4-7. And she has signed an agreement to strengthen the construction of a new culture of peace in Jalisco. “I believe in peace as a culture, as education, and as dialogue. I believe in peace as the transmission of experiences and knowledge to our youth, to our communities who must become the next generation of our society,” she stated in signing the Jalisco agreement.

Mexican universities in Morelos , Colima and Mochicahui are engaged in programs for the culture of peace. According the the representative of the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos, educating for peace in higher education institutions is a shared need for all universities in the country, as these are spaces where professionals and citizens with social responsibility are trained. Also, in Querétero, the Basic Education Services Unit has trained 5,000 teachers to foster a culture of peace.

Music for peace is a theme in Brazil. Singer and songwriter Nando Borges has released the song “Culture of Peace” as a call for social awareness, valuing dialogue, empathy, and non-violence as paths to build a more just society. The festival Summer in Bahia featured many popular music groups uniting people and promoting peace and tranquility. And the successful process against racism in religious practice by the prosecutor’s office in Paraiba culminated in song with the Umbanda Hymn led by singer Mãe Renilda.

Also in Brazil the Center for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, mandated by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Ceará, promotes  a culture of peace, the prevention of violence, and the promotion of dialogue as a legitimate and necessary path to conflict resolution.

The peace process in Colombia is strengthened by the participation of women and indigenous people, as described this month by the photographic exhibition in Bogotá, ‘Equal Women: Transforming Territories,” and by an interview with indigenous leader Leonor Zalabata Torres. Torres explains that peace requires the recognition that water, air and land are the “common building blocks of collective life” and must not be subordinated to an idea of development that measures everything in terms of production or profitability.

The School Day of Non-Violence and Peace, celebrated primarily in Spain, was also celebrated this year in Zocalo Monclova and Yucatan, Mexico, and Holguín, Cuba. This day has been celebrated in Spain on January 30 since 1964 to commemorate the great prophet of non-violence and peace, Mahatma Gandhi who was assassinated on this day in 1948.

Opposing the North American blockade of Cuba, leaders from Caribbean states have called for humanitarian aid and a flotilla , sponsored by Progressive International, CodePink and other direct action and advocacy groups in the United States, is planning to bring aid.

In Peru the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations is training peace promotors to spread a culture of peace in their neighborhoods, communities, and workplaces.

Latin American leadership for a culture of peace is not new. As documented in my newly updated History of the Culture of Peace, they have taken the lead since this beginning of this history. .