Tag Archives: Latin America

Colombia: Conference on the Transition Beyond Fossil Fuels concludes with five key outcomes

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Minambiente, Colombia (translation by CPNN)

– April 29: In Santa Marta, Colombia, 57 countries met with 13 stakeholder groups, totaling more than 1,500 participants. The discussions focused on three key themes: reducing economic dependence on fossil fuels, transforming supply and demand, and advancing international cooperation.

The main conclusion of the conference is clear: this momentum must be sustained and efforts must be organized on a larger scale. This conference delivers five key outcomes that create a practical platform for working together and supporting one another to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels:

1. The second conference on transitioning beyond fossil fuels was announced, to be held in early 2027. It will be co-chaired by Ireland and Vanuatu.

2. A coordination group will be established to ensure continuity to the second and future conferences, strengthen links between initiatives, and avoid duplication. This group will bring together countries leading key transition efforts—such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Brazil, France, and the Marshall Islands—along with the co-host countries Colombia, the Netherlands, Tuvalu, and Ireland, and will be advised by the COP30 Activation Group.

3. The results will be shared with the COP30 Presidency to inform its roadmap. They will also be aligned with the COP31 roadmap and Action Agenda, and will contribute to the second Global Stocktake.

4. Three lines of work have been established to identify concrete ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and strengthen cooperation. Their structure will be defined between the first and second conferences. They will remain open and flexible, allowing countries to join or lead, with the support of existing initiatives and experts from the Santa Marta process.

5. The Scientific Panel on the Global Energy Transition (SPGET) was launched to support countries in moving beyond fossil fuels. This panel will contribute to the development of roadmaps aligned with the 1.5°C target and will address legal, financial, and policy barriers.

(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

(article continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

Sustainable Development Summits of States, What are the results?

(Article continued from the left column)

“We succeeded in bringing the world together. We decided not to resign ourselves to an economy built on the destruction of life; we decided that the transition beyond fossil fuels can no longer remain a slogan, but must become a concrete, political, and collective effort. When people look back in the future, they will not only remember this conference. They will remember whether or not we rose to the challenge of our time,” stated the acting Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, Irene Vélez Torres.

For her part, the Netherlands’ Minister for Climate and Green Growth, Stientje van Veldhoven, stated: “I can confidently say that, in recent days, we have laid the groundwork for concrete action to move away from fossil fuels. With such a broad coalition of countries and representatives from the private sector, civil society, and beyond, this is a group capable of making a significant impact. The countries convened in Colombia represent approximately 30% of global energy demand and nearly 20% of global energy supply. Together, we have begun to organize on a large scale to meet this challenge, committing ourselves to sustained, long-term participation. This transition will require navigating a complex set of economic, social, and technical challenges. The message for addressing these was clear: let’s get to work and support each other throughout the process.”

Final list of participating countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Luxembourg, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City – Holy See.

– – – – –

(Editor’s note: According to Greenpeace, “The landmark Santa Marta conference for the transition away from fossil fuels represents an important milestone on the road to long-term climate and energy stability.” According to the World Wildlife Fund, “Santa Marta tackled the toughest climate hurdle – turning ambition into action, while bringing all stakeholders into the conversation”. And according to Bill Mckibben, founder of 350.org, “Santa Marta Leads the World Into the Energy Future, while the US Clings to the Past.”

(Editor’s note 2: At last year’s COP30 in Belém, a group of 80 countries called for the design of a global roadmap to phase out coal, oil and gas, but it was blocked by large oil producers and consumers like Saudi Arabia, Russia, India and China.

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.

April 30, 2026global, Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTglobal, Latin AmericaCPNN Coordinator

State of Mexico: more than a thousand School Mediators strengthen a culture of peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Edomex Quadratin (translated by CPNN)

In the State of Mexico (EMX), 1,114 primary, secondary and upper secondary level teachers have been certified as School Mediators by the Judicial Branch of the State of Mexico, a strategy that has allowed to strengthen the culture of peace and improve coexistence within educational institutions.

Mario Alberto Montaño Delgado , Toluca regional director of the Public Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (MASC), explained that this figure allows schools to have trained personnel to detect, address and channel conflicts before they escalate to more serious situations.

He explained that School Mediators have tools to intervene in problems involving students, teaching staff and mothers or fathers, promoting dialogue and the peaceful resolution of differences.

They address school conflicts

“The greatest achievement is that today they have the largest and broadest structure, institutionally speaking, of certified facilitators,” Montaño Delgado noted, highlighting the growth of this support network in the educational field.

(Continued in right column)

(Click here for the Spanish original of this article)

Question for this article:

Mediation as a tool for nonviolence and culture of peace

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

(Continued from left column)

He indicated that each certified teacher acquires a different vision about conflicts and becomes a promoter of a philosophy focused on building peace within school communities.

He added that this strategy is being developed in a coordinated manner with institutions such as the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of the State of Mexico, the State Human Rights Commission and the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEMéx).

Bullying, the main problem

The official explained that School Mediators represent the first filter to prevent conflicts from reaching jurisdictional instances , with bullying being one of the main problems they face within schools.

He explained that when cases exceed the capacity for mediation, the Judicial Branch intervenes , through the Public Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms , headed by Magistrate Blanca Colmenares Sánchez.

In these cases, situations related to physical or material damages are addressed , as well as legal obligations arising from school conflicts.

Montaño Delgado explained that to obtain certification as a School Mediator , teachers must complete 120 hours of training, pass theoretical and practical evaluations, and subsequently renew their accreditation every five years before the Judicial Power of the State of Mexico (PJEdomex) .

– – – – – –

April 29, 2026EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin AmericaLatin AmericaCPNN Coordinator

National Autonomous University of Mexico: Academics suggest intensifying the construction of a culture of peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Impulso Informativo (translation by CPNN)

Peace requires a perspective that transcends geographical, symbolic, linguistic, and material borders, since they have often been spaces of exclusion and violation of human rights, said Fiorella Mancini, Academic Secretary of the Humanities Coordination at UNAM.

“In light of this, we are challenged us to rethink these limits and to analyze the possibilities of common forces,” he said at the opening of the International Seminar “Transnationalization of the Culture of Peace in North America.” The seminar took place In the Mónica Verea room of the Center for Research on North America (CISAN).

The academic meeting promotes dialogue between specialists from diverse contexts, for example, from the University of Notre Dame – which has developed models applied in more than 100 countries to promote programs in this field in higher education institutions – as well as the analysis of universal principles and local realities.

The meeting proposes a different and complementary perspective on the current geopolitical reality where democracy is backsliding and we are losing rights that were thought to have been won. We want to consider what is possible: resolutions, dialogue, and the challenges of integrating differences, Fiorella Mancini pointed out.

(Continued in right column)

(Click here for the Spanish original of this article)

Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

University campus peace centers, What is happening on your campus?

(Continued from left column)

New dimension

According to Juan Carlos Barrón Pastor, director of CISAN, this university entity works in conjunction with UNAM’s campuses in the United States (Chicago, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Tucson, Boston, and Seattle). This serves as the initial point of contact for addressing all types of violence and conflict experienced on both sides of the border. He said that the lines of research we develop take on a new dimension when viewed in light of building a culture of peace, since this is a way to reverse the growing violence in Mexico.

According to Leticia Cano Soriano, head of the University Program on Culture of Peace and Eradication of Violence (PUCPAZ), university efforts to achieve this way of life involve creating community, interweaving actions, knowledge and commitments, in order to propose alternatives for the formation of a culture of peace. (See CPNN article from April 12)

According to Anel Pérez Martínez, director of the Center for Foreign Studies at the National University, we must combat hate speech which is a powerful form of aggression. We cannot imagine a culture of peace without inclusive language, which contributes to critical thinking, she emphasized.

George Lopez, professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame and founder of the Krok Institute for International Peace Studies at this institution, contributes to this academic activity a model that consists of exchanges of American students with those from war zones or conflict zones.

He explained that his focus is on building a strategic peace where there is training in mediation, social resolution and community work.

The Seminar was organized by the Humanities Coordination; CISAN; Institute of Social Research; Faculty of Psychology; National School of Social Work; Center for Mexican Studies of the UNAM in Chicago and the University of Notre Dame (based in Indiana, United States).

– – – – – –

April 29, 2026EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America, North AmericaLatin America, North AmericaCPNN Coordinator

Caruaru, Brazil: The Conflict Mediation Program: Promoting a Culture of Peace

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Blog of Alberto Alves (translation by CPNN)

In Caruaru, the Government of the State of Pernambuco, in partnership with the company Coonsult and under the coordination of the Secretariat of Justice and Human Rights and Violence Prevention, is pleased to present the Itinerant Conflict Mediation Program, a revolutionary initiative aimed at promoting a culture of peace.

The Conflict Mediation Program is available to the public, completely free of charge. If you are facing problems with neighbors, disagreements at home or with your family, at work, at school, or even in consumer situations, know that we are here to help you find solutions.

(article continued in right column)

(Click here for the original article in Portuguese)

Discussion question

Mediation as a tool for nonviolence and culture of peace

(article continued from left column)

Our team of specialized mediators is ready to listen to all parties involved, and to facilitate a constructive dialogue that can resolve these conflicts peacefully, fairly, and out of court. Our goal is to promote peace in your community through mutual understanding and the building of more harmonious relationships.

Remember: dialogue is the key to conflict resolution. Don’t hesitate to contact us. We are here for you. Together, we can build a more peaceful and welcoming environment for everyone.

The Conflict Mediation Program is on your side.

Contact us today and take the first step towards a more peaceful and happy future. We are located at Avenida Amazonas N° 168, Caruaru-PE. Contact numbers: 81 9 9306-6418 / 81 9 9477-9425

– – – – – –

April 28, 2026EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin AmericaLatin AmericaCPNN Coordinator

Lifetime premieres Peace Peace Now Now, a documentary series about women’s resistance in Latin America

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Prensario (translated by CPNN)

The production, which consists of four episodes filmed in Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico with Daniela Vega, Yalitza Aparicio, Shirley Manson, and Ester Expósito. The premiere is scheduled for Sunday, March 8, coinciding with International Women’s Day.

Interview with protagonists of Peace Peace Now Now

The pay television channel Lifetime presented the documentary miniseries Peace Peace Now Now, a work that compiles testimonies from women who survived armed conflicts and situations of structural violence in Latin America. The production uses a narrative format where figures from film and music introduce stories of resistance and processes of seeking justice in the region.

The series is divided into four episodes, each focused on a country and a specific social issue:

Chile: Hosted by singer Shirley Manson, the episode addresses the story of La Cueca Sola. The story describes the organization of women who, after the disappearance of their relatives during the military dictatorship, transformed the national dance into a tool for public denunciation and remembrance.

(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions related to this article:

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

(article continued from left column)

Colombia: Actress Daniela Vega, who also serves as executive producer, presents the story of La Ciudad de las Mujeres (The City of Women) in Turbaco. This segment details the founding of a community built by women displaced by the conflict between guerrillas and paramilitary groups.

Guatemala: Guided by Yalitza Aparicio, the episode focuses on the Grandmothers of Sepur Zarco. The content documents the journey of Indigenous women survivors of slavery and sexual violence during the civil war, who initiated legal processes to obtain historical reparations.

Mexico: Actress Ester Expósito accompanies journalist Lydia Cacho. The episode explores the consequences of her investigations into child trafficking networks and the persecution that led to her exile.

The episodes were directed by an all-female team comprised of Javiera García Huidobro (Chile), Ignacia Matus (Colombia), Pepa San Martín (Guatemala), and Isabel Coixet (Mexico). The production was a global success, handled by BlackStar and Alto Andes Films. Regarding distribution on content platforms, the network confirmed the following schedule:

Episodes 1 and 2 are available on VOD systems starting March 1.

Episodes 3 and 4 will be available on the same platform starting March 8.

The series will remain in On Demand catalogs until April 30.

Following its linear broadcast, the production will be added to History’s official YouTube channel.

This technical and editorial initiative by Lifetime seeks to document collective responses to contexts of oppression and inequality, using television as a record of human rights in the Americas.

– – – – – –

April 23, 2026Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITYLatin AmericaCPNN Coordinator

National Autonomous University of Mexico: Encounters and Networks for Peace. Why Talk About a Culture of Peace?

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Gaceta UNAM

On March 25, the National School of Social Work (ENTS) at UNAM hosted the inauguration of the comprehensive project between Civil Society, Academia, and Government: Encounters and Networks for Peace. Why Talk About a Culture of Peace?

Photo: PUCPAZ

The event was organized by the University Program on Culture of Peace and Eradication of Violence (PUCPAZ), in coordination with ENTS; the University Program on Human Rights (PUDH); the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) Iztapalapa Campus; the Rosario Castellanos National University (UNRC); and the Undersecretariat for Peacebuilding, Social Participation, and Religious Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior. Services and Consulting for Peace AC (Serapaz) and the Don Bosco Foundation.

This university initiative seeks to build a shared, analytical, forward-looking, and critical action agenda, aimed at fostering dialogue, identifying best practices, and contributing proposals that inclusively promote progress toward an active society that weaves together knowledge and participates in building a culture of peace.

An Act of Resistance

At the opening ceremony, Leticia Cano, director of PUCPAZ, noted that this gathering is an act of living, everyday resistance, accompanied by dialogues and conversations about experiences, best practices, interventions, and significant contributions, stemming from the challenges faced daily.

“We neither start nor arrive from a vacuum; we reconnect with others in their own territories where the struggle for peace takes place every day, from within the communities, not to talk about them, but with them and from within them, because they are the ones who experience firsthand the contradictions of our time.” Carmen Casas Ratia, director of the ENTS (National School of Social Work), emphasized that it was no coincidence that the meetings began at this academic institution, given the close relationship between social work and a culture of peace.

She also underscored the importance of promoting a positive peace, based on justice, equity, and the satisfaction of needs, as well as addressing the structural causes of violence.

(Continued in right column)

(Click here for the Spanish original of this article)

Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

(Continued from left column)

For his part, Alfredo Sánchez Castañeda, coordinator of the PUDH (Program for the Development of Human Rights), warned that violence has surpassed the limits of imagination and disproportionately affects the most vulnerable sectors. “It is linked to multiple crises: economic, social, health, migration, and security, which poses the challenge of rethinking the role of educational institutions in peacebuilding.”

Carlos C. Contreras Ibáñez, from the Social Psychology for Peace Project at the UAM (Autonomous Metropolitan University), Iztapalapa Campus, emphasized the need to maintain a constant dialogue between academia, government, and civil society. The latter, in particular, has direct contact with communities and their problems, and maintained that peace must be understood as a collective process.

In turn, Diana Lepe Sánchez, director of Serapaz, shared a community experience that sparked reflection on the type of peace that is being sought. Peace, she said, does not imply silence, but rather the possibility of expressing and addressing the problems of individuals and communities.

José Antonio Sandoval, general director of the Don Bosco Foundation, agreed on the importance of strengthening ties with civil society organizations, whose experiences on the ground allow for a rethinking of peacebuilding strategies. He also highlighted the role of academia in deepening the analysis of community work.

Laura Angélica Cordero, general director of Social Prevention and the Reconstruction of the Social Fabric, representing Rocío Bárcena Molina, Undersecretary of Peacebuilding, Social Participation, and Religious Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior, celebrated the inter-institutional collaboration and noted that peacebuilding is not a recent trend, but a sustained effort. In that regard, she quoted Eleanor Roosevelt: “It is not enough to talk about peace; one must believe in it and work to achieve it.”

Ana María Rosas, general counsel of the UNRC, representing its rector, Alma Herrera Márquez, noted that education plays an essential role in peacebuilding, as it is a means to transform both those who receive it and those who provide it.

Human Rights and Violence

María Dolores González Saravia Calderón, president of the Mexico City Human Rights Commission, gave the opening address, in which she spoke about the challenges to peacebuilding and the guarantee of human rights. She distinguished between positive peace, which is lasting and based on justice, and negative peace, which is imposed and focused on security.

She also defined violence as the use of force to dominate or impose, and emphasized the need to build solutions.

– – – – – –

April 12, 2026EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin AmericaLatin AmericaCPNN Coordinator

Nonviolence International: What Cuba Taught Us

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An email received at CPNN from Nonviolence International

Dear Friend,

From March 20 to 23, NVI Co-Directors, Michael Beer, Sami Awad, and board member Mohammed Abunimer, joined the Nuestra América Delegation to Cuba as part of a much larger international convoy of more than 600 people from around the world. We came as activists, artists, influencers, faith leaders, and community organizers, united by a simple conviction: the Cuban people should not be left alone under an embargo that continues to punish ordinary life.

The delegation was supported by CODEPINK, Progressive International, Global Health Partners, and Busboys and Poets, alongside a wider network that included The People’s Forum, Cuban Americans for Cuba, and Global Exchange.

It was our first time in Cuba! What we witnessed was not theoretical, was not news reports, was not propaganda.

Havana looks like a movie set from the 1950s! The cars and buildings are stunning — but so run down. During our time there, Cuba continued to experience major electrical outages, part of a broader energy crisis that has left entire neighborhoods in darkness and placed immense strain on daily life. The blackouts are tied to the suffocating impact of the U.S. embargo, including restrictions on oil and essential resources.

In Cuba, this is not an abstract policy debate. It means hospitals under pressure, food and medicine at risk, transportation disrupted, garbage piled in streets, markets shut, restaurants closed, and families forced to survive with less and less.

And yet what we encountered was not defeatism. It was resilience. Generosity. Dignity.

People gathered in the dark. They shared what they had. They played music and sang in the streets. We played spirited mixed-gender ultimate with them (with donated frisbees that Michael brought). That spirit stays with us.

For those of us Palestinians, this was deeply personal. We met with and were inspired by Cuban students and others from around the world including Palestinians. We know what it means to live under systems designed to isolate, weaken, and break a people. We know what it feels like when your suffering is discussed from a distance while you are still living inside it. In Cuba, we recognized something painfully familiar: a people being made to pay the price for refusing to submit.

(Click here for another article about the convoy to Cuba. )

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Solidarity across national borders, What are some good examples?

(Continued from left column)

That is why this trip was not only a solidarity visit with medical relief and aid but also an act of nonviolent defiance.

This said, the convoy defied the embargo and carried real material support.

Around 20 tons of aid were delivered, including food, medicine, solar panels, and bicycles. The delegation we were part of brought thousands of pounds of medical supplies and over a hundred suitcases and boxes of humanitarian aid, all going directly to hospitals and health workers facing severe shortages.

After we returned, the delegation faced attacks and accusations meant to discredit the trip and turn solidarity into suspicion. We reject that.

People can debate politics from afar, but we know what we saw. The US has no problem engaging and trading with the communist parties of Vietnam, China, Nepal, and Laos. We saw a country under enormous pressure. We saw communities enduring blackouts and shortages. We saw doctors, families, churches, and neighbors doing their best to hold life together. And we saw hundreds of people from across the world choosing not to look away.

The embargo is not just policy, it is collective punishment.

What we carried back from Cuba was more than memory, it was clarity.

The Palestine and Cuba siege are connected, and so must be our response.
What can you do?

° Learn. Stay informed. Support organizations like the ones mentioned above.

° Refuse the narratives that justify collective punishment and oppose US unilateral sanctions on Palestine, Cuba and many other countries.

° Use your voice—in your communities, your platforms, your spaces.

° And find ways—big or small—to stand in real solidarity, including joining future delegations. Visit CUBA!

With Nonviolent Defiance,

 Mohammed Abunimer, Michael Beer & Sami Awad

P.S. Please remember to attend our round table Field Testing Israeli Occupation Tech: The Palestine Lab on Sunday, April 19, 2026 3pm ET and see films in advance. This Round Table centers the human impact of this experimentation, examining how Palestinian lives are used as testing grounds for weapons, AI platforms, and policing tactics later exported worldwide. Join the Q&A discussion with: Omar Zahzah, Jeff Halper, Antony Loewenstein, Hassan El-Tayyab

You must register to join the discussion & receive access to the films .

Nonviolence International : https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on

March 27, 2026Latin America, North America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITYLatin America, North AmericaCPNN Coordinator

Cuba Receives Solidarity Convoy from Europe

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from Cuban News Agency (translation by CPNN)

A contingent of more than one hundred activists, representing some 50 solidarity, political, and labor organizations from 17 countries, arrived Tuesday night at Havana’s José Martí International Airport with about five tons of medical supplies and other essential items.

This gesture of support for Cuba is part of the European leg of the Nuestra América (Our America) convoy, from which other groups will arrive in the coming days from different geographical areas, carrying similar cargo intended to alleviate the current tensions caused by the intensification of the policy of maximum suffocation applied by the United States government against Cuba.

Rigoberto Zarza, director for Europe at the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, explained that the shipment, valued at approximately 500,000 euros, will be distributed in coordination with Cuban institutions to four hospitals in Havana.

He specified that the initiative was coordinated by the Italian Agency for Cultural and Economic Exchange with Cuba and the call from the Progressive International, which resonated across various platforms. This allowed for the collection of contributions from some 700 individuals and several solidarity groups in Europe, with representation from Morocco and Algeria in North Africa.

(Click here for the original version in Spanish.)

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Solidarity across national borders, What are some good examples?

(Continued from left column)

He praised this action as being of great importance, not only for its material significance at this time from a medical and humanitarian perspective, but also for its awareness of the particularly complex energy situation facing the archipelago, which is also reflected in the shipment of photovoltaic systems

Belgian MEP Marc Botenga defined the presence on the island in these circumstances as a duty of solidarity with Cuba, which is a victim of Washington’s criminal policy of strangulation and which has historically offered its support to the rest of the world in other particularly delicate episodes.

He recalled the presence of the Cuban medical brigade in Italy during the peak of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and how its healthcare professionals played a decisive role in containing the virus in Italy.

“We are here to remind you that Cuba is not alone, that we stand with you from our countries and return this great solidarity!” he emphasized.

French MEP Emma Fourreau insisted that the first thing to do for the cause of the Caribbean nation is to speak about it throughout the world and how it is affected by the economic war being waged against it.

She pointed out that by experiencing the Cuban reality firsthand, they can be spokespeople for this struggle at the international level.

“The most important thing is to listen and learn what Cubans have to say; this is a first step, a symbolic action that will attract the attention of the rest of the world,” she concluded.

The Cuban ambassador to Italy, Jorge Luis Cepero, went to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on Tuesday to see off the members of the European Solidarity Convoy as they departed for Havana.

In statements to reporters at the airport, the diplomat emphasized the significance of the gesture, a demonstration of the close ties of friendship between the people of Italy and Cuba, and of the strong rejection in Italy of the genocidal economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States against the island.

– – – – – –

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on

March 18, 2026Latin America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITYLatin AmericaCPNN Coordinator

Benki Piyãko, Brazilian indigenous spiritual leader awarded Niwano Peace Prize

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Vatican News

The 43rd Niwano Peace Prize has been awarded to Mr. Benki Piyãko, an Indigenous spiritual leader of the Ashaninka People in Brazil’s Amazon. The Niwano Peace Foundation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, awarded the prize in recognition for his “sustained leadership in defending Indigenous land and culture and for pioneering reforestation and environmental protection over the past fifteen years.”

Ecology and community

Benki Piyãko founded the Yorenka Tasorentsi Institute and the Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference to advance education, community-based ecological restoration, and the transmission of traditional knowledge, mobilizing youth and communities for large-scale reforestation and biodiversity conservation.

In the press release announcing the prize, the Niwano Peace Foundation noted how he had become an influential voice for environmental stewardship in Brazil and internationally, “guided by Indigenous spirituality and committed to intercultural dialogue.”

The recognition of Benki Piyãko’s work highlighted his efforts to preserve the Amazon rainforest, protect Indigenous culture and spirituality, and educate younger generations about living in harmony with the Earth.
The prize also noted his work to show the importance of traditional wisdom, ecological responsibility, and global cooperation in addressing the climate and environmental crisis.

The award presentation ceremony will take place in Tokyo on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, where he will be given the peace prize certificate, a trophy as well as and twenty million yen.

(article continued in right column)

(Click here for an article in French.)

Question related to this article:

Indigenous peoples, Are they the true guardians of nature?

(article continued from left column)

The Niwano Peace Prize

The Niwano Peace Foundation conducts an annual international search for prize candidates “to honor and encourage individuals and organizations that have contributed significantly to inter-religious cooperation, thereby furthering the cause of world peace, and to make their achievements known as widely as possible.”
The purpose is to “both to enhance inter-religious understanding and cooperation and to encourage the emergence of still more persons devoted to working for world peace.”

– – –

Here are CPNN articles about some of the previous winners of the Niwano prize:

2023 – Mr. Rajagopal P. V. to receive the Niwano Peace Prize

2019 – CJP co-founder and first director John Paul Lederach awarded Niwano Foundation Peace Prize

2018 – Adyan Foundation in Lebanon to Get 35th Niwano Peace Prize

2016 – Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka, to receive the Niwano Peace Prize

2015 – Esther Abimiku Ibanga, Founder of The Women Without Walls

2014 – Dena Merriam, Founder and leader of The Global Peace Initiative of Women

2012 – Rosalina Tuyuc Velasquez: Constructing an Inclusive Guatemala

– – – – – –

March 14, 2026FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin AmericaLatin AmericaCPNN Coordinator