Peace In Colombia

UN speech September 23,2009 President Hugo Chavez part two

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HUGO RAFAEL CHÁVEZ FRÍAS, President of Venezuela, said that the night before, he had attended a screening of Oliver Stone’s new movie, South of the Border, in which Bolivias President Evo Morales was shown chewing coca leaves and saying, Coke is not the same as coca. Other Presidents of Latin America had been shown in various contexts, and the movie even captured United States President Barack Obama in Trinidad, chatting with a group of us, his hand held out, his face smiling. He mentioned the film because it could help decipher several enigmas of the times, chief among them the ideological warfare currently under way. Indeed, a geopolitical revolution was under way — a moral, spiritual, comprehensive and necessary revolution, he said. After centuries during which millions of people in Latin America and the Caribbean had suffered, the world had come to this moment. The revolution marked the beginning of a world renewed and it would only grow with the passing of time. As a result of that revolution, the twenty-first century would be the century of socialism. Even Albert Einstein had concluded that the only way for the human species to live on the planet was through socialism. Capitalism was actually a road to ruin, not allowing for change. By contrast, the socialism of South America, which was Indian-American as well as Bolivarian, was a heroic system that had to be made anew. Noting that former United States President John F. Kennedy had, just days before his …

UN speech September 23,2009 President Hugo Chavez part one

Posted in Peace In Colombia | 12 comments

HUGO RAFAEL CHÁVEZ FRÍAS, President of Venezuela, said that the night before, he had attended a screening of Oliver Stones new movie, South of the Border, in which Bolivias President Evo Morales was shown chewing coca leaves and saying, Coke is not the same as coca. Other Presidents of Latin America had been shown in various contexts, and the movie even captured United States President Barack Obama in Trinidad, chatting with a group of us, his hand held out, his face smiling. He mentioned the film because it could help decipher several enigmas of the times, chief among them the ideological warfare currently under way. Indeed, a geopolitical revolution was under way — a moral, spiritual, comprehensive and necessary revolution, he said. After centuries during which millions of people in Latin America and the Caribbean had suffered, the world had come to this moment. The revolution marked the beginning of a world renewed and it would only grow with the passing of time. As a result of that revolution, the twenty-first century would be the century of socialism. Even Albert Einstein had concluded that the only way for the human species to live on the planet was through socialism. Capitalism was actually a road to ruin, not allowing for change. By contrast, the socialism of South America, which was Indian-American as well as Bolivarian, was a heroic system that had to be made anew. Noting that former United States President John F. Kennedy had, just days before his …

MPC visits Nita Lowey’s Office.

Colombia – Solidarity

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The Comisión Intereclesial Justicia y Paz, partner of Development and Peace in Colombia, decided to act to help the afro-Colombian communities of the Chocó region. Thanks to the interventions of Justicia y Paz, communities obtained recognition of their land rights .Humanitarian zones, which the armed forces are forbidden to enter, were established. There is a lot still to be done, but the women living in these protected zones want to share some words of solidarity with Canadians .

Imaginacion EU Institutional Video. Social enterprise that later (in 2006) became The Imaginacion Foundation. A peace project geared to teach young excombatans and victims of the internal conflict in Colombia how to use their hands creatively to do good. A unique initiative that allowed former enemies to work together for peace in Colombia! This amazing project has been led by Adriana Arciniegas Rojas in Bogota, Colombia.

Flor Hilda Hernandez in NYC

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This fall the Colombia Human Rights Committee (Washington, DC), the Movement for Peace in Colombia (New York), Colombia Vive (Boston), and the Colombian human rights organization Asociación Minga have organized a tour to call attention to the plight of victims in Colombia’s armed conflict, and to support victims’ rights in Colombia. Our speakers are Flor Hilda Hernández and Pilar Castillo. Flor Hilda Hernández is the mother of Elkin Gustavo Verano Hernández, who was disappeared from his neighborhood in Soacha, near Bogotá, on January 13 or 14, 2008, and who turned up dead, assassinated, it turned out, by government forces, two days later. Elkin Gustavo is one of 17 young men from Soacha who were kidnapped and targeted for assassination by government forces motivated by promises of bonus pay for each guerrilla killed in combat in Colombia’s long-running war between insurgent and government forces. But he was no guerrilla fighter; he was a hard-working son and brother helping his family eke out a living. As a result of these false claims, he and the others killed in similar circumstances have been described in Colombia as falsos positivos, or “false positives.” In the terminology of international human rights law, killings such as these are known as “extrajudicial executions.” Since May 2008, Pilar Castillo has been working in the legal division of the human rights organization Asociación Minga, where she has represented victims in several cases of extrajudicial executions …

In this episode of Artsworld, sculpting in Madagascar, painting against the odds in Gaza, fighting for balance in China and how contemporary dance is helping to construct a culture of peace in Colombia.

Peace in Colombia is possible!

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Over 40 years of war in Colombia have caused one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world. As a result, more than 4 million people have been displaced, 15 000 to 30 000 people have disappeared, over 6000 people are victims of antipersonnel landmines and 20 000 people have been kidnapped in the last 10 years. The Social Department of the Bishop’s Conference, Caritas Colombia presents. Peace in Colombia is possible. Actions in response to the humanitarian crises.