Tag Archives: Latin America

Mexico: The World Forum on Cities and Territories of Peace 

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

Information compiled by CPNN

Metropolis , the metropolitan section of the World Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) has announced on their website, the The World Forum on Cities and Territories of Peace to take place in Mexico City 5-7 October, 2020.


Foto from the Madrid Forum of 2018

According to the website, the forum is conceived “as a multi-faceted and multi-level meeting place for local leaders, international organizations and networks, NGDOs, academia, and civil society, aimed at opening dialogue, reflection and the construction of solutions that promote urban environments capable of eliminating expressions of violence.”

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Questions for this article:

How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

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This initiative follows previous forums to combat urban violence that took place in Madrid in 2017 and 2018 as a joint initiative of the mayors of Madrid and Paris (see CPNN from April 2017 and from November 2018).

At the time the mayors of Madrid and Paris were both women. An interview with Madrid mayor Manuela Carmena, quoted her as saying “I have insisted repeatedly on the fact that women’s culture is more closely linked to daily, practical affairs. It is the culture of life. . . . . [peace education] starts at school. We want children to learn the value of dialogue and mediation, and for them to learn to solve their own problems among themselves.”

At the second Madrid forum it was pointed out that “All have agreed on the importance of talking about education, changing the conception of masculinity and giving more economic autonomy to women to ensure that future generations really live in cities of peace.”

In this regard it is significant that the mayor of Mexico City is now a woman, Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman elected by popular vote to govern Mexico City. At her inauguration, she stated that “I am going to lead an honest, open, democratic, austere, inclusive government that acts with, for and for the citizenship, without distinction of party, religion or socioeconomic level, but putting all our effort to make of this, a city of rights, with justice and that diminishes the still serious social inequalities.”

Mayor Sheinbaum is a member of the Board of Directors of Metropolis.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

The 2nd World March in Latin America with its message of Peace and Nonviolence

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Silvia Swinden from Pressenza (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.)

Whilst the world has been bursting with bad news (Trump’s failed impeachment, Bolsonaro’s assault on Brazil’s human rights and the Amazon, pipelines, climate change and failure of climate discussions in Madrid, Australian fires, the Brexit debacle, Bolivia coup and descent into tyranny, the coronavirus, etc) the Second World March for Peace and Nonviolence has continued its determined journey through the planet promoting a new culture of peace, human solidarity, freedom from oppression and meaning, all based on the methodology of nonviolence.. .

After leaving Africa https://www.pressenza.com/2019/10/the-2nd-world-march-for-peace-and-nonviolence-from-marrakesh-to-tenerife/  via Senegal (On October 27 and 28, the 2 World March was hosted in the city of Thies, Senegal), arriving in Saint-Louis, then visiting the villages of N’diadiane, in the region of M’bour – Thiès and Bandoulou, in the Kaolack region. On November 1 and 2, the West Africa stage of the 2 World ending in the Dakar area, with activities on the Island of Gorea and Pikine) the March entered Latin America via Mexico.

At the same the Genoa to Barcelona “Mediterranean Sea of Peace” initiative of the World March met the Peace Boat of the Hibakushas, Japanese survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombs, The Peace Boat in Barcelona.

Mexico: Mexico City, San Cristobal and Guadalajara between the 8 and the November 15.

The stay in Mexico came to an end and continued to the next country. The Marchers went to the border with, Guatemala: different departments of the West paying tribute to the victims of the so-called ”War of Soccer“ between Honduras and El Salvador.

Given the serious circumstances that occurred in Bolivia, a call was made from the World March for the UN to intervene against the wave of racist violence in progress following the coup d’etat.

In Ecuador, a great Cavalcade for Peace was prepared and the Montubia de Guayas, Manabí and Los Ríos Integration Committees prepared for this great event. The Cedhu joined the March, organising events for December.

From El Salvador the Base Team continued on the American continent. From El Salvador it went to Honduras, from there to Cota Rica. Then, to Panama.

Honduras: on 25 / 11, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, activists of the World March participated in the demonstrations of San José and Santa Cruz, Costa Rica.

Panama: at the Museum of Freedom, interviews in the media, at the Soka Gakkai International Panama Association (SGI).

On October 27 and 28, a forum was held in Costa Rica with the motto “THE GREAT TURN OF HUMANITY IS IN OUR HANDS”.

Students from three schools with a student from the Faculty of the UN came together in the Municipal Pavilion.

Four messengers of peace went to Ecuador representing the 2nd World March.

The World March Base Team visited Loja, their first activity was at the Gerald Coelho Convention Center.

32 national and foreign artists participated in this event for Peace and Nonviolence.

From there the March went to Colombia and Peru.

On December 1, the World March was present at the 13th Migrant March in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

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Question for this article:

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence: What is its history and its effects?

How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

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On December 26 and 27, the International Base Team participated in different activities in Córdoba, Argentina.

This December 28, the Base Team of the 2nd World March arrived in Mendoza, Argentina, being received at the Municipality. On December 29, the members of the World March Base Team arrived at the Punta de de Vacas Park, at the foot of Mount Aconcagua, in their last stage in Argentina after passing through Iguazu, Buenos Aires, Lomas de Zamora, Parque la Reja , Tucumán, Córdoba and Mendoza.

“Ten years ago in this same place, the Punta de Vacas Park, culminated the 1ª World March  which started in Wellington and after touring 97 countries for 93 days promoting peace and nonviolence as a methodology of action.

Today we are here after these ten years to pay tribute to the figure of Silo who inspired that 1st World March.

He supported an open and inclusive march that accommodated all the sensibilities of peace and nonviolence.

On that occasion the first objective of the World March was nuclear disarmament. Today we have to celebrate that we are closer to getting it. It is almost certain that in the coming months we can celebrate the “beginning of the end of nuclear weapons”.

From here we call on all citizens to promote this action because it affects us all.

Especially convincing the unbelievers, undecided and discouraged to support this just cause in favor of the human species: the end of nuclear weapons.

Silo pointed them out as the greatest threat to humanity.

At the moment there are important mobilizations in several countries of the world, and especially in Latin America.

Some result in social convulsions with tragic balances of violence.

Now it is necessary to remember the message that Silo gave from this place proposing the “overcoming of pain and suffering.”

Overcoming pain – he said – has to do with improving the living conditions of citizens without any exclusion. This is a great task pending.

He also spoke of overcoming suffering. This had to do with having coherence and finding meaning in life.

To do this what we think, feel and do must converge.

He also indicated the importance of dealing with others. He said it was necessary to learn to treat others as one would like to be treated.

He pointed to nonviolence as the only way to advance socially and personally. He pointed to active nonviolence as the most effective tool to open the future.

In this same place Silo recalled other great souls, prophets of nonviolence, which we will also remember when passing through their countries.

Make visible the methodology and proposals of Nonviolence

We hope that this World March will make visible the methodology and proposals of nonviolence.

May its echo travel through all corners and towns of this America.

That it touches its women and its men, but especially it is destined to its young people, to together design an America of the future and that it is the common house for all its inhabitants.

Thank you Silo for your teaching and for your example of life!”

The event culminated with a shared lunch where the Municipal Choir accompanied with delightful with beautiful songs.

Promoters of the March in Chile participated in the actions of civil disobedience and non-violent actions.

Extracts and pictures from the World March blog by Antonio Gancedo

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

For Bob Marley’s 75th Birthday, Ziggy Marley Reflects On His Father’s Legacy

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from National Public Radio for Central California

It can be hard to reconcile Bob Marley’s massive and ongoing influence with the fact that the genre-defining reggae artist was just 36 when he died of cancer in 1981. Marley would have turned 75 this Thursday; to this day, his music accounts for nearly a quarter of the reggae listened to in the United States.


Redemption Song

Question for this article:

What place does music have in the peace movement?

To celebrate Marley’s 75th birthday, his estate is launching a year of events and releases, including concerts featuring Marley’s sons, Ziggy and Stephen, new music videos and reissues. NPR’s Scott Simon talked to Ziggy Marley about his own memories of his father and his music

Ziggy was 12 years old when his father died, and he says he most of all remembers his father as a generous person. “He’s a loving man; I think that is the most important thing,” he says.

True to the Marley tradition, Ziggy says that the classic Bob Marley message of peace, love and happiness still has a place in an often bleak world.

“The majority of people are good people, are peaceful people,” Marley says.

“But we’re just not loud, we’re just not on the TV, we’re not in the news — it’s just the people making war in the news.”

Listen to their full conversation in the player.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global, Latin America,

The People of Colombia Are Cracking Up the Walls of War and Authoritarianism

. HUMAN RIGHTS .

An article by Justin Podar in Citizen Truth (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. )

The protests that started with the national strike called by Colombia’s central union on November 21 to protest pension reforms and the broken promises of the peace accords have persisted for two months and grown into a protest against the whole establishment. And the protests have continued into the new year and show no signs of stopping.

The end of the decade has seemed to bring an unstoppable march of the right wing in Latin America as elsewhere. The 2016 coup in Brazil  that ended with fascist Jair Bolsonaro in power, the  2019 coup in Bolivia, the continuously rolling coup in Venezuela, all showcased the ruthlessness of the U.S. in disposing of left-wing governments in the region.

Right-wing victories at the ballot box occurred in Chile in 2017 and in Colombia in 2018, where the electorate rejected the left-wing Gustavo Petro and embraced Iván Duque, a protege of the infamous former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez. But with the new wave of protests, the unstoppable right-wing juggernaut is facing many challenges.

In Chile, three months of protests, still going on, are demanding the resignation of President Sebastián Piñera and the reversal of a range of neoliberal policies. Even in the face of the police and army using live fire against protesters, they have not let up.

Ecuador is another peculiar case, in which Lenín Moreno ran as a candidate who would continue left-wing policies, but who promptly reversed course upon reaching power in 2017, including revoking the asylum of Julian Assange, who is now in a UK prison. Reopening drilling in the Amazon, opening a new U.S. airbase in the Galapagos, getting rid of taxes on the wealthy, and doing a new package of International Monetary Fund austerity measures was enough to spark a sustained protest. Moreno’s government was forced to negotiate with the protesters and has withdrawn some of the austerity measures.

In Haiti, protests have gone on for over a year. Sparked in July 2018 by a sharp increase in fuel prices (the same spark as for the Ecuador protests), they have expanded to call for the president’s resignation. In Haiti, as the protests have dragged on, some of the country’s elite families have joined the call for the president’s resignation, which will make it even more difficult to find a constitutional exit from the crisis.

In Colombia, after winning the runoff in 2018, President Duque may have felt that he had a mandate to enact right-wing policies, which in Colombia have usually included new war measures in addition to the usual austerity. But combining pension cuts with betraying the peace process was simply stealing too much from the future: Young people joined the November 21 protests in huge numbers (the lowest estimates are 250,000).

The sustained nature of the protests is striking. Rather than one-offs, the protests have been committed to staying on until change is won. We may hear more this year from post-coup Brazil and Bolivia as well.

At the heart of Colombia’s protest is the issue of war and peace. To say Colombians are war-weary is an understatement. The war there  that began (depending on how you date it) in 1948 or 1964 has provided the pretext for an unending assault  on people’s rights and dignities by the state. Afro-Colombians were displaced from their lands under cover of the war. Indigenous people were dispossessed. Unions were smeared as guerrilla fronts and their leaders assassinated. Peasants and their lands were fumigated with chemical warfare. Narcotraffickers set themselves up inside the military and intelligence organizations, creating the continent’s most extensive paramilitary apparatus. Politicians signed pacts with these paramilitary death squads. The war gave the establishment an excuse for the most depraved acts, notably the “false positives” in which the military murdered completely innocent people and dressed their corpses up as guerrillas to inflate their kill statistics.

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Questions related to this article:

How effective are mass protest marches?

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Even though the guerrillas, with their kidnapping and too-frequent accidental killings of innocents, were never popular with the majority, Colombians have backed peace processes when given the chance. And Colombians didn’t look kindly at the major betrayals of peace processes in the past, like the one in the 1980s, when ex-guerrillas entering politics were assassinated by the thousand. From 2016, when the new peace accords were affirmed, until mid-2019, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) tallied  138 of their ex-guerrillas murdered; more than 700 other activists were killed in the same period, including more than 100 Indigenous people since Duque came to power in 2018.

At the end of August, a group of FARC members led by their former chief negotiator, Iván Márquez, announced that they were returning to the jungle and to the fight. They argued that the assassination of their members and the refusal of the government to comply with the other aspects of the accords demonstrated that there was no will for peace on the side of the government. Those FARCs who announced they were giving up on the accords were treated as having gone rogue: The government labeled them as criminal groups. Aerial bombardment (a war measure not normally the first recourse in dealing with “criminals”) quickly followed. When a bombing (also in August) by the Colombian air force of one of these rogue groups in Caquetá killed eight children and Duque labeled it “strategic, meticulous, impeccable, and rigorous,” he was greeted with much-deserved public revulsion. Duque was shaping up to deliver the same kind of war as always, only now under the flag of peace, its victims labeled criminals instead of guerrillas.

Eternal war does benefit some: those in the arms and security business especially, and those who want to commit crimes under the cover of war. But despite the many benefits of eternal war for the elite, normalcy also exerts a powerful draw. When Duque’s mentor Álvaro Uribe Vélez was elected president in 2002 and 2006, it was with the promise of normalcy—of peace—through decisive victory over the guerrillas. Instead, he delivered narco-paramilitarism, false positives, and, very nearly, regional wars with Ecuador and Venezuela.

One of Uribe’s early acts was to negotiate a peace agreement with the paramilitaries. Since the paramilitaries were state-backed, organized, and armed, this was a farcical negotiation of the government with itself. But when some of the paramilitary commanders began to speak publicly about their relationships with the state and multinational corporations, they found themselves deported to the U.S. At the time, the scandal was given a name—“para-política.” But to some of the investigators, it was better-termed “para-Uribismo.” Paramilitary commander Salvatore Mancuso—who had the temerity to talk about the Chiquita banana corporation  and who is apparently going to return to Colombia  sometime soon—is just the best-known name. Many others have found that being a paramilitary leads to a considerably shortened lifespan. Uribe, mayor of Medellín and governor of Antioquia during the heyday of the cartels, is named in numerous official documents as being close to both the narcotraffickers and the paramilitaries. The evidence keeps coming, as courts, now trying Uribe’s brother, keep getting closer to the man himself.

After the first round of “Uribismo,” it was time to try a peace process. The betrayal of that process, initiated in 2012, and the new president Duque’s promise of yet another decade of “Uribismo,” has been a motivating force of the recent protests.

Uribismo entangles endless war with austerity and inequality. In a recent Gallup poll, 52 percent of Colombians surveyed said the gap between rich and poor had increased in the past five years; 45 percent struggled to afford food in the previous 12 months; and 43 percent lacked money for shelter. The social forces that typically fight for social progress and equality—unions and left-wing political parties—have traditionally been demonized as proto-guerrillas. With the government declaring the war over—and with great fanfare—people want the freedom to make economic demands without being treated as civil war belligerents.

But when faced with the November 21 protests, the government went straight to the dirty war toolkit, murdering 18-year-old protester Dilan Cruz on November 25, imposing curfew, detaining more than 1,000 people, and creating “montajes,” the time-tested use of agents provocateurs to commit unpopular and illegal acts to provide a pretext for state repression. Government officials have also tried to claim that Venezuela and Russia (of course) were behind the protests.

Part of the dirty war toolkit is to negotiate, and the government has been doing so  with the National Strike Committee. No doubt hoping that the protests will exhaust themselves and any agreements can be quietly dropped as numbers dwindle, the government is dangling the possibility of dropping some austerity demands. Meanwhile, the negotiators are being threatened by paramilitary groups, and another mass grave of those murdered as military “false positives” has been unearthed. Uribismo has wormed its way into every structure of the state: Real change will have to be deep. By not giving up easily, the protesters have shown the way. These protests could be a crack in the walls of fascism that seem to have sprung up everywhere in the past decade.

This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

(Thank you to Alicia Cabezudo for sending this article to CPNN.)

HUMAN RIGHTS, Latin America

Punta del Este (Uruguay): Ismael Cala will present the America Business Forum, considered «the Davos of Latin America»

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Miami Diario

Ismael Cala, life strategist, author and television personality, will be the official presenter of the America Business Forum 2020 , the largest global forum of leaders in Latin America. It will bring together more than 5,000 government authorities, private sector representatives and NGOs in Punta del Este (Uruguay).

The meeting, scheduled for February 7, 2020, is a unique opportunity to understand the present time, project the future of the region and enable a space for interaction and networking with global leaders with the greatest impact.
«2020 imposes an awakening for the region. It is time to change the game of addressing the world of business and productivity to be within a holistic context for the well-being, culture of peace and development of our nations. I am going to interview businessmen, people who, with their example, have left us a legacy of successes, but we will also talk about their learning and failures, ”explained Ismael Cala.

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of the article)

Questions related to this article:

Journalism in Latin America: Is it turning towards a culture of peace?

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Committed to innovation and technological development, in a sustainable world with gender equity, America Business Forum will have the participation of CEOs, political leaders and high-impact entrepreneurs who will share their life stories and their vision in a global changing world. Speakers will seek to inspire and help understand the evolution of our role in the process of generating value in different areas of interest such as technology, sport, sustainability, entertainment, journalism, fashion, and thus promote global changes and impacts from Latin America.

Ignacio González, president of the America Business Forum, said the project has “the potential to transform Punta del Este into the Davos of Latin America.” «In this context, Ismael Cala is the ideal presenter to enter this journey, not only because of his human quality, his journalistic rigor, and his great capacity as an interviewer, but because of what he represents as a renewal leader of our time», Gonzalez added.

The America Business Forum will take place at Punta Centro de Convenciones, on the 7th of February from 9:00 a.m. Speakers will include Italian businessman Giuseppe Cipriani, Argentine actor and producer Adrián Suar, Chilean actor Benjamín Vicuña, Uruguayan filmmaker Federico Álvarez, presenter Don Francisco, psychologist Pilar Sordo and neuroscientist Facundo Manes.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

The government of the state of Mexico holds an International Congress on Culture of Peace and Gender Perspective

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

An article from Asi Sucede

In order to reflect and analyze various alternatives for the promotion of harmonious, peaceful and inclusive schools and for the development of a culture that prevents discrimination and bullying, the International Congress on Culture of Peace and Gender Perspective was held , with the participation of national and international specialists.


The Congress was organized by the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the National School Coexistence Program, and with the participation of national and foreign specialists, as well as teachers and public servants (Photo: Special).

Organized by the Ministry of Education of the Government of the State of Mexico, through the Council for School Coexistence (Coexist), in collaboration with the National School Coexistence Program, the Congress offered simultaneous training, exchange of experiences and opinions, as well as the deliberation of studies on the Culture of Peace, Socio-Emotional Education and Gender Perspective, as key issues.
During the inauguration of the activities, the Secretary of Education, Alejandro Fernández Campillo, said that the Congress seeks to generate mechanisms for school peace.

Before about 900 teachers and public servants linked to education processes, Fernández Campillo said that for Governor Alfredo Del Mazo Maza it is essential to join forces to create a harmonious school life, which contributes to the formation of leaders who will consolidate progress and well-being of the State of Mexico and their families.

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article.)

Question for this article:

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

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In his participation, Bienvenida Sánchez Alba, a professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, highlighted the importance contributinf methodologies and teaching instruments to minimize gender discrimination in the school community, as well as to carry out work in collaboration with families, with administrative staff and local authorities.

For his part, Rafael Grasa, speaker from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and expert in Peace Studies gave the lecture “The weak link: how to evaluate education in values ​​and education for peace.” He said that, to make a evaluation of both issues, you must first plan and then build harmonious environments based on three pillars: ability to analyze conflicts, tools for dialogue: consensus and dissent, and non-violent collective action.

The Congress also addressed alternatives for more adaptive and disciplined behaviors, for the generation of thoughts and emotions that motivate learning that contributes to the improvement of academic performance, attachment to school and the improvement of relationships. among the members of the school community.

During the Congress five keynote lectures were given, the Specialized Discussion Forum was held: “Emotional education and gender perspective for the construction of peace in the school”, in addition to 18 workshops in which knowledge and successful experiences about living together were shared from the lines of Gender Equality, Human Rights, Conflict Mediation, Peaceful Coexistence and Nonviolent Communication.

Among the speakers were: Lucas JJ Malaisi, a psychologist with postgraduate studies on Gestalt Psychotherapy, Psychological Evaluation and BioNeuro; Gloria María Abarca Obregón, PhD in International Studies of Peace, Conflicts and Development at the UNESCO Chair of Philosophy for Peace at the University Jaume I from Castellón, Spain; in addition to the participation of Elizabeth María del Pilar Ozuna Rivero, director of the Convive.

With this type of action, the government of the State of Mexico contributes to the continuous education and training of teachers, by providing them with tools to complete and enrich their training as builders of a culture of peace in Mexican schools.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

A Brutal Violation of Press Freedom’: Glenn Greenwald Targeted With Investigation by Brazilian Government After Reporting on Corruption

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Common Dreams (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0)

The Brazilian government is targeting one of its biggest critics, journalist Glenn Greenwald, in a move that has been decried by observers as an intimidation tactic designed to stifle opposition to right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. 


Glenn Greenwald, founder and editor of The Intercept, gestures during a hearing at the Lower House’s Human Rights Commission in Brasilia, Brazil, on June 25, 2019. (Photo: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images)

The government’s finance ministry’s money laundering unit was asked by federal police to investigate Greenwald’s finances, O Antagonista  reported  Tuesday. The right-wing Brazilian news site said that the investigation would focus on whether Greenwald paid for access to leaked records he used in reporting on the Bolsonaro government’s “Operation Car Wash” sting. 

“If there is an investigation for doing journalism it is illegal and it is an attempt at intimidation,” University of Sao Paulo law professor Pierpaolo Bottini told  The Guardian.

Attacks on Greenwald and his family, including husband David Miranda, a member of Brazil’s Congress, were criticized by U.N. and Organization of American States (OAS) Edison Lanza and David Kaye. In a joint press release, Lanza and Kaye called on  Brazil “to conduct an exhaustive, effective, and impartial investigation on the threats against the journalist and his family.”

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Question related to this article:
 
Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

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“The Special Rapporteurs remind the Brazilian State that it has an obligation to prevent, protect, investigate, and punish violence against journalists, particularly those who have been subjected to harassment and threats or other acts of violence,” the rapporteurs’ statement said.

Greenwald, co-founder of independent news organization The Intercept, published in the online magazine’s Brazilian edition a number of investigations that use leaked documents to prove that the prosecution of former President Lula da Silva for corruption was steered by now Justice Minister Sergio Moro. The reporting has impacted Brazil’s politics and thrown the Bolsonaro presidency into crisis. 

Given the impact of the reporting, said José Guimarães, a congressman who is a member of da Silva’s Workers’ Party, the investigation appears to be “a brutal violation of press freedom.”

That point was echoed by Trevor Timm of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. In a statement, Timm said  that an investigation into Greenwald would be “not only an outrageous attack on press freedom, but a gross abuse of power.”

“Criminally investigating journalist Glenn Greenwald for reporting on corruption within the Bolsonaro government is a shocking violation of his rights as a reporter,” Timm said. “Worse, the same person who is the primary subject of The Intercept’s reporting—Minister of Justice Sergio Moro—would also have ultimate authority over any Federal Police investigation.”

The fallout from Greenwald’s reporting is having a major affect on Brazilian politics. On Tuesday, Moro appeared in front of the Brazilian Congress to answer questions on “Operation Car Wash” in a hearing that devolved at one point into near-violence. 

Greenwald, who spoke to the lower house of Brazil’s Congress about his reporting in June, was invited this week to testify  in front of the Brazilian Senate. A date for that testimony has yet to be set.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Peru: Electoral peace promoted in 4 native languages

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from Los Andes

The National Election Jury (JNE) has initiated the “Choose a culture of peace” campaign as part of its actions to reinforce the prevention of electoral conflicts that could occur in the context of the Extraordinary Congressional Elections of January 26, 2020.

In this way, it seeks to promote among citizens, as well as in political and social organizations, the construction of a democracy based on the values ​​of respect, tolerance and dialogue, rejecting all types of violence during the electoral process.

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Question related to this article:

How should elections be organized in a true democracy?

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To this end, the Central of Operations of the Electoral Process (COPE) of the JNE will disseminate graphic and audiovisual material at a national level with contents on the approach to the culture of peace during the ongoing elections.

The messages will be disseminated, in addition to Spanish, in six native languages, thus benefiting members of the Aymara, Asháninka, Awajún, Quechua, Shipibo and Wampis communities.

With these actions, the JNE seeks to reinforce its work of prevention and management of situations of electoral conflict, through a sensitization crusade with an inclusive approach to the different cultures existing in the country.

This work seeks to guarantee not only respect for life, fundamental rights and freedoms, but also the exercise of popular will in a peaceful environment that allows the strengthening of democratic values ​​and respect for the rule of law.

(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article.)

 

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Querétaro, Mexico: Mediation has benefited almost 8 thousand people in the capital

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

A article by Gonzalo Flores in am de Queretaro

Since its creation in March of this year to date, the Mediation Directorate of the Municipality of Querétaro has treated 4,870 citizen conflicts, benefitting 7,850 people who have resorted to this unit for conflict resolution , informed Joaquín Gerardo González de León, head of the Directorate of the Interior and coordinator of the mediation area.


Interview with Joaquín Gerardo González de León

According to the official, only 20 cases out of the total have been sent to the civil courts, when mediation did not work and some of those involved reoccurrent actions of the dispute, although he said that these cases are minimal and correspond to administrative failures.

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(click here for a version in Spanish).

Question for this article:

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

Mediation as a tool for nonviolence and culture of peace

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González de León added that in March of this year the operation began with 8 offices in the municipality and 18 mediators who were trained by the State Superior Court of Justice.

Of the total files created for mediation, he said that in 60 percent of the issues conflicts have to do with neighborhood issues, including noise, parking issues, trash on public roads and pets, which he listed as the main reasons for complaints

Mediation Directorate has resolved more than half of the conflicts between individuals.

He also revealed that in 60 percent of the cases they have reached agreements between neighbors, “and although the problems are not resolved in depth, opening the dialogue is already an advance and on that agreements are made that both parties must respect.”

In the remaining cases, he stressed that no agreements are reached due to the denial of any of the two parties involved, or because they do not attend mediations.

“The high percentage of conflict resolution indicates that the population is interested in solving their conflicts through dialogue,” he said.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Peace advances in Michoacán, Mexico: Fermín Bernabé

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

An article from Michoacan en concreto

Through a reform of the Law for a Culture of Peace and Prevention of Violence and Crime in Michoacán, Deputy Fermín Bernabé Bahena will concentrate his legislative action on a firm objective: to move towards the reconstruction of the social fabric of the community.

The legislator, who comes from Morena, has managed to reform the Law of Peace in Michoacán. He stressed that he will work to strengthen the bases of promotion of the culture of peace and coordination in the field of social prevention of violence and crime, in order to achieve and preserve peaceful and respectful coexistence among the Michoacán.

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Question for this article:

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

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He said that the reform he proposes will include the family as a socio-cultural nucleus, through the application of actions that strengthen human values ​​and, in turn, condition an environment of healthy social development.

“We will promote comprehensive programs that promote the strengthening of human values ​​in families and society,” said the local deputy for District 10.

He added that education and awareness strategies will be set in motion for families and students of schools located in the region with the highest rates of violence in order to improve the quality of life of those who live there.

Fermín Bernabé concluded by pointing out that peace is the social value that motivated him to present a reform to the Law for a Culture of Peace and Prevention of Violence and Crime in Michoacán. As a member of the Legislative Power, he said:

“We are responsible for the progressive reform of the law and it is not a dream, but the rational and possible purpose of achieving a culture of peace through compliance with the rule of law and the strengthening of family values, the basis of the society; in order to build a society that is solid in values ​​”.

(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article.)

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America