ROUND TABLE ON PEACE TALKS IN HAVANA, APRIL 21ST

The Cabildo Manuelita Saenz,  presents a panel of experts who will discuss the history, the obstacles and current advances of the “Diálogos de Paz”,  Peace Talks.



Dieter Misgeld, Ph D  (Professor Emeritus U of T)

Miguel Figueroa, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Canada

Amparo Torres,  (Colombian) Activist and Art Lecturer

nchamah miller,  Ph D  (Colombian) --  (Researcher Galfisa Group - Institute of Philosophy of Havana)





 April 21st at 5:30 pm at Beit  Zatoun
612 Markham St. (at Bathurst subway), Toronto

Venezuela With and Beyond Chavez

By Dario Azzellini

“Chávez was one of us”, say the poor from the barrios in Caracas, the people throughout Latin America, and Bronx residents together with probably two million poor people in the US, who now have free heating thanks to the Chávez government. Sean Penn said on Chávez: “Today the people of the United States lost a friend it never knew it had. And poor people around the world lost a champion.” These are sad days. 

This article is not going to delve into the many accomplishments of the Bolivarian process with regard to healthcare, life expectancy and education – even if no country in the world has improved living standards as much over the past 14 years as Venezuela under Chávez. I will not write about how Chávez shifted hemispheric relations, helped to bring the FTTA to an end and built Latin American and Caribbean unity for the first time without the US or Canada. Many articles and writers focus on these matters.

This article addresses the different approach to social transformation in Venezuela, the idea of revolution as a process and the primacy of the constituent power, which has been developed from below in the form of popular power throughout the country. Chávez was an allay in the construction of people’s power and creative building of a new world. This is the reason that while I am so sad with the passing of Chavez, I am also totally confident about the future of Venezuela. As with the people of Venezuela, I know where the power is. In the neighbourhoods, in the towns, villages and cities, organized together.

The Two-Track Approach – From Above and Below

The particular nature of the Bolivarian movement stems from the fact that social transformation and the redefining of the State have led to the creation of a “two-track approach”: on the one side, the State, institutions and traditional left organizations, and on the other, movements and organized society. It is a construction process both “from above” as well as “from below”. This entails the participation of antisystemic organizations and movements, along with individuals and organizations which can be characterized as traditional and state centred (for instance, unions and political parties).

Both from the government and from the rank and file of the Bolivarian process, there is a declared commitment to redefine State and society on the basis of an interrelation between top and bottom, and thereby to move toward transcending capitalist relations. The State’s role is to accompany the organized population; it must be the facilitator of bottom-up processes, so that the constituent power can bring forward the steps needed to transform society. The State has to guarantee the material content the realization of the common wealth requires. This idea has been stated on various occasions by Chávez, and is shared by sectors of the administration and by the majority of the organized movements.

The Communal State

Since January 2007, Chávez proposed going beyond the bourgeois state by building the communal state. He applied more widely a concern originating with antisystemic forces, meaning the movements and political forces that assume that the state form has to be overcome. The basic idea is to form council structures of different kinds, especially communal councils, communes and communal cities, which will gradually supplant the bourgeois state.

Communal Councils

The Communal Councils are a non representative structure of direct democracy and the most advanced mechanism of self-organization at the local level in Venezuela. The most active agents of change in Venezuela have been--and continue to be--the inhabitants of the urban barrios and the peasant communities.

Communal Councils began forming in 2005 without any law and as an initiative ‘from below’. In January 2006 Chávez adopted this initiative and began to spread it. In April 2006, the National Assembly approved the Law of Communal Councils, which was reformed in 2009 following a broad consulting process of councils’ spokespeople. The Communal Councils in urban areas encompass 150-400 families; in rural zones, a minimum of 20 families; and in indigenous zones, at least 10 families. At the heart of the Communal Council and its decision-making body is the Assembly of Neighbours. The councils build a non-representative structure of direct participation which exists parallel to the elected representative bodies of constituted power. In 2013, more than 40,000 Communal Councils had been established in Venezuela.

The Communal Councils are financed directly by national State institutions, thus avoiding interference from municipal organs. The law does not give any entity the authority to accept or reject proposals presented by Communal Councils. The relationship between Communal Councils and established institutions, however, is not exactly harmonious; conflicts arise principally from the slowness of constituted power to respond to demands made by Communal Councils and from attempts at interference. The Communal Councils tend to transcend the division between political and civil society (i.e., between those who govern and those who are governed). Hence, liberal analysts who support that division view the Communal Councils in a negative light, arguing that they are not an independent civil-society organization, but linked to the State. In fact, however, they constitute a parallel structure through which power and control is gradually drawn away from the State in order to govern on its own.

Socialist Communes

At a higher level of self government there is the possibility of creating Socialist Communes, which can be formed from various Communal Councils in a specific territory. The Communal Councils decide themselves about the geography of the Commune  These Communes can develop medium and long-term projects of greater impact while decisions continue to be made in assemblies of the Communal Councils. As of 2013 there are more than 200 communes under construction.  

The idea of the Commune as a site for building participation, self-government and socialism traces back to the communitarian socialist tradition of the Paris Commune, and also to Venezuelan Simón Rodríguez, who proposed local self government by the people, calling it ‘Toparchy’ (from the Greek ‘Topos’, place) in the early 19^th century,  to traditional forms of indigenous collectivism and communitarianism and the historical experiences of the Maroons, former Afro-American slaves who escaped to remote regions and built self administrated communities and settlements.

Various Communes can form Communal Cities, with administration and planning ‘from below’ if the entire territory is organized in Communal Councils and Communes. The mechanism of the construction of Communes and Communal cities is flexible; they themselves define their tasks. Thus the construction of self-government begins with what the population itself considers most important, necessary or opportune. The Communal Cities that have begun to form so far, for example, are rural and are structured around agriculture, such as the ‘Ciudad Comunal Campesina Socialista Simón Bolívar’ in the southern state of Apure or the ‘Ciudad Comunal Laberinto’ in the north-eastern state of Zulia.

Challenges

After 13 years of revolutionary transformation, the biggest challenge for the process is the structural contradiction between constituent and constituted power. Especially since 2007, the government’s ability to reform has increasingly clashed with the limitations inherent in the bourgeois state and the capitalist system. The movements and initiatives for self-management and self-government geared toward overcoming the bourgeois state and its institutions, with the goal of replacing it with a communal state based on popular power have grown. But simultaneously, because of the expansion of state institutions’ work, the consolidation of the Bolivarian process and growing resources, state institutions have been generally strengthened and have become more bureaucratized. Institutions of constituted power aim at controlling social processes and reproducing themselves. Since the institutions of constituted power are at the same time strengthening and limiting constituent power, the transformation process is very complex and contradictory. Nevertheless, the struggles liberated by constituent power in Venezuela are often struggles for a different system and not within the existing social, political and economic system. The contradiction is grounded in the difference between institutional and social logic.

For example, if the job as community promoter and the existence of a certain institution is guaranteed only as long as the Communal Councils still depend on them, then the interest of the institution and its employees in having independent Communal Councils will be minimal. Conversely, the individual civil servant as well as the institution as a whole will be desperately presenting advances and positive results, but always proving that the Communal Councils, Communes and other instances of self-administration in whatever sector need the support of the corresponding institution. In fact the Ministry of Communes turned out to be one of the biggest obstacles to the construction of Communes and most of the Communes under construction complain about the Ministry. Only the growing organization ‘from below’, especially the self organized Network of Commune Activists (Red de Comuneras y Comuneros), bringing together about 70 Communes could bring enough pressure on the Ministry of Communes to start changing its politics at the end of 2011. They forced the Ministry to register some 20 Communes.

Conclusion

While the ‘from above’ and ‘from below’ strategies have maintained themselves in the same process of transformation for 13 years and the conflictive relationship between constituent and constituted power has been the motor of the Bolivarian process, conflicts are increasing. The growing organization ‘from below’ and the development of popular power inevitably clash with constituted power. The growing organization ‘from below’ and the development of popular power limit the constituted power and overwhelm it if it does not limit them. They can only expand over time if they get the upper hand, in which case constituent power would profoundly transform constituted power.

I have no doubt that peoples power will expand. The most important experience people have had over the past 14 years in Venezuela was that they learned they can overcome their marginalization by participation and self organization, creating their own solutions. “We are all Chávez”.

Dario Azzellini, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria, lived and worked in Venezuela between 4 and months a year from 2003 to 2011. He worked with communal councils, communes, workers control, rural and urban movements. He has written extensively and directed documentaries on Venezuela. He published the internationally acclaimed documentaries “Venezuela from below” (2004), “5 factories – workers control in Venezuela” (2006), and “Comuna under construction” (2010). He also published the books: “Caracas: Bolivarian city” (Berlin: b books, 2013); “Partizipation, Arbeiterkontrolle und die Commune” (Hamburg: VSA, 2012); “Venezuela bolivariana. Revolution des 21. Jahrhunderts?“; (Cologne: Neuer ISP Verlag) and “Il Venezuela di Chávez”, (Rome: DeriveApprodi, 2006); and several articles in journals in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian.

www.azzellini.net

24 DE JULIO NATALICIO DE HUGO CHAVEZ FRIAS - DIA DE LA DIGNIDAD, EL ORGULLO Y LA AUTOESTIMA DE LOS PUEBLOS LATINOAMERICANOS Y CARIBEÑOS

HOMENAJE LATINOAMERICANO Y CARIBEÑO AL
PRESIDENTE HUGO CHÁVEZ FRÍAS

 

El Presidente Hugo Chávez Frías dedicó su vida a la lucha por la  dignidad de los pueblos de la América Latina y el Caribe. Despertó su orgullo y autoestima, incentivando un proceso integracionista que despertó el orgullo y la autoestima de sus pueblos,  abriéndoles esperanzas en un futuro de equidad y desarrollo, teniendo como eje primordial el bienestar de las gentes y no meramente el crecimiento económico, sin equidad ni justicia sociales.

Su legado es un claro incentivo para continuar el proceso de unión entre los pueblos latinoamericanos y caribeños

Por ello proponemos que los países que integran el CELAC, en homenaje a quien fuera su promotor, declaren al unísono, en toda la América Latina y el Caribe, el 24 de julio, día del natalicio del Presidente Chávez, como


DIA DE LA DIGNIDAD, EL ORGULLO Y LA AUTOESTIMA
DE LOS PUEBLOS LATINOAMERICANOS Y CARIBEÑOS


Teatro Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Bogotá, marzo 6 de 2013


Propuesta de Gloria Gaitán con el aplauso unánime de los asistentes al Teatro Jorge Eliécer Gaitán en conmemoración del 6 de marzo, día de la dignidad de las Víctimas de los crímenes de Estado.
 

COMANDANTE HUGO CHAVEZ!
 VIVIRAS POR SIEMPRE EN NUESTRA HISTORIA
 Y EN NUESTROS CORAZONES!

MENSAJE PARA LA COMUNIDAD SOLIDARIA CON LA REVOLUCION BOLIVARIANA VENEZOLANA

Estimados Compatriotas y amigos!
En estos momentos difíciles que estamos sufriendo todos los venezolanos   por la sensible pérdida física de nuestro Comandante Presidente Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías en el día de ayer  05 de marzo del 2013, queremos compartir con Ustedes que desde ya se encuentra   abierto el Libro de Condolencias en la sede de nuestro Consulado General en Toronto en el 365 Bloor St. East, piso 19.
Las enseñanzas e ideales de nuestro Presidente siguen y seguirán vivas en cada uno de nosotros, quienes hemos  compartimos sus sueños y su lucha en esta Revolución Bolivariana,  por  la igualdad  e inclusión de los más necesitados, por un mejor vivir ahora él es eterno y dio su vida por nuestro pueblo. Viviremos y venceremos!

Igualmente, se les informa que mañana 07 de marzo del 2013 a la 4:pm  se llevara a cabo una Vigilia en el  Trinity Bellwoods Park donde se encuentra el  Busto de "El Libertador Simón Bolívar" y el domingo 10/03/2013 a las 12:30 pm se efectuara una Misa Solemne en la Iglesia de San Lorenzo.

Por favor solicitamos su consideración a fin de hacer extensiva esta Misiva.
Atentamente,


Martha Pardo de Márquez
Cónsul General de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela en Toronto

Para los pobres del mundo el Presidente Hugo Chávez, VIVIRÁ PARA SIEMPRE!

Durante los 14 años continuos de lucha política ejerciendo la jefatura del primer Gobierno Bolivariano en nuestro continente, fortaleció la esperanza de cambio social, y la convirtió en realidad diaria para el pueblo venezolano.

Su ejemplo inmortal de dignidad, identidad y soberania inclaudicable, es precioso legado que enriquece el ideario bolivariano junto a Marti, Sandino,  el Che Guevara, Salvador Allende, Emiliano Zapata,  Alfonso Cano, y todos los próceseres de nuestra historia y los hombres y mujeres anónimos que dedicaron la razón de su existencia por la felicidad de los pueblos de nuestra América, enfrentándose valerosamente al complejo militar  del Imperio norteamericano y la voracidad de los grupos económicos transnacionales. 

 

¿PRISONS OR HUMAN DUMPS?

In August 2012, the prisoners of war of the jail La Dorada (Caldas), explained to the national opinion that within three months, three of their prisoners had died. The medical inattention killed them mercilessly. They names are JAMES CHIQUITO Alberto Giraldo, who died on May 8th, LUIS FLORES CARLOS VILLAREAL, died on the 17th of August, and WENLLY ZULETA MURIEL ALEXANDER, who was killed on August 8th. Wenlly died after he was attacked by another inmate, who caused him 59 stab wounds, at only two meters from the prison’s guard post.

Around 9500 political prisoners are experiencing the cavalry of the Colombian prison system, which actually has become a maze of torture, humiliation and death for inmates of any kind. 90% of the political prisoners are civilians, who are put in prison with the clear intention of dismantling popular organizations and crush the popular dissent about social injustice in Colombia. The remaining 10% are political and war prisoners subjected to the use of the judicial and penal system, which has become a weapon to discourage and punish potential insurgents.

The prison is a scene of overcrowding, stench, suicides, infectious diseases, murders committed by guards, like the one reported by the inmates of the 7th yard of the Dorada prison in October 2011 (by a corporal named “GALLO”); blind, crippled, paralyzed prisoners, or killed by medical inattention, which is not even resolved by tutelage because judges don’t sanction for contempt.

Injustice rules in Colombian prisons, expressed in medical inattention, calabooses up to seventy-two hours, hunger, beating, indiscriminate use of tear gasses, harassment and humiliation, violation of judicial processes, in the middle of a dangerous armed criminal complicity between the INPEC - led by the sleazy general Ricaurte Tapias - and lawyers, judges and prosecutors, without any possibility of complaint; almost 100% of the complaints of prisoners are shelved on the grounds that there are no merits for further investigation.

On January 8, 2011, Jose Manjarrez Albeiro died in his cell, devoured by a stomach cancer. No action, not even the strike of his fellow prisoners was enough for the INPEC to give him medical care. After his death, he was entered in the morgue as NN, although they did have up-to-date information about his family and friends. They never informed them about his death.

Names like Arcecio Lemus, Ricardo Contreras, Jhon Jairo Garcia, Jonathan Snith Aria, Yovani Montes, Luis Fernando Pavoni, Oscar de Jesus Perez, among many other cases, are part of the list of deaths due to torture , mistreatment and medical inattention, together with the persecution of families of the revolutionary leaders who fall into prison.

In Colombian prisons, more than 400 prisoners are mutilated and more than 400 are in hospice situation, without being given the right to reduced penalties.

In these prisons, converted into real human dumps, because of the regime’s indolence and perfidy, inmates of different kinds are all put together on purpose, which produces brawls that sometimes lead to the death of political- and war prisoners, or to their constant intimidation.

Contrary to Law 65/93, which says that in the treatment of prisoners, family relationships are an important element to advance in their re-socialization process, in this case the penalties are designed to loosen family ties, since the prisoners are deliberately located by the INPEC at 4, 6, 10 and up to 24 hours away from their home regions. The possibility that they may see their loved ones and family members is very small.

They are sitting all day, they are swindled in the use of telephones, they don’t get any information, they are transported like animals and live in an incredible inhuman situation of overcrowding. For example, in Bellavista the overcrowding is of 500%. The Riohacha prison has capacity for 100 inmates, while there are 512 inmates, in La Modelo there is space for 2950, ​​but there are 7965 prisoners concentrated. In the prison of Tramacúa in Valledupar, with 40 degrees, 1350 prisoners are throttled by the high temperature. In the best case, they have access to water only for 15 minutes a day. These are flagrant human rights violations, committed by the government, who doesn’t seem to have any intention to resolve these situations.

We ask the government to stop the perfidy of letting the injuries of war end up in physical immobility and/or loss of hands or feet. We ask freedom for those who are terminally ill, or have cancer.

We ask the government to declare a state of health and humanitarian emergency in the country's prisons, allow public oversight, without concealing things and take emergency measures to at least avoid the death of the prisoners who are seriously ill.

We ask the government to show a shred of humanity and seriousness, and to respond to the national opinion about these complaints we’ve made.

PEACE DELEGATION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA, People's Army (FARC-EP)

Quinua LANZAMIENTO DEL AÑO INTERNACIONAL DE LA QUINUA INTERVENCION DE LA EMBAJADORA ARGENTINA MARÍA CRISTINA PERCEVAL

Su excelencia Sr. Evo Morales, Secretario General, Su Excelencia Sr. José Graciano da Silva, Su Excelencia. Sra. Nadine Heredia, Sr. Embajador de Perú, Enrique Román Morey Ministros, Excelencias, El pasado 1 de febrero de 2013 los países de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños nos sumamos oficialmente a las celebraciones del Año Internacional de la Quinua y afirmamos que la quinua desempeña una función clave en la consecución de la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional que necesitamos y nos merecemos. Allí, ratificamos el compromiso de las Naciones de CELAC de participar y coadyuvar en sus actividades, difundiendo las cualidades nutritivas de este esencial alimento, como alternativa para contribuir a erradicar el hambre que hiere y la pobreza que duele. Así es que nos asociamos a las palabras emitidas por el distinguido Embajador de Cuba, en nombre de la CELAC, y por el distinguido Embajador de Fiji, en nombre del G77 y China. Sr. Presidente, Excelencias, La quinua, único alimento vegetal que posee todos los aminoácidos esenciales, azúcar, minerales y vitaminas para la vida, que no contiene gluten, que es capaz de crecer soportando temperaturas desde los -8°C hasta los 38°C, que se puede sembrar desde el nivel del mar hasta los 4 000 metros de altura y es resistente a la sequía y a los suelos pobres, que cuenta con más de tres mil variedades tanto cultivadas como silvestres, constituye un gran aporte para la humanidad. Para una humanidad en la que más de mil millones de personas padecen hambre y para un mundo que enfrenta el desafío de elevar la producción de alimentos de calidad para alimentar y nutrir a la población del planeta, en un difícil y complejo contexto de cambio climático e inseguridad alimentaria. En este sentido, queremos felicitar al Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia y al Hermano Sr. Presidente Evo Morales y a la Sra. Primera Dama Nadine Heredia del Perú y a todos aquellos Estados miembros de las Naciones Unidas que han emprendido acciones concretas de promoción de la quinua. Sr. Presidente, Excelencias, El Gobierno de nuestra Presidenta, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner y el conjunto del pueblo de mi país, Argentina, ha apoyado fuertemente desde un principio la Declaración de este Año Internacional de la Quinua. En este sentido, quiero destacar el establecimiento del Comité Internacional de Coordinación del Año Internacional de la Quinua, del que tenemos el honor de formar parte, Comité que ha sido clave para articular la participación conjunta de los actores interesados a nivel local, nacional y regional. Asimismo, la Argentina ha conformado un Comité Nacional para diseñar e implementar las actividades nacionales relativas al Año Internacional. Estas actividades resultan fundamentales para que este año se traduzca en programas y medidas concretas. Al respecto, Argentina llama a profundizar esta iniciativa mediante el apoyo a programas de investigación y desarrollo. Excelencias, Permítanme compartir con Uds. una breve reflexión porque en la historia de la quinua podrán ver también los siglos de injusticia colonial y neocolonial que pretendieron, sin lograrlo, silenciar la libertad y las culturas de nuestros pueblos, especialmente de nuestros pueblos originarios. Y es que la historia de la quinua, además de dar cuenta de su beneficioso valor alimentario y nutricional, nos ilustra y advierte sobre las consecuencias negativas y trágicas que la humanidad ha experimentado y puede experimentar toda vez que cosmovisiones culturales, decisiones políticas y paradigmas científicos reduccionistas, excluyentes y discriminatorios, se instalan desde la prepotencia del poder como único modelo de desarrollo, en nombre de una pretendida superioridad civilizatoria. Aunque el hombre andino había descubierto hace más de 7000 años las cualidades de su grano, en tiempos del “encubrimiento colonizador” de nuestra América Latina, la quinua aparece por primera vez nombrada en el lenguaje del imperio de entonces, en el año 1551. Pedro de Valdivia es quien informa, desde Chile, al Emperador Carlos I que en la región andina siembran los indios para su sustentación maíz, papas, y una planta a la que llaman kiuna. Sin embargo, el hecho de que la quinua resultara ser parecida a “los bledos”, una planta de escaso o nulo valor alimenticio propia de la Península Ibérica, llevó a que se la considerara y definiera como ¡un bledo!. Semejante confusión se mantiene y aparece nuevamente la quinua en 1601, en la Historia Rariorum Plantorum del biólogo Clusius. La Ciencia, sustentada en el principio de autoridad que el conocimiento verdadero de la realidad le otorga, habilita a que el Sr. Clusius presenta la primera ilustración de una especie que él denomina quinua pero, lamentablemente, dibuja un bledo. Y dejó retratada una verdad inobjetable: la quinua no es la quinua, la quinua es un bledo. Luego vino la etapa de los comentaristas y divulgadores que, respetando la virtud de la simpleza y la claridad terminarían comunicando: "la quinua es una planta tan inservible como  los bledos". Aunque nuestros indígenas la tuvieran como fundamental alimento y conocieran sus aplicaciones medicinales y hasta cosméticas, los expertos de la época, que recibían el nombre de sabios y  asesoraban a los poderosos en la toma de decisiones, sentenciaron que la quinua no era beneficiosa para la alimentación de los seres humanos y pasaron a recomendar que, en caso de decidir utilizarla, se destinara como alimento para animales. Lo no dicho es tan fuerte y estigmatizador como lo explicitado: lo que comían los indígenas en aquellas lejanas tierras, que lo coman los animales en el mundo de los humanos. Pero aunque Uds. no lo crean, éste no fue el punto de llegada. Así como se había logrado pasar de la inutilidad a la inconveniencia, faltaba aún la condena moral, es decir, pasar de la inconveniencia a la irreverencia. Esto sucedió cuando se prohibió su cultivo puesto que, en cuanto la quinua estaba presente en los rituales religiosos de los pueblos andinos, este grano pasó a ser símbolo de herejía. Por tanto, la conclusión sería lamentablemente obvia: había que desincentivar su cultivo hasta exterminarla. Considero innecesario explicitar la analogía y describir cómo y por qué “salvajes, ignorantes y herejes” fueron las cualidades asignadas por el poder imperial a nuestros indígenas. No obstante, persistentes y pacientes nuestros pueblos de las tierras altas de los Andes, en su agricultura familiar y solidaria siguieron cultivando la quinua para amasar con manos de mujer el pan de los pobres y elaborar la bebida fresca -llamada “chicha”- para hombres sedientos de igualdad. Hace poco, cuando la NASA en el marco de su proyecto Controlled Ecological Life Support System consideró que la quinua es un súper alimento debido a sus componentes de alto valor nutricional, desde Bolivia a Perú, desde Colombia, a Ecuador, Chile y Argentina, miles de pequeños agricultores que cultivan el “cereal madre”, sin egoísmo ni soberbia, no se sorprendieron porque ellos desde hace más de 7000 años ya sabían que la quinua no era una planta inútil o maldita. Sr. Presidente, Reconocemos y nos congratulamos de que hoy, tanto la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO) como la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) califiquen a la quinua como un alimento único por su altísimo valor nutricional para el ser humano y también como símbolo de la sabiduría y creatividad de nuestros pueblos que, como otros pueblos del mundo, a pesar de haber sido víctimas de discriminación, humillación y violencia, están dispuestos a alimentar la lucha para erradicar el hambre y nutrir la utopía de un mundo sin pobreza. Excelencias, Desde nuestra América Latina, desde la profundidad de la cordillera de los Andes queremos decir aquí, ante la comunidad internacional que lo que nos une a todos es la lucha contra el hambre y la pobreza. No es la quinua contra el maíz, ni el maíz contra el arroz, ni el arroz contra el baobab. No es una cultura contra la otra. Somos todos los pueblos del mundo que estamos a favor de una vida digna para todos y a proteger la biodiversidad.   Somos todos los pueblos del mundo que estamos juntos para terminar con la especulación financiera en el mercado de los alimentos, eliminar los subsidios agrícolas distorsivos de los países desarrollados y lograr que la escandalosa opulencia de unos pocos no sea a costa del hambre de la mayoría de la humanidad.   Sr Presidente   Para terminar quisiera recordar que la palabra Pachakuti en lengua aymara quiere decir Tiempo de vuelta.   Dice el poeta: Pachanakana saratap kutirayiri aski nayra sarawinaka tumpthapisina wasururu qalanakar arsuyasa. Desenvuelves el marchar del tiempo rescatando las tradiciones benéficas haciendo que las piedras de ayer hablen. Excelencias, Tiempo de vuelta no es mirar el pasado con nostalgia, sino aprender a mirar el presente de otra manera. Desde las montañas andinas, las piedras de ayer han hablado y nos dicen que a pesar de las injusticias del presente, un futuro mejor es posible, un futuro sembrado hace miles de años. Muchas gracias, fuente: http://www.enaun.mrecic.gov.ar/content/quinua

Instaladas Asambleas Constituyentes de Paz en Colombia

Miércoles 20 de Febrero de 2013, 09:06 pm

Este miércoles más de mil quinientas personas, representantes de los 32 departamentos de Colombia iniciaron las Asambleas Constituyentes por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad en Bogotá, donde se tocarán temas asociados al conflicto armado. La ex senadora Piedad Córdoba indicó que esto contradice las encuestas que señalan que a la población no le interesa la paz. teleSUR

Basándose en el poder del pueblo y en el derecho a la paz, mil organizaciones sociales deliberarán sobre contenidos de reformas y analizarán propuestas para salir del conflicto armado. Se espera que en el 2013 se instalen al menos 100 Asambleas Constituyentes en los 32 departamentos del país.

Más de mil organizaciones sociales inauguraron este miércoles en Bogotá las Asambleas Constituyentes por la Paz en Colombia con Justicia Social; evento en el que se pretende debatir la realidad del país suramericano a fin de plantear alternativas para salir del conflicto interno que lleva más de 50 años.

El corresponsal de teleSUR en Colombia, Vladimir Carrillo, reportó que representantes de distintas regiones y sectores sociales de campesinos, indígenas, afrodescendientes y estudiantes participan en el acto.

El fin, según expresó el corresponsal, es “que a través de dos artículos que consagra la Constitución: uno que dice que el poder redice en el pueblo y otro que dice que la paz es un derecho de obligatorio cumplimiento”, se abogue por la derecha de los Derechos Humanos.

"De las asambleas saldrá el mandato nacional por la solución política y la paz con justicia social con su correspondiente definición programática y de acción política", agregó el periodista.

Carrillo precisó que las Asambleas son impulsadas por el Movimiento Social y Político Marcha Patriótica y añadió que para este año “se espera que en el 2013 se instalen al menos 100 Asambleas Constituyentes en los 32 departamentos del país”.

La instalación de las Asambleas tuvo lugar a las 14H00 (19H00 GMT) de este miércoles, en el marco de las negociaciones entre el Gobierno y las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

En ellas, se abordarán la situación actual del conflicto social y armado, impactos políticos, económicos, sociales, ambientales y culturales, y las demandas de la región para una solución política en Colombia.

De acuerdo con las organizaciones, estarán presentes más de 150 personalidades y representantes de diversos sectores. Entre ellos, el ex ministro de Minas y Energía Alvaro Leyva, la activista Piedad Córdoba y el director del semanario Voz e integrante de Colombianos y Colombianas por la paz, Carlos Lozano.

Las Asambleas Constituyentes pueden ser locales, regionales o sectoriales. Diversas han sido las iniciativas de los movimientos sociales y populares colombianos para aportar a la mesa de conversaciones, que busca poner fin a casi 50 años de conflicto armado.

El pasado 24 de enero las FARC insistieron en la necesidad de una asamblea constituyente porque pese a que los Diálogos de Paz "van por buen camino", el "recurso más importante, el que más garantías puede dar a la forma de un eventual acuerdo, es el de la consulta directa al pueblo".

FUENTE:  http://www.telesurtv.net/articulos/2013/02/20/quedan-instaladas-asambleas-constituyentes-de-paz-en-colombia-2416.html

http://media-telesur.openmultimedia.biz/clips/telesur-video-2013-02-20-193907656389.mp4http://media-telesur.openmultimedia.biz/clips/audio-2013-02-20-120503.mp3

THE ECONOMIST On the topic of land distribution in Colombia PEACE TALKS IN HAVANA

I HAVE EDITED PARTS OF THIS ARTICLE BECAUSE THE LANGUAGE DID NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE RESPECT REQUIRED AT THIS TIME DURING THE PEACE TALKS IN HAVANA, or the information has not been updated – nchamah miller

The hard bargaining starts

Nov 24th 2012 | BOGOTA  THE ECONOMIST

Turning guns into machetes

WHEN the guerrillas of the FARC began their insurgency against the Colombian state in the mid-1960s, one of their banners was a radical agrarian reform to seize large landholdings and redistribute land to those who worked it. Arising as they did shortly after Fidel Castro’s communist revolution in Cuba, the government felt compelled to respond to the guerrillas with military force rather than reform. The war has ground on ever since.

[…] Land and rural development is the first item on the agenda of the peace talks between the FARC and the government of President Juan Manuel Santos which began properly in Havana on November 19th. Resolving the land issue is a necessary condition for ending the conflict but it also true that land disputes can be settled only if violence ends.

In this section

Land distribution in Colombia is among the most unequal in the world, with 52% of farms in the hands of just 1.15% of landowners, according to a study by the United Nations Development Programme. The agriculture ministry says that only 22% of potential arable land in a vast country is cultivated. Around 6.5m hectares (16m acres) of land, including some of the most fertile, was stolen, abandoned or forcibly changed hands in other ways between 1985 and 2008 as a result of the conflict. That reversed the meagre gains of timid land-reform efforts in the past. Landowners have filed complaints accusing the FARC itself of seizing 807,000 hectares, either by forcing them to sell or driving them off with death threats.

The government is trying to return much of their land to those who fled, even if they never held formal title to it, under an ambitious land-restitution scheme that has received more than 26,600 claims, totalling just under 2m hectares, in a little over a year. The government has also drafted a new law on agriculture, which it has not yet sent to Congress partly because it wants to consult indigenous and black communities, but also so that it can incorporate any agreements that may be reached in the talks with the FARC.

The two sides agree on some things, such as improving market access for smallholders, better technical assistance, and keeping subsidies. But the government bill also emphasises export agribusiness, with incentives for biofuels, and says that redistribution to peasant farmers will involve only fallow land. The FARC […[position of expropriation of large landholdings, while stressing “food security” (supplying the local market) rather than exports. It also wants land held by foreigners to be confiscated.

On this point they have some unexpected allies. Other bills in Congress, from legislators across the political spectrum, call for curbs on foreign investment in land. The government rejects this as the product of “unfortunate xenophobia” as Juan Camilo Restrepo, the agriculture minister, put it. He says the government will introduce a measure to regulate, but not restrict, foreign investment in farmland.

The Colombian Agriculture Society (SAC), which represents agribusiness, calculates that up to $6 billion in foreign investment is on hold because of the bills, and also because of a recent ruling by the constitutional court that restricts the purchase of land from peasants who received it under the land reform.

Neither peasant farmers nor agribusiness are directly represented at the Havana talks. An umbrella group of peasant-farmer associations has drafted its own proposals for rural development. Its leader, Julio Armando Fuentes, says the peace talks should consider this. The SAC is also drafting proposals to take to the negotiators.

But that may be to misunderstand what the peace talks could and should do. What is required is a broad agreement on the balance between rural development and land redistribution, with the details to be implemented through the normal democratic process.

As the talks in Havana began, the FARC’s chief negotiator, Iván Márquez, announced a unilateral ceasefire, ordering all guerrilla units to refrain from attacks and acts of sabotage for two months. He said it was a “show of goodwill”. But it looked more like a public-relations exercise, and is not necessarily a good omen for the talks. The FARC has used past ceasefires merely to regroup and recruit. The defence minister said military operations would continue. […]

Venezuelans rally as Chavez returns

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

By Ryan Mallett-Outtrim, Merida

Venezuelans rallying in Merida support of Hugo Chavez on the day he returned to the country, February 18. Photo from Ryan Mallett-Outtrim.

Venezuelans rallied in support of their president, Hugo Chavez, on February 18 after his surprise return from treatment in Cuba.
In the early morning, Chavez had announced on Twitter he had arrived in Caracas after more than two months of cancer treatment in Havana.
Chavez tweeted: “We’ve arrived once again to the Venezuelan Homeland. Thank you God! Thank you beloved people! We’ll continue treatment here.”
Upon his return, Chavez was taken to the Dr Carlos Arvelo military hospital in Caracas, where he will continue treatment.
A crowd of supporters gathered at the hospital at dawn to celebrate.
This was just the first of a number of rallies that took place throughout the day, across the country.
In Bolivar Plaza in downtown Caracas, there was another gathering, where supporters chanted, “our commander has returned!”
By the afternoon, rallies were taking place in all major cities.
In Merida, a few hundred supporters gathered in the town centre, celebrating with music, fireworks and banners.
Attendees expressed relief and excitement at the return of Chavez, who underwent a fourth round of cancer-related surgery on December 11. A caravana of decorated motorbikes and cars also made its way through town, sporting red flags and blasting music.
Chavez was re-elected in October on the back of a proposed Socialist Plan for the 2013-19 presidential term. The plan has since been widely debated at mass meetings across the nation and a large number of proposed changes submitted. The final version will be put to the National Assembly to be adopted.
The socialist forces received a further popular mandate on December 16, when candidates from the Chavez-led United Socialist Party of Venezuela swept regional elections, winning 20 out of 23 governorships.
With Chavez out of the country since December 10, and unable to be sworn in by the National Assembly on the original set date of January 10, the right-wing opposition has claimed the government is illegitimate. This is despite the lack of any constitutional basis to these claims.
The international media has speculated that the pro-poor process of revolutionary change could be finished due to Chavez's ill-health. However, ">hundreds of thousands of poor supporters of the revolution have marched around the country several times this year in support of the Chavez government and the revolution.
Chavez's unexpected return to Venezuela came just three days after the first photographs of the socialist president since his latest surgery were released on February 15. The photographs showed Chavez smiling with his daughters Maria Gabriela and Rosa Virginia, and reading the Cuban national newspaper, Granma.
An official statement gave some details of his condition, stating, “the respiratory infection which emerged in the course of the post-operatory treatment was controlled, although a certain grade of (respiratory) insufficiency persists”.
“President Chavez is currently breathing through a tracheal tube, which temporarily makes it difficult for him to speak.”
Some media outlets claimed the photographs were fraudulent, and the president's condition has been subject to ongoing speculation since he left Caracas.
Referring to criticism from opposition leaders that the government had failed to keep the Venezuelan people sufficiently updated on Chavez's condition, Communication Minister Ernesto Villegas said on February 18: “The ominous voices are defeated, those who were calling into question the information emitted by the national government with respect to Chavez’s health.
“A terrible mechanism was activated to delegitimise, and call into question all of the information that was being given, including by echoing the most atrocious versions [of Chavez’s health].”
Within hours of Chavez arriving in Caracas, Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro told media that PSUV leaders would meet to discuss political strategy later in the day.
Chavez's surprise return to the country has not stopped speculation about his health, but it may temporarily dampen opposition demands for the 58-year-old head of state to step down.
Since the postponement of inauguration of the president's fourth term in office, opposition leaders have repeatedly demanded new elections. Some claim the postponement was unconstitutional, despite the Supreme Court unanimously ruling in favour of the government's decision in January.
The government also faces mayoral elections in July, and economic uncertainty following a landmark devaluation of the Venezuela's currency, the Bolivar, by 31.7% on February 8.
The move brings the official value of the Bolivar more in line its value in the black market. It will increase oil revenues, which provide the financial backbone of the government's pro-poor social missions. It could potentially boost national industry by making it more competitive against imports.
However, it also reduces workers' spending power by making imports -- on which the Venezuelan economy remains heavily dependent -- more expensive. There are fears it will significantly drive up inflation.
For these reasons, the move has proven controversial. This is despite government announcements of a suite of new measures to combat price rises caused by the devaluation; including new price controls and increased monitoring of retailers.
The creation of the new Superior Office for the Optimization of the Exchange System is also intended to provided greater oversight of the distribution of US dollars at the government rate, and reduce currency speculation.
Despite these issues, Chavez is enjoying his highest approval rating since 2006. An opinion poll conducted last month by the 21st Century Social Research Group, 70% of the Venezuelan population rated their president's performance over the past year as good or very good.
[Ryan Mallett-Outtrim is a Green Left Weekly journalist based in Merida.]

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

By Ryan Mallett-Outtrim, Merida

Venezuelans rallying in Merida support of Hugo Chavez on the day he returned to the country, February 18. Photo from Ryan Mallett-Outtrim.

Venezuelans rallied in support of their president, Hugo Chavez, on February 18 after his surprise return from treatment in Cuba.
In the early morning, Chavez had announced on Twitter he had arrived in Caracas after more than two months of cancer treatment in Havana.
Chavez tweeted: “We’ve arrived once again to the Venezuelan Homeland. Thank you God! Thank you beloved people! We’ll continue treatment here.”
Upon his return, Chavez was taken to the Dr Carlos Arvelo military hospital in Caracas, where he will continue treatment.
A crowd of supporters gathered at the hospital at dawn to celebrate.
This was just the first of a number of rallies that took place throughout the day, across the country.
In Bolivar Plaza in downtown Caracas, there was another gathering, where supporters chanted, “our commander has returned!”
By the afternoon, rallies were taking place in all major cities.
In Merida, a few hundred supporters gathered in the town centre, celebrating with music, fireworks and banners.
Attendees expressed relief and excitement at the return of Chavez, who underwent a fourth round of cancer-related surgery on December 11. A caravana of decorated motorbikes and cars also made its way through town, sporting red flags and blasting music.
Chavez was re-elected in October on the back of a proposed Socialist Plan for the 2013-19 presidential term. The plan has since been widely debated at mass meetings across the nation and a large number of proposed changes submitted. The final version will be put to the National Assembly to be adopted.
The socialist forces received a further popular mandate on December 16, when candidates from the Chavez-led United Socialist Party of Venezuela swept regional elections, winning 20 out of 23 governorships.
With Chavez out of the country since December 10, and unable to be sworn in by the National Assembly on the original set date of January 10, the right-wing opposition has claimed the government is illegitimate. This is despite the lack of any constitutional basis to these claims.
The international media has speculated that the pro-poor process of revolutionary change could be finished due to Chavez's ill-health. However, ">hundreds of thousands of poor supporters of the revolution have marched around the country several times this year in support of the Chavez government and the revolution.
Chavez's unexpected return to Venezuela came just three days after the first photographs of the socialist president since his latest surgery were released on February 15. The photographs showed Chavez smiling with his daughters Maria Gabriela and Rosa Virginia, and reading the Cuban national newspaper, Granma.
An official statement gave some details of his condition, stating, “the respiratory infection which emerged in the course of the post-operatory treatment was controlled, although a certain grade of (respiratory) insufficiency persists”.
“President Chavez is currently breathing through a tracheal tube, which temporarily makes it difficult for him to speak.”
Some media outlets claimed the photographs were fraudulent, and the president's condition has been subject to ongoing speculation since he left Caracas.
Referring to criticism from opposition leaders that the government had failed to keep the Venezuelan people sufficiently updated on Chavez's condition, Communication Minister Ernesto Villegas said on February 18: “The ominous voices are defeated, those who were calling into question the information emitted by the national government with respect to Chavez’s health.
“A terrible mechanism was activated to delegitimise, and call into question all of the information that was being given, including by echoing the most atrocious versions [of Chavez’s health].”
Within hours of Chavez arriving in Caracas, Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro told media that PSUV leaders would meet to discuss political strategy later in the day.
Chavez's surprise return to the country has not stopped speculation about his health, but it may temporarily dampen opposition demands for the 58-year-old head of state to step down.
Since the postponement of inauguration of the president's fourth term in office, opposition leaders have repeatedly demanded new elections. Some claim the postponement was unconstitutional, despite the Supreme Court unanimously ruling in favour of the government's decision in January.
The government also faces mayoral elections in July, and economic uncertainty following a landmark devaluation of the Venezuela's currency, the Bolivar, by 31.7% on February 8.
The move brings the official value of the Bolivar more in line its value in the black market. It will increase oil revenues, which provide the financial backbone of the government's pro-poor social missions. It could potentially boost national industry by making it more competitive against imports.
However, it also reduces workers' spending power by making imports -- on which the Venezuelan economy remains heavily dependent -- more expensive. There are fears it will significantly drive up inflation.
For these reasons, the move has proven controversial. This is despite government announcements of a suite of new measures to combat price rises caused by the devaluation; including new price controls and increased monitoring of retailers.
The creation of the new Superior Office for the Optimization of the Exchange System is also intended to provided greater oversight of the distribution of US dollars at the government rate, and reduce currency speculation.
Despite these issues, Chavez is enjoying his highest approval rating since 2006. An opinion poll conducted last month by the 21st Century Social Research Group, 70% of the Venezuelan population rated their president's performance over the past year as good or very good.
[Ryan Mallett-Outtrim is a Green Left Weekly journalist based in Merida.]

SOURCE
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53383

MAPUCHE-Detención masiva en Collipulli a la PREPARACION DE JUCIO ORAL contra Fernando Millacheo y el de Jaime Huenchullan, la Unidad es fundamental

Esta detención masiva fue hecha en los trbunales mismos cuando las comunidades protestaban por las posibles sentencias contra Fernando Millacheo (detenido en Junio del año pasado y a quien aún no se le hace juicio. Fernando Millacheo lleva sobre 50 días de Huelga de hambre y, por estar preso no puede apoyar a su familia que depende de él para su sustento.

Es sabido que el gobierno y el fiscal siguen en su campaña de intimidar a las comunidades. Son ya muchos los presos y siguen aumentando. Hoy son 21 más, y en el sector de aguas Blancas, el jueves pasado asaltaron una comunidad donde solo habían menores. Ver artículo subido hoy:http://derechoshumanosyjusticiaparatodos.blogspot.com/2013/02/las-coherencias-del-sistema-represivo.html

La unidad por la defensa de los derechos del pueblo Mapuche es muy importante. 

Para difundir, denunciar y exigir la libertad de los detenidos mapuche. Por la protección de los niños que siguen siendo golpeados por las fuerzas de Carabineros, mandadas por el gobierno que criminaliza a todo un pueblo.

Agreguen que ayer fue detenido el werken de Temucuicui Jaime Huenchullan, en su cuarta detención en el último año

Para detalles de los detenidos ver correo anexo de Patricia Troncoso.

Dr. José Venturelli

LISTA DE DETENIDOS EN JUZGADO DE GARANTIA DE COLLIPULLI.
lOS DETENIDOS FUERON GOLPEADOS Y ARRASTRADOS POR PERSONAL DEL GOPE. 
Carabineros entro a la fuerza a la antesala de audiencia y alli fueron agarrando gente y llevandolas a los buses, c amiones y patrullas , ademas de guanacos y zorrillos en el lugar.
"DONDE FUERON CONDUCIDOS A UN RETEN EN LAS AFUERAS DE COLLIPULLI (camino a Angol) DONDE FUERON GOLPEADOS BRUTALMENTE" son 21 personas y 1 menor de 12 años el cual fue tambien golpeado.

LA UDIENCIA DE FORMALIZACIÒN DE LOS DETENIDOS EN COLLIPULLI
Incierta es la hora de la formalizaciòn, ya han constatado lesiones en el hospital de angol donde varios de los lamieng salieron con certificado de constataciòn de lesiones.
Actualmente se encuentran encarcelados en cuatro celdas de la 1ra. comiseria de Angol a la espera del pronunciamiento del fiscal Chamorro (conocido secuas del estado represivo y criminal de chile). De alli se sabrà la condiciòn definitiva de los detenidos.
Difundir y llamar a la 1ra. comiseria de Angol para preguntar por los comuneros detenidos.
1ª Comisaría Angol
Dirección: Dieciocho 340
Teléfono: (42) 466415

Lista detenidos:
Estefany Pérez Ancalaf 
Sandra y Rosa Millacheo Marín hermanas de Fernando (PPM en huelga  de hambre)
Paola Catrillanca Marín
Catherine Antin Soto
Karina Ancalaf Prado
Todas menores de 18.

Elsa Millacheo Marín
Teresa Marín Melinao
Carola Marileo Saravia dirigente comunidad José Guiñon ( sus hijos de 7 y 10 están solos en casa)
Ana Melinao Neculpan

Hombres:
Matías Ancalaf Prado
Camilo Catrillanca Marín
Carlos Marín Marín
Luis Marín Marín
Luis Miguel Toro Manquel

Menores de 18:
Andrés Melinao Neculpan
Idenio Linco Manquel
Juan Pablo M.M menor de 12 dejado en libertad hace 20 min.
Pedro Marín Sánchez
Jorge Levio Queipul
Favor seguir y difundir gracias !!

--
José Venturelli, Pediatra
Vocero del Secretariado Exterior de la Comisión Ética Contra la Tortura  (Chile)
Vocero Internacional del Departamento de Derechos Humanos del Colegio Médico de Chile

-- 

Campaña por la Paz en Colombia

Queridos amigos,
 Con mi fraterno saludo, les estoy enviando esta carta abierta del Festival de Poesía Palabra en el Mundo y del Movimiento Poético Mundial, que convoca a realizar una acción poética global, entre el 9 y 21 de mayo de 2013, por la paz en Colombia y en apoyo de los diálogos de paz que celebran actualmente el gobierno de Colombia y la guerrilla de las Farc.
Les pido por favor, firmar solidariamente esta campaña, incluyendo su nombre, profesión y nacionalidad al email de WPM ( worldpoetrymovement@gmail.com), así como hacer circular urgentemente con vigor esta carta entre sus contactos.

Con un abrazo,
Fernando Rendón



En nombre del Comité Coordinador de World Poetry Movement
www.wpm2011.org

Fuerzas de la poesía mundial por la Paz en Colombia

Colombia vive una de las mayores tragedias humanitarias de la Tierra. El mundo apenas se está apercibiendo de esta catástrofe. El pueblo colombiano es víctima de una guerra de más de medio siglo, constituyéndose en una de las más prolongadas guerras de la historia humana, y la más antigua de las guerras que se libra en pleno siglo XXI, afectando la estabilidad política en Suramérica.

Este conflicto ha dejado más de un millón de muertos, y una cifra mayor de heridos, mutilados, desaparecidos, prisioneros y exiliados. Más de cuatro millones de colombianos han sido desplazados de sus tierras, (cerca de cuatro millones de hectáreas), hoy en manos de los señores de la guerra. Colombia, que posee dos océanos y tiene acceso a la selva amazónica, es una inmensa mina de oro, plata, diamantes, piedras preciosas, hierro, carbón, coltán y uranio. También posee enormes riquezas petroleras. Pero el 60% de su población es pobre, mientras el 11% es indigente.

Actualmente el Gobierno colombiano y la guerrilla de las FARC adelantan un diálogo en busca de la paz en La Habana (Cuba).

La paz de Colombia, un país que ama profundamente la poesía, traerá una mayor estabilidad a los procesos democráticos de Latinoamérica y, por tanto, al mundo.

Las fuerzas de la poesía mundial se pronuncian por el fortalecimiento de este diálogo de paz, por un inmediato cese al fuego, y por la materialización de acuerdos que lleven a un estado de justicia social, paz, dignidad y reconciliación entre los colombianos.
La poesía, profundamente inspirada en la necesidad de paz en el mundo, está destinada a transformar y renovar el espíritu humano, recordando a los pueblos de la Tierra sus raíces antiguas, la demanda inmemorial de la justicia poética cumplida, la salvaguarda de la Naturaleza y el deber natural de la unidad espiritual y de la solidaridad en el mundo.

Es por esto que el Festival Internacional de Poesía Palabra en el Mundo, (http://palabraenelmundo.blogspot.com/),que ha realizado miles de lecturas de poemas anualmente en un número creciente de países de la Tierra, convoca a desarrollar una acción poética global, entre el 9 y 21 de mayo próximo, en todos los continentes. Esta acción poética global podrá incluir lecturas de poemas, acciones poéticas y artísticas, conciertos y multiplicidad de iniciativas creadoras, para apoyar los diálogos hacia una paz definitiva en Colombia.

El Movimiento Poético Mundial (www.wpm2011.org), integrado por 250 festivales y organizaciones poéticas y 1.350 poetas de 131 países del orbe se suma a esta iniciativa, apoyándola en su integridad, y participando en su despliegue organizativo.

Poetas de todo el mundo firmamos en apoyo a la celebración de 12 días de acciones de la poesía por la paz en Colombia. Se suman artistas, intelectuales y académicos del orbe.