Caravan
for Peace with Justice and Dignity to Rally in Albuquerque August 18, 2012
This is tearing
our families apart and destroying our communities
Albuquerque (Monday, August 13,
2012) – Javier Sicilia, world renowned Mexican poet and human rights leader,
will be leading the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity across the
United States to speak to lawmakers and community members to put an end to the
tragedies of the War on Drugs. Albuquerque has been chosen as one of the
25 cities the Caravan will be stopping at during its U.S. tour.
“It
is not an issue of nationalities, it’s an issue of dignity… of placing the
human as the center,” said Sicilia. “This war is destroying the moral and
political skeleton of many nations.”
The caravan will travel more than
6,000 miles through ten U.S. states arriving in Washington, D.C., on September
10th. The
Caravan, which will include over 100 members from Mexico, aims to inspire U.S.
civil society to
engage in citizen diplomacy to put an end to the war on drugs and start a healing process from the
national emergency that has devastated Mexico.
Sicilia was named one of TIME’s 2011 Person of the Year
for his work on this movement for peace.
The
Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, with help from their Albuquerque
Host Committee, will be holding a large public event. The event will include
testimonies from members of the Caravan as well as local community members,
music, and poetry to bring peace to both sides of our shared border.
WHAT:
Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity
WHERE:
Holy Family Parish, 562 Atrisco Dr SW,
Albuquerque, 87105
WHEN:
Saturday, August 18, 2012
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Background:
Local organizations
supporting the Caravan for Peace: NAACP,
Drug Policy Alliance, New Mexico office, Albuquerque Center for Peace and
Justice, New Mexico Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Los Jardines,
Partnership for Community Action, South West Organizing Project, ENLACE
Comunitario, La Plazita Institute, ENLACE New Mexico
Since 2006, Mexico has experienced
unprecedented pain: more than
70,000 people have been killed and more than 10,000 have disappeared in violence resulting largely from the
failure of drug prohibition. The drug
war has produced painful consequences in the United States as well, especially
the mass incarceration of non-violent people – overwhelming people of color.
Bringing together victims of the drug war
from both countries, the
Caravan aims
to expose the root causes of violence in Mexico, to raise awareness about the effects of the drug
war on communities in the U.S., and to inspire
U.S. civil society to demand
new policies that will foster peace,
justice and
human dignity on both sides of the border.
More specifically, the Caravan calls for:
·
The exploration of
alternatives to drug prohibition, including diverse forms of drug regulation
and decriminalization.
A halt to the illegal
smuggling of weapons across the border to Mexico, which can be achieved without infringing on U.S.
constitutional rights
·
Concrete steps to combat
money laundering, including holding financial institutions accountable.
·
The immediate suspension
of U.S. assistance to Mexico’s armed forces, and a reorientation of U.S. aid to
Mexico in a manner that prioritizes human security.
·
An end to the
militarization of the border and the criminalization of immigrants, and the
adoption of policies that protect the
dignity of every human being.
