Peace Movement Update: Mexico

June 2011 Colombia Peace Update | Fellowship of Reconciliation: "June was a remarkable month for Mexico’s emergent Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, from the caravan that June 4-9 traversed cities in central and northern Mexico that have been devastated by the invasions, battles and abuses of soldiers, police, and organized crime, to the three-hour dialogue between government critics and victims of Mexico’s drug war with President Calderón and members of his cabinet.

The caravan concluded its journey in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, “the epicenter of pain,” poet Javier Sicilia called it, where hundreds of people lined the highway to greet these pilgrims of compassion in an emotional moment. Sicilia has become the central figure in the movement, after his son was murdered in Cuernavaca in late March and he called for public mobilizations against the government’s war.

Some 600 people gathered at the university in Juárez on June 10 to develop a citizens pact, which was organized through nine different sessions that lasted about four hours each. Versions of the sessions’ conclusions were read out under the scorching sun that afternoon, then edited by a smaller group. That evening in the Juárez plaza, hundreds of people lined up to sign the pact even before it was read aloud – the confidence level was that high"