On a day of September in year 2001, solstice of spring in the continental territory of Abya Yala (Latin America), women and men from various cultures gathered in Cochabamba. We address the peoples of the world thus. In these days of uncertainty and tension, war announcements and witch hunting, we want to talk to you about hope and affection, about fear and sorrow.
We have seen the horror and desperation in the faces of ordinary people affected at random in the attacks on New York and Washington. We know this pain; we have daily experience and memory of terror and unnecessary violence.
Minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, millions of innocent and anonymous victims wear the same look of horror in their own suffering of the irrational violence in the middle of silence and indifference.
Since the beginnings of humankind, the struggle for power and dominance by a few has immersed peoples in bloody and cruel battles. We see with pain that they haven't learnt to live in peace, justice and mutual respect, and they go on spilling innocent blood on the soil.
The historical memory of our dominated peoples helps us understand the intensity of sorrow, horror and anxiety these families of innocent victims feel: we express our deepest solidarity.
We hope that the experience of horror that our North American brothers and sisters went through helps them understand how cruel and absurd the abuse of military power is, and extends their solidarity against any type of attacks on civil populations.
It is for this reason that we condemn crimes such as the strikes announced by the US government and their allies on civil populations. These rushed reactions only feed hatred, violence and terror, speeding the systematic destruction of the planet.
Our philosophy is opposed to militarism and domination. We love freedom and equilibrium between all peoples: the vital strength of our struggle is to defend lives and life, so we will oppose the absurd war announced by the United State through global actions.
Cochabamba, 23rd of September 2001