Ibero-American Alliance for Peace

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In 2018, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Igarapé Institute released reports showing that Latin America was the most violent region on the planet — accounting for 39% of the world's murders. I was deeply saddened to see those figures. We can’t hide the truth; while Latin America is a region with beautiful landscapes and full of kind people, it is also home to some of the most violent people on the planet. I started to think about what could be done about it and the only solution I could come up with was to bring together those willing to transform the paradigm of violence in the region so that we could have a meaningful discussion; where those already making a change – and those willing to do it – could meet to co-create solutions and prepare a roadmap for peace in the region. I began to reach out to politicians, academics, activists, governmental and nongovernmental organizations from different countries in Latin America in order to form a congress committee that could help me organize the gathering. This is how we came up with the idea of having a 1st Latin American Youth Congress for Peace in Medellín, Colombia. This first summit brought hundreds of youths from the Latin American region to Colombia. It was amazing to see all those young people, so eager to build a new narrative for the region — one without violence and with respect for human rights and dignity. The attendees came up with bold solutions and proposals to some of the most pressing issues of our time. As a result of the summit, the Ibero-American Alliance for Peace was born —a civil society coalition that would aim to promote peacebuilding, human rights, and disarmament in the region. Since then, the Alliance has been organizing the Ibero-American Forum for Peace, a summit for the Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations of Europe and the Americas —where scholars, activists, governmental and nongovernmental organizations can gather to discuss the issue of peace in the Ibero-American region. So far the Alliance has organized forums in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Spain. As part of the disarmament efforts of the Alliance, in 2020, together with 28 Colombian members of congress, we proposed the transfer of 1 billion Colombian pesos from military purposes to the health sector; the Colombian Ministry of Defense agreed to do 10% of that, moving 100 million pesos (25 million dollars). This action inspired Chilean members of parliament to do the same. In 2021, the Alliance, with the support of 33 Colombian members of congress, demanded the president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, allocate 1 billion pesos from the defense sector to the health sector. We also requested the government to refrain from purchasing 24 warplanes that would cost 4.5 million dollars. On May 4th, 2021, the Minister of Finance of Colombia announced publicly that the government would comply with the request to not purchase the warplanes. This action has become a blueprint for other governments to cut military spending in order to better address the health crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic. The Alliance has become a space for finding common ground, exchanging creative ideas, and setting up projects that could help us build the Ibero-America that we want to achieve — one that becomes a role model of peace and of respect for human rights and dignity.