Javier Sicilia, the leader of Mexico's Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, will speak Monday in Tucson about violence in his country and efforts to halt it.
Sicilia, who will speak at the University of Arizona, is frank in his assessment of how Mexico and the United States have reacted to the violence that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
"Mexico pretends to control violence with more violence and the neighboring country criminalizes undocumented workers but leaves open the flow of arms, drugs and money laundering," said Sicilia in a phone interview.
Sicilia emphasized that if authorities in Mexico and the United States continue to frame the drug issue as one of national security, "we will generate perpetual violence."
"If we want peace," he said, money should be invested "in the social fabric: creating job opportunities, recovering our youths and rescuing corrupt institutions in our country."
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Sicilia claims the Mexican government has undercounted the death toll. He said more than 60,000 people have died, more than 20,000 have disappeared and 250,000 people have left the country since December 2006. That is when President Felipe Calderón unleashed the Mexican army against the drug gangs.
The peace movement has helped lead a legislative initiative in Mexico on behalf of violence victims. Another initiative spurred by the movement has been the creation of a federal agency to support victims of crime and violence.
Sicilia, a poet, novelist and commentator, became a peace activist in the spring of 2011 after his son, Juan Francisco Sicilia, was tortured along with six other people by a drug gang.
He gave up writing poetry to devote himself to advocating for peace.
His visit is sponsored by the UA's Southwest Center and Center for Latin American Studies, and Global Exchange, a California international human-rights organization.
Contact Liliana López Ruelas at llopez@ azstarnet.com or at (520) 807-8479.
If You Go
Peace activist Javier Sicilia will speak at 5 p.m. Monday in the Harvill Building, 1103 E. 2nd St., room 150.
Sicilia will speak in Spanish. A simultaneous translation into English will be provided for the first 200 people.
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