Last Friday 24th March in the Casa Museo Casares Quiroga, the association Mundo Sen Guerras e Sen Violencia A Coruña kicked off the III World March for Peace and Nonviolence with Rafael de la Rubia, world coordinator of the project.
The event began at 19:00. Marisa Fernández, president of the Herculine association, introduced Polo, an artist, who arrived to talk about her experience creating the banners that were seen at the rally against the war held at the Obelisk on 3 March. “It is incredible that we are still talking about the war. The proposal was opened to people who came to class during the week. In the first week they brainstormed ideas to talk about what this war thing was and what they could put up,” explained Polo about the creative process. The banners, in the form of a pictorial exhibition, remained on display, reminding the public why the event was important.
Marisa Fernández introduced Rafael de la Rubia, founder of Mundo Sen Guerras e Sen Violencia and promoter of the three world marches for peace and nonviolence: “Rafael is a humanist, a social activist, a conscientious objector… He has 50 years of nonviolent social activism behind him. He was expelled from Chile by the dictator Pinochet for being a humanist. He was tried in a court martial during the Franco dictatorship for being a conscientious objector. Professionally, he has been a bookseller, literary agent, editor, compiler and writer with twelve published works”.
Rafael de la Rubia, in the words of the president of the A Coruña association, is a born fighter. The first World March was born in 2009 and today the project has travelled to more than 97 countries and has united thousands of people in the fight against violence “In 2009 we didn’t think that in Europe we were going to be at war. I never thought it would take on these dimensions. Now to question whether or not we send tanks to Ukraine already puts you on Putin’s side. The world has become polarised, you are for one or the other. We are against all wars”, said Rafael de la Rubia.
The Third World March for Peace and Nonviolence will begin in 2024 and will start in Costa Rica, a country that embraced nonviolence by dispensing with the army. It will come at a paradigmatic moment in the history of nonviolence at a global level and especially at a European level. After explaining the beginnings of the project, Rafael de la Rubia expressed the enthusiasm that it had generated in unexpected places until it became an unstoppable wave that united completely different people in a basic idea for human beings: the value of life.
The event also saw the presentation of the book that tells the story of the second World March that started in Madrid in 2019 and lasted 5 months. The book will be available soon, just in time for the start of the next one, which comes at a time of special need: “Given the situation, all people today have to do something… Not only humanists, not only World Without Wars… Given the urgent situation, you have to do something, for your children, for your grandchildren… For humanity,” said Rafael de la Rubia.
Representatives of Amnesty International, Solidaridade Galega, AC Alexandre Bóveda, Asociación Veciñal de Oza-Gaiteira-Os Castros, BNG, and Marea Atlántica attended.
