Open Letters to the World Leaders

By María Cristina Azcona

This book, made up of letters from each author to World Leaders, has reached the point of being real. We, WWPO and ICP, and our members are saying something here. Now, approaching the flight of this book, we are ready to get our message effectively read by the world's top leaders... We hope that you, the reader, will help us get this book into the hands of our world leaders, as Pope Francis, and other religious leaders in each country and in each cultural group, such as the President of the United States of America or at least the congressmen of that country: also the Kings of the different countries where there is a monarchy, prime ministers, etc. We could add legislators, ambassadors from each country and each person of power in communes, cities, provinces, states and countries. The list is endless. We are now determined to get the book into your hands and will get to work as soon as it is published. At this moment I imagine many people with more or less authority or level of leadership, at an international level, reading this book and perhaps changing their opinion regarding violence.
I dream of making the book stop a missile, stopping the hand that was supposed to press the red button that controls it. I dream that this book will become an anti-missile shield that, even if it does not stop a bombing of a building somewhere on the globe, will serve to raise awareness about peace. Now it's your turn: Please, reader - Join me in this dream. and help me stop the war by spreading this message all over the world.
Reader: If every inhabitant of the Global Village does the same and embraces us. Time flies and the world needs us united, but also active and coordinated. Sowing peace simply consists of focusing on the roundness of the world and its breadth, and thus embrace it in a huge hug without limiting ourselves to our reference group.
María Cristina Azcona

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387987214

Book preview

Words by María Cristina Azcona

One day, in 2012, we founded WWPO, the World Peace Organization, in response to the need for unity and the need for freedom that many philosophers and writers interested in the subject of peace called for.

We came from different foundations, diverse experiences in other associations, and we tried to generate a systematic think tank based on freedom and respect for the ideas of others.

Thus, we follow our instincts to ensure a full style of dialogue and collective study of the ideas of the other, and thus create intercultural bridges of understanding between our various points of view.

We have edited and published many collective books over the years, such as About Peace and Peacemaking and Strategies for Peace, where contributors offer different perspectives on the topic of peace. We have also edited and published in Spanish El Gran Doctor de la Paz and Virus Bendito, also by different authors. In 2016 my book Live in Peace, an essay on the process of achieving personal, family and social peace.

We work as a team, where Bruce L Cook is the Publisher, but I have also worked hard on proofreading, compiling and editing the manuscripts over the years.

Ernesto has been our light on the horizon, with his wise advice and critical eye, not only in the aspects of the Mission, but also within the organization and its future projects.

Where we go? We ask ourselves this during and after the Pandemic, a pivotal period for any association. We held many meetings via Zoom to see where to advance in our gigantic macro concerns of changing the world.

It was September 2021 when Dr. Ernesto Kahan proposed us to create an International Coalition for Peace (ICP) and in those days we called each other daily about all these peace adventures...

We felt very aware of being at the dawn of something important. In October 2021 I thought about developing this project called Open Letter to World Leaders. There was no war going on yet, but the idea that haunted me was to express our thoughts together and try to publish this new collective book, but this time with a different style of thinking and a different style of writing. It was time for a change. radical before a totally renewed reality around.

The idea was also to propose a writing style focused on achieving a strong and direct message, using our pen as an arrow to reach the reader's heart, connecting him with his emotional world, possibly with ethical and heroic emotions. These are the emotions that flow when we see a dog save a child or a firefighter enter a burning building to save a woman...

Basically, lay the necessary and essential intellectual foundations so that civilization can learn to save the world from violence, terrorism and war, using writing as an initial tool.

This book, made up of letters from each author to World Leaders, has reached the point of being real. We, WWPO and ICP, and our members are saying something here. Now, approaching the flight of this book, we are ready to get our message effectively read by the world's top leaders... We hope that you, the reader, will help us get this book into the hands of our world leaders, as Pope Francis, and other religious leaders in each country and in each cultural group, such as the President of the United States of America or at least the congressmen of that country: also the Kings of the different countries where there is a monarchy, prime ministers, etc. We could add legislators, ambassadors from each country and each person of power in communes, cities, provinces, states and countries. The list is endless. We are now determined to get the book into your hands and will get to work as soon as it is published. At this moment I imagine many people with more or less authority or level of leadership, at an international level, reading this book and perhaps changing their opinion regarding violence.

I dream of making the book stop a missile, stopping the hand that was supposed to press the red button that controls it. I dream that this book will become an anti-missile shield that, even if it does not stop a bombing of a building somewhere on the globe, will serve to raise awareness about peace. Now it's your turn: Please, reader: Join me in this dream. and help me stop the war by spreading this message all over the world.

Reader:

  If every inhabitant of the Global Village does the same and embraces us. Time flies and the world needs us united, but also active and coordinated. Sowing peace simply consists of focusing on the roundness of the world and its breadth, and thus embrace it in a huge hug without limiting ourselves to our reference group.

María Cristina Azcona

Foreword: The War between Russia and Ukraine. Wrong positioning of some peace organizations by Ernesto Kahan

In general, armed conflicts between nations generate the appearance of extremist positions among people, which exacerbate feelings of identity and concord that contradict some of the principles of respect and tolerance.

These principles are essential for associations that promote harmony and coexistence among peoples, when the strategy, is to replace violent conflicts, by the political solution of armed conflicts, which is the necessary attitude in the presence of genocidal weapons that endanger the continuation of life on Planet Earth. What we must do, is to maintain the freedom of opinion and tolerance, in order to understand these conflicts and to find a way to contribute towards the political negotiation for the ceasefire and peace agreements.

At the end of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century, when these weapons did not exist, in the field of Historical Materialism[ Dialectical Method: Henri Lefebvre's Philosophy of Science. https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/5060-dialectical-method-henri-lefebvre-s-philosophy-of-science] (Marx, Engels, Rosa Luxemburg), the logic of the Permanent Revolution[ Permanent Revolution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_revolution#:~:text=Permanent%20revolution%20is%20the%20strategy,with%20opposing%20sections%20of%20society.] was accepted as the guarantee for the historical advance of society, in the hope of a society without oppressive classes. At that time, the policies of pacifism, were supported by peaceful evolutionists (Utopian Socialists [ Utopian socialists. https://www.google.com/search?q=utopian+socialists&sxsrf=APq-WBtnXHdH5S-IliDrXvXztzroAsY7yA%3A1647681698921&ei=oqA1YqjpN4fvkgWo9L3IBw&oq=Utopian+Socialists&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYADIFCAAQgAQyBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB5KBAhBGABKBAhGGABQAFgAYJETaABwAXgAgAGFAYgBhQGSAQMwLjGYAQCgAQKgAQHAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz], Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen.  As well as Jean Jaures, Eduard Bernstein etc.)

On the other hand, capitalism [https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalism.asp#:~:text=Capitalism%20is%20an%20economic%20system,planned%20economy%20or%20command%20economy.] in its both, liberal and violent fascist versions have as disadvantage that it tends to focus on its more or less uncontrollable effects on the environment, and its inequality of social opportunities in a system centered on capital. In addition, due to its extreme individualistic position, it often opposes the collective interest and does not deal with social equality, generating conflicts and wars"

All these concepts were changing with the appearance of nuclear weapons and the actions of Democratic Social Parties, in capitalist societies, and the appearance of contradictions, due to the growing power of bureaucracies and corruption in communist countries. At the end of the Second World War and the experience of the criminal and horrendous incendiary Nazi-fascism in Europe, a certain peaceful coexistence between capitalist and socialist countries appeared together of the policy of Socialism in one country [ Socialism in One Country versus Permanent Revolution. http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1924-2/industrialization-debate/industrialization-debate-texts/socialism-in-one-country-versus-permanent-revolution/], formulated by Joseph Stalin. All that, coincided with the logical appearance of organizations such as the League of Nations and later the United Nations), their associated entities (UNESCO [ UNESCO. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unesco], WHO [ WHO. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization], etc.), and the disarmament agreements between the USA and the USSR.

The NGOs which promote political, religious, ethnic, racial tolerance, etc., and its consequence, harmony and the peaceful solution of armed conflicts and nuclear disarmament, must necessarily opt for policies of tolerating freedom of speech and of religions and beliefs, which are entities that make up identities. One of the best examples of that, are the articles one and two of the UNESCO Constitution [ UNESCO Constitution. https://www.ohchr.org/en/resources/educators/human-rights-education-training/1-unesco-constitution-1945]: "1. The purpose of the Organization, is to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science and culture to promote universal respect for justice, the rule of law and human rights and the fundamental freedoms that are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.

2. To carry out this purpose, the Organization: a. Collaborate in the work of promoting knowledge and mutual understanding of peoples, through all mass media and, to this end, recommend the international agreements that are necessary to promote the free circulation of ideas through the word and the image."

In the face of the present conflict between Russia and Ukraine, certain peace organizations unfortunately, assume positions in favor of one of the parties, and in this way, abandon their constitutive mission and disavow themselves as a moderating and mediating entity for peace and harmony.

The collective defense of the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -NATO [ NATO. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nato], are obliged to intervene in the event that any of them is attacked by another party, is doing everything possible to generate an unbearable aggressive attitude, mostly after On July 1, 1991, the Warsaw Agreement[ https://www.google.com/search?q=warsaw+pact+agreement&sxsrf=APq-WBvxqLL4tTOEddWdZwHSpZu_NZVcig%3A1647685756842&source=hp&ei=fLA1YvmqMILTkwW3lbioDw&iflsig=AHkkrS4AAAAAYjW-jIaI8p-gK05mk0W8R_Q7y96Ezj2J&oq=Warsaw+Agreement&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYBDIECAAQEzIECAAQEzIICAAQFhAeEBMyCAgAEBYQHhATMggIABAWEB4QE1AAWABg7zRoAHAAeACAAZkBiAGZAZIBAzAuMZgBAKABAqABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz] created on May 14, 1955 disintegrated. In 1954, the Soviet Union proposed joining NATO, with the aim of maintaining peace in Europe, but the allies rejected the proposal. [ Idem]

On the other hand, organizations such as IPPNW, (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War), with great intelligence and respect for their own principles, have just announced "A joint statement of IPPNW physicians in Russia and Ukraine

MARCH 16, 2022

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, leading to human casualties. And in the case of escalation of the conflict it may cause more severe consequences, involvement of other countries, nuclear facilities and even nuclear confrontation.

It is a great tragedy in the center of Europe caused by the inability of authorities to speak to and understand each other, and who desire to have unilateral benefits for one country while not taking into consideration the rights and security of other countries.

The work of any doctor in this world is closely related to the principles of equality and non-judgmental approach in their work. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shown to everyone how vulnerable medical workers can be as healthcare systems become overwhelmed by a disaster on such a scale. Widespread sickness, death and burnout among medical workers has underscored the need for major reinvestments of time, money and resources to educate and prepare competent and qualified professionals in the field of medicine.

Russia and Ukraine have been closely connected with each other since the very beginning of their history. It’s hard to find a person in Russia who (or whose friends) doesn’t have relatives in Ukraine. Both countries are a part of Eastern Europe and share close economic and cultural connections. All these facts make all the doctors feel much more concerned about the current situation in the region. And the most dangerous of all possible threats is, of course, the nuclear one.

  We are deeply aware of the humanitarian consequences of nuclear disasters for health, the environment and the climate. Nuclear war could endanger all of human civilization. Even a single nuclear detonation would cause hundreds of thousands of deaths and the long-term consequences would last for decades. Hospitals would be destroyed, and medical personnel killed or wounded. There is no cure for victims of a nuclear war. There is nothing medical services could do to help people. The only option is prevention.

In a world that has not only suffered from the health consequences of the pandemic, but also the isolation and division among people, families, communities and entire nations, the use of nuclear weapons would be the final threat to healthcare system and for all of humanity. The time has come to act now and do everything possible to save lives and find wise way to collaborate.

We call authorities of confronting parties and USA authorities to make everything to speed up constructive and effective negotiations to establish peace in Ukraine in order to save the lives of Ukrainian and Russian people (the underlining is mine)1.

This must be taken as a good example, especially when one of the co-presidents of IPPNW is a Russian doctor.

Ernesto Kahan

OPEN LETTER from María Cristina Azcona

Dear World Leaders:

We are coming out of a cruel Pandemic, which has decimated our humanity and generated anguish in adults and children, developing in all of us a true post-traumatic stress of a duration and long-term consequences, which is not yet possible to measure.

In these instances, we are also suffering from the so-called Climate Change, and it is already possible to see the increasing devastation of our planet Earth, due to fires, melting ice, increase in temperature degrees, etc.

We also have the extinction of animal species and not to mention the social deterioration created by drug use.

  There are food problems in many countries of the world, and it seems to be a taboo subject in international circles of power.

Democracy as a system of government, suffers, in different countries of the world, from tremendous flaws, especially centered on human errors (horrors) of the leaders, who ascend to power through deceitful resources within the political parties and then take a sinister turn  once in power and surrendering to the most voracious appetites for money, power and greed that ends up sinking his entire country in the stench of the most shameful corruption, while children die of malnutrition, their parents deprived of work or decent housing.

Then, when we thought we were coming out of a well, the War between Russia and Ukraine appears, a war that in my opinion, at this moment, is first and foremost an invasion of one country over another.

  International laws establish the sovereignty of countries demarcated by their borders, but when this agreement is broken, it seems that many of us are not worried at all, worried about the string of excuses that seem to legalize the invasion. In the case of Iraq, due to the alleged weapons of mass destruction and today in Ukraine, due to the alleged Nazification of the country. And the term nuclear weapons is already verbalized, in this current conflict, by both sides of the conflict. In addition, on the Russian side it has been insinuated to be able to advance in this regard as a real threat to world security. This is really inadmissible. Just thinking about the possibility of this happening would leave us all with the feeling that we should have done something before, to prevent Se from reaching such horror.

Nuclear Weapons: Their mere mention freezes our blood in the candles, it frightens mothers and children, grandfathers and grandmothers from all over the world. Hasn't it been enough to see the deaths from Covid 19 that now without further ado we must continue counting deaths from the war?

  Those of us who are concerned about the issue of War and Terrorism in the world and about social, political, neighborhood and family violence in all countries, do not sit idly by but try to generate social change, global action from the citizenship of the Global Village in the sense of democratically electing non-violent leaders.

But we must win the race (tortoise against hare) against the characters who have (who knows why and how) the global panic button at hand. The tortoise won the race when the hare went to sleep, but our current world leaders, some of them are or show themselves to be totally inaccessible, invincible and insensitive to any attempt at rapprochement by the thinkers of their time.

But you have already been elected and in the best of cases, among you there are those who are against the use of military force to resolve conflicts. The problem is that World Leaders includes those who are peaceful and those who are not… so in writing this letter to all of you as a whole, I represent you sitting around a big table. I could name them but that would change in a few years thanks to the times of democracy (in the best of cases). That's why I see them in my mind, sitting around this huge oval table in front of their glasses of water and notebooks. They are attentive to the reading of this book, and, in this case, to my open letter... addressed to you, yes to all of them, without distinguishing their diametrically opposed points of view, in many cases.

Powerful Lords and Ladies of the world who want violence:

We're running out of time to keep counting the money

We are running out of time to continue cultivating the rhetoric of lies that serves to access the power of the day

We are running out of time to continue giving priority to maintaining the hegemony of one country over the others

We are running out of time to grow at the expense of less developed countries

We are