Voices of Peace Raised in Guantanamo against Foreign Military Bases

Guantanamo, Cuba, May 5 (acn) Peace movements from the five continents defended on Friday in Guantanamo the need to dismantle all foreign military bases in the world violating the sovereignty and peace of nations.

The militarization of the planet as one of the main threats against humanity with a continued escalation of US military bases and expansion of NATO were among some of the issues discussed and condemned by anti-war activists participating in the 5th Seminar for Peace and the Elimination of Foreign Military Bases underway in the eastern city of Guantanamo.

Some of the participants to the event that will conclude on Saturday with a Final Declaration in the town of Caimanera were members of US Veterans Peace Movements, CODEPINK; Women for Peace; Witnesses against Torture and World Peace Council.

Activists from a number of countries in the hemisphere and also Japan, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, Palestine, several African countries and islands as far as Kiribati reaffirmed the need to urgent actions against hegemonic powers that threaten the life on the planet with weapons of mass destructions in their military bases.

The United States has 865 military bases in approximately 130 countries, representing 95 percent of the installations of that type in the world including 350 thousand soldiers equipped with weapons, warplanes, missiles and advances vessels.

The President of the World Peace Council, Maria Do Socorro Gomes and retired US colonel Ann Wright said that Washington's objective is to control the natural resources in other nations, intimidate, and achieve puppet governments.

Our mission, they said, is to reinforce the fight against foreign military bases; especially Washington's enclave in Guantanamo imposed on Cuba for over a century and is the oldest US base outside its borders.

Both peace activists coincide that the elimination of the base constitutes an urgent task in order to consolidate peace among the peoples and respect of its sovereignty.

That is why this meeting in Guantanamo is important. Guantanamo has 117 square kilometers of its territory controlled by a US military enclave against the will of the Cuban people and international community, a torture center with close to 40 "terrorist suspects", said the participants.

This year's seminar sponsored by the World Peace Council and the Cuban Movement for Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples, is taking place in the context of the process of normalization of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States where the return of the illegally occupied US military base in Guantananmo is one of Cuba's demands.

Among some of the speakers to Friday's session was Dr. Daniel Ortega Reyes, deputy before the Central American Parliament for the Republic of Nicaragua and Argentinean journalist Carlos Aznarez who referred to one of his country's demands which is the return of the Malvinas to Argentina.

During the past two days the peace activists participated in theorical debates, visual arts exhibitions, toured and exchanged with several Defense of the Committees in the Defense of the Revolution and saw a documentary called Todo Guantanmo Es Nuestro (All of Guantanamo is Ours) by Colombian director Hernando Calvo Ospino.