Paranaguá (Brazil), July 4th 2011 - Mayors for Peace and the Brazilian Association of Hibakusha were invited for the commemorations of the 363 anniversary of the city of Paranaguá (PR), in Brazil. Paranaguá is the third largest port-city in Brazil. Today Mr. José Baka Filho, Mayor of Paranaguá, hosted a special event to celebrate their membership to Mayors for Peace with the opening of a public exhibition of the A-Bomb. The Mayor of Paranaguá successfully invited other Mayors from coastal cities of the state of Parana to join Mayors for Peace. The events were all well attended and received very positive media coverage.

Pol Heanna DHuyvetter, international development director of Mayors for Peace, and Cinthia Heanna, 2020 Vision Campaigner, received a special invitation from Paranaguá for the commemorations of the Anniversary of the city. The promotion of Mayors for Peace was part of the official calendar of the festivities for their 363rd Anniversary.

The registration of Paranaguá as a member of Mayors for Peace was marked by the presence of Mr. Takashi Morita and Ms. Junko Watanabe, representatives of the Hibakusha Association of Brazil. Their testimony as survivors of the 1945 nuclear bombing of Hiroshima  and the screening of the documentary “A Mother’s Prayer” in the City Hall, moved the audience to tears and raised public commotion for the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.

In the evening of July 4th, a public ceremony was held in the Municipal House of Culture for the opening of the exhibition of the A-Bomb produced and offered free of charge by the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation.

The Mayors of Paranaguá, Jose Baka Filho; Pontal do Paraná, Rudisney Gimenes; and Guaraqueçaba, Riad Said Zahoui, made public speeches on the importance of their involvement with Mayors for Peace and their solidarity to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Together with the cities of Matinhos, Guaratuba and Morretes, these municipalities joined Mayors for Peace by the invitation of Mayor Baka, who promoted our organization in his role as President of AMLIPA (Association of Municipalities from the Coast of Paraná).

The event received great public attention, with the presence of local authorities and the press. The representatives of Mayors for Peace and the Hibakusha Association were interviewed at Radio Litoral Sul by the vice-president of Paranaguá, Mr. Fabiano Vicente Elias. The regional TV Station Serra do Mar broadcasted the events, which were also in the front page of local newspaper Folha de Paranaguá.

We would like to express our special thanks to the Mayor of Paranaguá, Mr. Jose Baka Filho and his Vice-Mayor, Mr. Fabiano Vicente Elias, for organizing the events and having received us with all their hospitality. We thank and welcome our new members, Mayors Evani Justus (Guaratuba), Rudisney Gimenes (Pontal do Paraná), Amilton Paulo da Silva (Morretes), Riad Said Zahoui (Guaraqueçaba) and Eduardo Dalmora (Matinhos).

And finally, we would also like to express our gratitude to the President of the Nipo-Brazilian Association in Paranaguá, Mr. Eurico Endo, and to Mr. Luiz Affonso da Silveira, Ms. Marcia, Mr. Alceu and all the staff of the city hall of Paranaguá for the invaluable support they have offered to our team.

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