Lima, Peru, August 6th 2011 - Over one hundred people marched through streets of La Victoria to commemorate the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. La Victoria joined Mayors for Peace last month.
The City Hall of La Victoria hosted the event called “A Thousand Cranes for Peace” organized by the Women Network of Local Authorities of the Lima and Callao region (MUALIC) together with Mayors for Peace.
The movement was led by the Mayor of La Victoria, Mr. Alberto Sánchez Aizcorbe, who launched white balloons to the sky as an expression of peace from Peru to the world.
During his speech La Victoria Mayor Mr. Alberto Sánchez, who is also president of MUNIRED, expressed his interest to join the leadership committee of Mayors for Peace and become the first Peruvian community in the committee. MUNIRED as an Association of Local Governments in Peru.
Representatives of the Lima municipalities of San Borja, Miraflores, San Martin de Porres, Surquillo and metropolitan Lima and Miraflores, joined the event. It was the first event of its kind in Peru.
During the event Lizett Vasquez, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaigner, declared: ''We urge the authorities in the world to control the use of nuclear energy and avoid using it for military purposes, because their enormous destructive power could wipe out humanity''.
All participants folded paper peace cranes in memory of Sadako Sasaki and called for peace and nuclear disarmament. The story of Sadako Sasaki was very heartwarming because it allowed public to understand why the paper cranes have become a symbol of peace.
Anyone who studies Hiroshima and the atomic bombing is likely to encounter the story of a girl named Sadako. Sadako Sasaki experienced the atomic bombing at the age of two. Struck by leukemia ten years later, her short life ended. Through Sadako Sasaki, people around the world have come to understand how war makes children suffer-in particular, the unhappiness inflicted on them by the atomic bombing. And they take courage from the image of Sadako battling leukemia and clinging to her hope for life till the end.
Sadako was one of the many children who suffered and died because of the atomic bomb. Let us use her short, twelve-year life to learn about the damage the bombing brought.
For the first 8 months of 2011 Mayors for Peace has the strongest growth in Peru for the entire Latin American region, with 25 new members in 2011 alone, bringing total membership up to 31 as of July 1st. Further growth is expected with the Mayors of San Borja and Surquillo joining for this event in solidarity with Hiroshima.
The event received very positive coverage from Andina News Agency, as well as TV and newspapers such as the national daily El Comercio.
We deeply appreciate the enthusiasm of Isabel Ramos, Women Network of Local Authorities of Lima and Callao’s president for organizing this August 6th event. We also wish to express our gratitude to the Peruvian Origami Association and to Lizett Vásquez, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign agent in Peru for their valuable support to this event.
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