The continuous and prolonged interferences and wars of aggression conducted by the USA, NATO and their allies, in the Middle East, in Africa, in Central Asia and in Europe, led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with expression in the tens of millions of displaced people, refugees and migrants from countries affected by conflict or bordering them, and sought refuge in countries of the European Union (EU).

It is with concern that the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation follows the evolution of the escalation of tension between NATO and Russia and, in this context, the developments of the situation in Ukraine, which pose serious and huge risks to peace. In view of the seriousness of the situation, the CPPC considers that it is urgent to adopt measures capable of immediately reducing the military escalation and the danger of confrontation and promoting the establishment of measures of mutual trust that, in the long term, will enable détente and safeguard peace.

On the last 27th of November, the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC) held a Peace Assembly, under the motto "Strengthening the Peace Movement".

In this Assembly, which was attended by dozens of CPPC adherents, in addition to the election of its governing bodies, including its Board and its plan of activities, two motions were approved – "The Right to Live in Peace" and "For Disarmament, For Peace" – addressed to the Portuguese peace movement.

Motion "The right to live in peace"

Rallied in Lisbon, dozens of people stand in solidarity with Cuba reaffirming: «End the US blockade! Cuba will win».

At the rally held in the late afternoon of 15 November in solidarity with Cuba, for the end of the blockade and the right to development and sovereignty, the slogans chanted affirmed "Cuba yes! Blockade no!" and "Cuba will win. Representatives of the CPPC, CGTP-IN, the Portugal-Cuba Friendship Association and the Noise Project Association spoke.

In response to the appeal launched by several organisations, dozens of people gathered in the late afternoon of the 11th November, outside the Novo Banco headquarters to demand the return of the Venezuelan funds retained by this banking institution. In the speeches it was denounced the inhuman and illegal nature of the US blockade against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the dramatic consequences for its people, including the large Portuguese community living and working there.

The past months of August and September signal moments that remind us of the nuclear horror and call on us all for a more determined action in defence of peace and disarmament –on August 6 and 9 we evoke the US nuclear bombings on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in 1945, and their dramatic consequences, which persist to this day; on August 29 we celebrate the International Day against Nuclear Tests; on 21 September the International Day of Peace; and on 26 September the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

The immediate recognition of the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination is a demand that urgently needs to be fulfilled and that calls for the solidarity of all those who aspire to a world of peace.

Today, September 21, is observed the International Day of Peace.

Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2001 and celebrated for the first time the following year, it is hoped that its annual commemoration will contribute to stressing the importance of defending and promoting peace – a right of all peoples – to respect the right to self-determination of peoples and the sovereignty of States – fundamental principles in international relations, enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

The Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC) evokes that it was 60 years ago, in August 1961, that the US began its cruel and miserable campaign of massive use of chemical weapons against Vietnam.

Of the various defoliants and herbicides with which the US sought to destroy the Vietnamese forest, Agent Orange has become known for its particularly harmful and long-lasting effects on human health – causing various forms of cancer and malformations to date – and on the environment.

The Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC) reaffirms its solidarity with the Afghan people, who are facing the tragic consequences of decades of interference, destabilisation and war promoted by the United States of America, NATO and its allies.

The withdrawal of US troops and those of its allies, who have militarily occupied Afghanistan for two decades, and the seizure of power by the Taliban, constitute an unequivocal defeat for all those who bet on war and occupation to impose their interests.