This 21st of September we celebrate the peace and justice loving peoples' commitment, symbolized in this international date, as established in 1981 by the UN. The International Day of Peace is, above all, a moment of reaffirmation of this commitment, of evaluation of our progress and for deepening our struggle, which is firm and irreducible, against wars, colonialism, imperialism and all forms of oppression that prevent us from building a world of equality among all peoples and nations.

The World Peace Council works incessantly for these goals. The movements that are part of it are national and international forces dedicated to the consolidation of a system of relations based on the respect for the sovereignties and non-interference, and above all, on the solidarity between the peoples. Therefore, commemorating the International Day of Peace is, for us, a solemn date of reaffirmation of our agenda, of effort in the advancement of our struggle and of massive mobilization to, in a potent way, attest our commitment to peace.

We believe that, in the diversity of movements and organizations that are the driving force of the world's struggle for peace, we can move forward, together, to stop war, aggression and the planet's militarization. Convinced or the relevance of our role as a popular movement, one that envisions itself as ever broader and which seeks essential alliances for the promotion of peace, we work for deepening our struggle, which is urgent. We denounce the danger of a generalized war and condemn the suffering that is imposed on the peoples, on workers, on the youth, on women, and on children with the imperialist policies of domination and aggression, which lead millions of human beings into fleeing their countries and which disseminate an environment of insecurity and exploitation.

On this International Day of Peace, we are still convinced how important the unity among the peoples is, as well as the strengthened internationalist solidarity, if we want to resist imperialism. We are also sure of the importance of the great international fora, such as the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement and numerous regional organizations that are guided by a spirit of integration based on solidarity, sovereignty and progressive principles.

We stand for, therefore, the immediate democratization of institutions that, as the UN and its organs, are instrumentalized by the great imperialist powers to impose their hegemonist agenda and will on the world. We defend the UN Charter and its principles as the guideline for our struggles for justice and peace, demanding its observance by the powers and the rest of the world alike.

We have great challenges ahead in promoting these principles, which are common to all humanity, but we believe that, together, the peoples can defeat the terror imposed through the imperialist policies of threat and domination.

Therefore, on this International Day of Peace, we recover our most urgent campaigns, for the complete abolition of the nuclear arsenals and other weapons of mass destruction, for the dissolution of the imperialist war machine, NATO, for the elimination of all foreign military bases, for an end to the interference and aggression against the peoples in regions such as the Middle East and Africa, for the de-colonization of the territories of Palestine, Western Sahara, the Argentinean Malvinas, Puerto Rico and so many other territories that are still under the control of the UK, France or the US.

We call upon the peoples and social movements all over the world for unity around our shared goals, for strengthening our joint struggle and for deepening our internationalist agenda, so we can resist the imperialist aggressions and all forms of oppression.

Long live peace and justice!

Long live the solidarity between the peoples!

Socorro Gomes,
President of the World Peace Council