'Voices of the Victims' Tour Led by Mexican Poet Javier Sicilia Heads to Washington ENEWSPF
go to original November 11, 2013

In June 2012, Javier Sicilia extended a heartfelt invitation to support and participate in the Peace Caravan and help end the failed "War on Drugs." (YABASTANOMASANGRE)

On Tuesday, Nov. 12, Mexican poet and peace leader Javier Sicilia will arrive in Washington, DC, to speak firsthand about the pain and devastation caused by the failed war on drugs. Sicilia’s two-day visit is part of the bi-national “Voices of the Victims” Tour, traveling to a dozen cities in the U.S. and Canada to call for an end to the drug war that has left over 80,000 people murdered, 25,000 disappeared and 250,000 displaced in Mexico in just seven years.

On Tuesday morning, Sicilia will participate in a discussion at the Organization of American States (OAS) of its groundbreaking report, “Scenarios for the Drug Problem in the Americas 2013-2025,” released in May, which lays out different options for the future of drug policy in the hemisphere – scenarios that break sharply from the U.S.-led drug war and include various forms of decriminalization and regulation. The OAS is the most prominent multilateral institution to endorse an open discussion of alternatives to drug prohibition, which has caused or contributed to widespread violence, corruption and human rights abuses in Mexico and Central America.

“Our purpose is to honor our victims, to make their names and faces visible, and to raise awareness throughout North America of the unbearable pain and loss caused by the drug war – and of the enormous shared responsibility for protecting families and communities in all our countries,” Sicilia said. “We have visited communities across the U.S. and Canada that have adopted sensible drug policy reforms – such as the regulation of marijuana and other alternatives described by the OAS – which are critical steps towards diminishing the power of organized crime, reducing state corruption, and constructing a path towards peace with justice and dignity."

On Wednesday, Sicilia will speak at a congressional briefing, “Rethinking the Drug War in Central America and Mexico,” hosted by Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM).  He will be joined by Claudia Samayoa, an internationally recognized expert on human rights in Guatemala who supports human rights defenders in preventing and responding to security risks. Ms. Samayoa’s perspective will be vital, as the drug war’s impact has been especially destructive in Guatemala and neighboring Honduras and El Salvador, which the United Nations has ranked among the most violent countries in the world outside of active war zones.

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