“The Violence is Not In the Guns or the Drugs. The Violence Is Within Us.”

Remarks of Julian LeBaron in San Luis Potosí, in the Caravan to Ciudad Juárez to Stop the War

By Julián LeBaron
Caravan of Solace

June 6, 2011

Good afternoon, San Luis Potosí. It is an honor to be here in front of you and to say a few words.

Julian LeBaron reads from his handwritten notes in San Luis Potosí on the second day of the Caravan of Solace toward Ciudad Juárez. DR 2011 Tyler Stringfellow.

My name is Julian LeBaron. I’m from Northwest Chihuahua and I am here because I have seen a lot of violence. They killed my brother and when I saw that Javier Sicilia was doing something after they killed his son, I wanted to be part of a solution and I would like to speak with you a little bit about violence.

The violence is not in things. It is not something artificial. The violence is not in the guns or in the drugs. The violence is within us. The institutions, the government, the Army and the police are also citizens and are not things outside of humanity. Every one of us has our responsibility in this struggle. W created the violence, every day, or we make it stop existing. And only together can we end it.

I am convinced that we have to review our daily lives. That’s where it begins. Because the violence hides in the small details that become invisible and, later on, devour us. The bullets, the blood, the decapitated heads started out as shouts and insults and disrespect for the elemental minimum of care that all of us human beings need. My hope is that this caravan becomes a seed of Mexican men and women who made history with a message of brotherhood in the middle of tragedy.

This caravan is capable of inspiring more than 100 million to want to march with us and to live.

Long live Mexico and San Luis Potosí.

Lea Ud. el Artículo en Español

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