On the Letter from the Poets for Peace and Development to the Presidents of the Americas.
By Estaban Moore

In the small hours of the night of the 30th of June of 2005, a group of poets gathered in the bar of the Gran Hotel of Medellín talked about the events of the day, the fifth of the festival that is organized in that city since 1991.

The multitudinous International Poetry Festival of Medellín is the result of the doggedness, the determination and the hard work of just a few poets who under the direction of Fernando Rendón one day decided that instead of the sound of gunfire and the explosions of bombs, the music of words should be heard in the streets of their city. Read more.

Breyten Breytenbach was declared a "terrorist" and imprisoned in South Africa for his anti-apartheid activities. His "letter" was written at the beginning of the war but has not been previously widely published in the U.S. —Ed.

LETTER TO MY AMERICAN FRIEND:
Dakar, 8 March 2003

Joe, please receive these random thoughts at countdown time. It is the eighth of March. In a few days, it now seems certain and ineluctable, thousands of people will die stupidly and violently. Nothing new. The human species is dumb though sly and violent though tender. Read more.

Op-Ed By Sam Hamill
Director of Poets Against War

Dear Fellow Poets Against War:

I hope you will support our efforts on behalf of the poets and people of Central and South America by signing Esteban Moore's petition and by doing everything possible to make Nov 5 an international day of poetry and consciousness-raising.

The United States has exploited and terrorized and manipulated the people of Central and South America for over a hundred years. We have propped up dictators and promulgated death squads and undermined democratic processes time and again. It is a sad, shameful history.  Read more.

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