Alberto Medardo Barranco Chavarría brings to Rondine “the Mexican government’s sympathy for Rondine.”
On July 4th, Mexico’s ambassador to the Holy See, H.E. Alberto Medardo Barranco Chavarría, visited Rondine’s Citadel of Peace.
For Ambassador Barranco, this was not a first acquaintance: he had, in fact, spoken at previous Rondine’s initiatives in Rome, especially at the presentation of the Association’s Social Report 2022 at the Chamber of Deputies last April; the ambassador had, then, received at the Embassy a delegation of Rondine students on May 16 on the occasion of a meeting within the framework of the international Leaders for Peace campaign launched by Rondine at the United Nations.
The Mexican ambassador’s visit to the Holy See comes at a complex and difficult time for world peace, but it also comes after the restart of dialogue and peace promotion activities by Rondine, particularly following the joint presence of UN Under-Secretary General Moratinos and Cardinal Zuppi, Pope Francis’ envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as part of YouTopic Fest last June, and the later endorsement by the government of the Principality of Monaco of Rondine’s campaign, Leaders for Peace, last June 27.
With the Leaders for Peace campaign, Rondine asks each of the United Nations member states to dedicate a symbolic amount to forming new global leaders capable of intervening in the world’s major war contexts to promote the development of peaceful social and political relations. A campaign that to date enjoys endorsements from Pope Francis, President Mattarella, the governments of Italy and Costa Rica, and the president of the European Economic and Social Committee up to the recognition of Rondine’s Special Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Ambassador Barranco expressed the Mexican government’s “sympathy for Rondine’s international movement.”
«Behind Rondine, behind its president and founder Franco Vaccari, there is an unbreakable passion for promoting encounter, understanding and tolerance as the starting point for a culture of peace,» said Ambassador Barranco. «Peace is committed in treaties or agreements but is nurtured by the parties’ belief in fairness, justice and respect.»
«Within the walls of this medieval city, knowledge is imparted, but also changes in attitudes and habits are promoted, reinforcing values to establish guidelines for a nonviolent defense of our differences and divergences,» the Ambassador continued. «The seed sown here will undoubtedly sprout into projects of concord that will enable the integral development of their countries, that is material, that is spiritual, that is human».
During the visit, the ambassador met and got to know international students from Russia, Ukraine, Mali, Israel, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, engaging with them over lunch. Symbolically, the ambassador wished to donate a Mexican flag to Rondine at the Citadel’s Flag Hall, in the prospect that Rondine may welcome students from the great North American country in the future. In this sense, following previous interactions with the Mexican Embassy, contacts have already been made with Mexican universities looking at possible future collaborations in creative conflict transformation education.
