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PBI-Guatemala accompanies Human Rights Law Firm at court hearing on appeals that could put the continuation of the process at risk

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:

On Tuesday [September 1], #PBI accompanied the @bufetedh [Human Rights Law Firm] in the #CreompazCase. That day, a hearing was held to resolve three appeals filed by the parties involved in the proceedings; if these are granted, the continuation of the ordinary criminal process is at risk.”

The legal case and update

On August 20, 2026, eP Investiga provided this context:

“This case arose from the discovery of human remains located in the former Military Zone No. 21, in Cobán, Alta Verapaz, where the bones of hundreds of people who disappeared during the internal armed conflict were recovered.

In 2016, the MP [Public Ministry] presented the case against retired military officers accused of forced disappearance and crimes against the duties of humanity. The process advanced under the control of the High Risk Court A, in charge of Judge Domínguez.

On November 5, 2024, the Second Chamber of High Risk Appeals granted an amparo to the defense of one of the accused military officers and annulled everything that had been done in the process since its inception, considering that the High Risk Court ‘A’ did not have jurisdiction to hear the file.

The resolution annulled the arrest warrants, the resolutions that linked the defendants to the process and other judicial actions, in addition to ordering the release of the soldiers.

However, the decision was appealed by lawyers for the victims and survivors to the Constitutional Court (CC). On August 27, 2025, the CC ruled in favor of the appeals and reversed the decision that had annulled the process, with which the case was once again valid and it was able to continue its judicial process.”

The update provided by eP Investiga now adds:

“The First Chamber of the Court of Appeals for High Risk Processes dismissed a recusal filed against the High Risk “A” judge, Claudette Domínguez, so the judge will continue to lead the process for the Creompaz case.”

Additional background

The Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community of Chicoyogüito was violently displaced from their ancestral lands so that an army base – then known as Military Zone 21 – could be established in the department of Alta Verapaz. More than 200 families were displaced from those lands on July 28, 1968, by the military.

After the displacement of the community, the military base became a clandestine centre for illegal detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearance, and rape committed from 1978 to 1990.

At least 565 Indigenous people were disappeared at that base. The bodies identified are of Mayan Achí, Q’eqchi’, Pomochí, Ixil, and Kiché peoples.

The military base is considered the largest clandestine cemetery in Latin America.

The military base that displaced his community was rebranded in 2004 as Creompaz, a training base for UN peacekeepers funded by Canada and other countries.

Dawn Paley has written: “Regardless of the mass graves at the base, military and police training continues there, supported by countries like the US and Canada.” The support from Canada has included a CAD$250,000 grant in 2009 and the purchase of specialized equipment in 2014 for a training program at Creompaz.

Photo: CREOMPAZ, March 20, 2021.

At the bottom of this website (dated 2022), the Peace Operations Training Institute that partners with CREOMPAZ “to provide e-learning on peacekeeping courses” thanks Global Affairs Canada’s Peace and Stabilization Operations Programme for their funding.

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm (El Bufete Jurídico de Derechos Humanos/BDH) since 2013. PBI-Guatemala also previously accompanied the Chicoyogüito Neighborhood Association of Alta Verapaz (AVECHAV), the community displaced by this military base.

“This land is ours”

PBI-Honduras seeking former field volunteers for 4-6 month placement starting in mid-October, deadline to apply is September 15

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“Want to join our field volunteer team?

PBI Honduras is seeking former volunteers with experience working with PBI in Latin America to join our volunteer team.

The volunteer period is between 4 and 6 months, starting in mid-October.

If you’re interested:

-Find the application form on our website

-Send it by September 15th to coordinacion@pbi-honduras.org

#volunteeringlatam #volunteering”

PBI-Honduras visits Dignified Camp established in opposition to Agrecasa limestone mine, pollution of Sapadril Creek and waterways

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“’The administrative silence of the institutions jeopardizes the right to water, a healthy environment, and health,’ assert the defenders of the Dignified Camp René Alemán and Pedrina Melgar.

During their visit, PBI was able to speak with those who have been demanding a territory free of pollution, the right to water, and respect for free, prior, and informed consent for the past 17 months.

‘There are no living territories without people to defend them,’ these defenders, who are at risk of criminalization, affirm.”

The Honduran Network for Escazú further explains:

“Just an hour and a half from San Pedro Sula, a weathered hillside serves as a daily reminder of the wound inflicted by mining.

The water no longer flows clear, the stones bear the marks of explosions, and yet the people of Sapadril have decided not to give up.

In April 2024, they established the René Alemán encampment and later added the name of Pedrina Melgar. Two memories that sustain the hope of a community organizing to protect the most basic necessities: the right to live with water and the mountain.

The dignified René Alemán and Pedrina Melgar encampments are made up of women who take turns cooking and keeping watch, elders who share their knowledge of the hill, and young people who understand that their future depends on this struggle. They have found a place to share and reflect on the future.

From this resistance, we can learn that defense is born from the everyday, that memory sustains struggles, and that organization transforms pain into dignity. Sapadril reminds us that defending life also means telling its story, making it visible, and not leaving it alone.”

And Reportar Sin Miedo has noted:

“The Bloc for the Conservation of Natural Resources, the Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice and communities of the Medina Sector in Puerto Cortés have raised their voices against what they call the “double standard” of Honduran justice. They denounce that the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) has initiated a process of criminalization against 13 environmental defenders while keeping the company Agregados del Caribe (Agrecasa) in impunity. This situation occurs despite reports from state institutions – including the Ministry of Natural Resources (Serna) – corroborating the serious environmental damage caused by the mining company.

The communities of the Medina Sector have been suffering the consequences of the operations of Agrecasa, located on the Sapadril hill, for more than a year. Among the reported damages are:

-Effects on water sources due to the dumping of toxic waste.

-Destruction of homes due to the constant vibrations of the detonations.

-Various effects on the health of the inhabitants.”

Agregados del Caribe (Agrecasa)

America Magazine has reported that Agrecasa is a subsidiary of Michigan, USA-based American Aggregates LLC, a U.S. mining conglomerate, according to a 2017 report from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

That Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative report (December 2019) notes: “It is a subsidiary of American Aggregates, LLC, United States of America. It is not publicly traded. …In the non-metallic mining subsector, the currently active concession holders handling significant volumes total 15 companies. Of these, only the Sapadril zone, operated by Agregados del Caribe S.A. de C.V. (AGRECASA), exports aggregates (limestone) to the United States of America and the Caribbean islands.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading

–PBI-Honduras observes arraignment hearing against 13 environmental defenders opposed to the Agrecasa “Cantera Sapadril” mining project (January 9, 2026)

–PBI-Honduras accompanies sit-in by land defenders demanding the closure of the Agrecasa mining project (PBI-Canada, January 14, 2026)

–Honduran government represses community demanding that mining ceases in Puerto Cortés (ContraCorriente, May 17, 2024).

PBI podcast interviews Indigenous Nahua defender Miryam Vargas of the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water (Mexico)

By
Brent Patterson
-

Peace Brigades International-Spanish State has posted on Instagram:

“‘This is what we are protecting: life and territory.’ Miryam Vargas of the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water (Mexico), an Indigenous Nahua communicator and announcer for Cholollán Radio.

#WomenDefenders #CommunicationForProtection #defenders #ProtectionCommunication”

As noted on the PBI-Spanish State website: “Recorded at El Palacio de Aiete in Donostia [a city located in the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain] … by journalist Olga Grande and her Radio Nómada studio.”

In the video-clip posted on Instagram, Vargas says:

“It belongs to us as something inherited; it is what we are protecting: life, territory, our voices, feelings, and energies are united in this resistance to dispossession. We have had to face death threats and imprisonment for demanding justice for our comrade Samir Flores Soberanes.

As Cholollán Radio, we have had to counter the narratives that have sought to promote development and progress, completely excluding us as Indigenous peoples. My determination and commitment are for the life of my people. We must continue, and as my comrade Samir said, we will stay here until the very end.”

The People’s Front and Samir Flores Soberanes

The People’s Front is an organization of Indigenous Nahuatl communities in the states of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala, that has been working since 2012 to defend their territory and exercise their self-determination.

Samir Flores Soberanes was a member of the People’s Front, one of the founders of Amiltzinko community radio, and a land and environmental defender opposed to the Morelos Integral Project (PIM).

Flores was murdered outside his home in Amilcingo, Morelos on February 20, 2019 because of his opposition to the PIM.

Pie de Pagina explains: “The PIM is an infrastructure project designed to generate electric energy through thermoelectric plans, a gas pipeline, an aqueduct, and a network of energy transmission via high tension towers.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water – Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala (FPDTA-MPT) since early 2020.

Additional reading:

–PBI-Canada with PBI-Mexico as it accompanies the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water at activities over four-day period (PBI-Canada, February 24, 2026)

–PBI-Mexico expresses concern about threats against Nahua defender and FPDTA-MPT member Miryam Vargas Teutle (PBI-Canada, April 18, 2025).

Video still: PBI-Mexico with Miryam Vargas Teutle, December 2023.

Peace Brigades International interviews Honduran defender Gabriela Sorto in Donostia on the protection of territory, nature and human rights

By
Brent Patterson
-

Peace Brigades International-Spanish State has posted on Instagram:

’Water and land are ours, let’s defend them.’ Gabriela Sorto, from the Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations of the Aguán (COPA) and the Municipal Committee in Defence of Common and Public Goods (Honduras).

#WomenDefenders #CommunicationForProtection #defenders #ProtectionCommunication

Here’s the full podcast: ‘Local Waves for the Protection of Territory, Nature, and Human Rights.’ ‘Local waves to protect land, nature and human rights. Defenders of land and life.’ https://pbi-ee.org/es/recursos/audiovisual

As noted on the PBI-Spanish State website: “Recorded at El Palacio de Aiete in Donostia [a city located in the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain], which hosts the House of Peace and Human Rights, a public space focused on coexistence, historical memory and education in peace values, by journalist Olga Grande and her Radio Nómada studio.”

In this podcast, Sorto says:

“In Honduras there are some very difficult situations. For instance, there are the struggles of farmers defending their lands, the environmental struggle, the struggle against mining, open-pit mining, and, well, there’s also a struggle as social communicators, in which we are made invisible, in a way, because, well, we work for community radio stations, which don’t have the same visibility as, let’s say, the big radio stations, the ones that are supported by large corporations in Honduras.

In Honduras, since 2015, there has been a very strong struggle to defend the Carlos Escaleras mountain, which is a national park that should never have been touched by a mining company, but in this case it was.

And, well, the communities, feeling that our river, which is the source of water for the communities, and the mountain were being destroyed, we began a fight to defend the mountain, to defend the river, to defend the communities.

And we started to, let’s say, investigate, and we saw that there’s a gap in a road leading up to the mountain, where an open-pit mine is going to be located. There’s also an iron pelletizing plant, the largest in Central America, on the banks of the Guapinol River, where I live in my community. This plant was already being installed, and that leads us to say that the communities haven’t been informed that this was going to happen.

There hasn’t been a prior, free, and informed consultation. So, we started investigating and we realized that these companies use, for example, local community meetings. They use them to make it seem like the communities are in favor of these projects, where people don’t know they’re signing an attendance list, for example, to favor a mining company. And we realized this over time through the investigations, that what they were doing was validating this mining project.

And well, I think people realize they’ve been deceived, and that’s where the most outrage comes from, because they arrive through of lies, of deceptions, offering things that, well, are not their responsibility, and shouldn’t it be the State of Honduras that should provide schools, kindergartens, health centers in the communities, and that through this they are offering these things to the communities so that they can be accepted, but we know that, what good is a bridge to me, for example, if they’re going to dry up the river?

The inhabitants of the communities reacted to that, and well, there has been criminalization, dispossession, and well, imprisonment, and also murders. We had comrades imprisoned for more than, well, 914 days, among them was my father. One of them was criminalized, and because of that criminalization, there was also a diversion because we focused on trying to secure their release, and we let the mining company, for example, go about its business peacefully during all those 914 days, and was able to advance in a way that destroyed the mountain.

I say it’s like a cake, like pieces of cake, destroyed. And well, there was also exploitation in the upper part, and there is already serious damage to the rivers, the Guapinol River, the San Pedro River.

And well, we know that these mining companies, in order to extract gold, use cyanide, and cyanide has already been found in the river waters, so the rivers are no longer viable for consumption.

So, well, we pray for the release of our comrades, and the struggles of the communities continue; they continue demanding that the company stop by 2024. As a result of all this struggle and continued demands, the coordinator of the Municipal Committee was murdered more than a year ago, and so far only the perpetrators have been apprehended. We continue to demand justice in order to reach the intellectual authors, but so far we have not been able to achieve that.

Our strength comes from seeing that river, seeing that river flowing, its water still clear despite everything, seeing those mountains regaining their natural color, their green color, where there were no trees left, seeing the reconstruction that’s underway. Because in our communities, the task we’ve taken on is planting trees along the riverbank, taking care of the river, and I think that helps us keep drawing strength.

And despite the threats, I think there’s a conviction to fight, and we know that, well, we’re the ones who have lived in these communities since we were born, and I think the fight is just, and that’s why we’re doing it, because we also know that, as our comrade Berta Cáceres said, they have the bullets, but we have the words, and I think that’s what’s important: speaking the truth and telling what we’re doing from our territories, saying what’s happening.

I dream big. I dream of a future, as they say, with free-flowing rivers, free-flowing mountains, and, well, defenders standing up for their rights without fear of losing their lives.”

The full interview can be heard in Spanish here.

PBI-Colombia remembers human rights defender Yanette Bautista on the one-year anniversary of her passing

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project posted a series of slides on its Instagram page on September 1, 2025, to mark the one year anniversary of the passing of Yanette Bautista, who founded the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation.

They note: “Searching cannot put lives at risk. Forgetting is not an option. Yanette Bautista, your legacy remains. Your struggle continues.”

The second panel in the series of slides says:

“Today, Peace Brigades International (PBI) commemorates the first anniversary of the death of Yanette Bautista, founder of the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation, an organization she created in memory of her sister, Nydia Erika Bautista, who was forcibly disappeared in Bogotá on August 30, 1987.

Forced disappearance is a grave violation of human rights and a crime against humanity committed by the State. Its consequences extend far beyond the disappeared person, leaving their families, loved ones, and communities in a state of uncertainty and grief.

For decades, families—and women in particular—have taken on the search, facing enormous administrative, psychological, and emotional burdens, as well as threats, harassment, persecution, attacks, and murders.”

Peace Brigades International has been accompanying the “Nydia Erika Bautista” Foundation (FNEB) occasionally since 2007 and in full since 2016.

Additional reading: PBI-Colombia accompanies Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation as it honours Yanette Bautista, launches network and campaign on Law 2364 (PBI-Canada, October 28, 2025).

Video still.

PBI-Honduras shares Urgent Alert about threats and intimidation to displace CNTC “La Democracia” farming community

By
Brent Patterson
-

Image from the CNTC.

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has shared on social media:

“#Urgent Alert HONDURAS / Intimidation and threats against the peasant cooperative La Democracia of the CNTC-El Progreso.”

That post from the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras highlights:

“Today, September 1, 2026, at approximately 11:00 a.m., a woman named ‘Norma Aguilar’, traveling in two pickup trucks, arrived and threatened members of the peasant cooperative ‘La Democracia’ located in Las Metalias, Atlántida.

This woman, the alleged owner of the land reoccupied by the National Confederation of Rural Workers (CNTC-El Progreso), arrived at the peasant base and intimidated them, giving them days to leave the area. She threatened that if they did not, she would bring people linked to organized crime to evict them…”

The National Board of Directors of the National Confederation of Rural Workers (CNTC) has also posted on social media:

As the national leadership of the CNTC:

We hold the State of Honduras and its security forces responsible for any action that threatens the physical integrity, lives, and freedom of the peasant families of La Democracia.

We demand immediate intervention from the competent authorities, the OABI [the “specialized technical agency for the proper safekeeping, custody, and administration of seized assets”], and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to stop these violent intentions and guarantee the comprehensive protection of the peasants. We reject the manipulation of agribusiness laws that justify and promote criminalization, violent evictions, and the dispossession of lands designated for food sovereignty.

We call on our members nationwide, as well as social, human rights, and international organizations, to remain vigilant and engage in peaceful resistance in solidarity with the La Democracia Peasant Enterprise.”

The CNTC

The CNTC is affiliated with the Unified Confederation of Honduran Workers (CUTH) which in turn is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), along with 150+ labour organizations including the Canadian Labour Congress.

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the CNTC since May 2018.

On March 3, 2026, PBI-Honduras, PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Franklin Almendares, General Secretary, and Rosa Santamaría, member of the National Board of Directors, of the CNTC at their office in Tegucigalpa.

We continue to follow this situation.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa, Chiquimula to dialogue to end discrimination against ancestral authorities

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:

“Yesterday [August 31], #PBI accompanied the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa, Chiquimula, to the local Justice of the Peace Court, where ancestral authorities from the Council and other members of the Community Development Council (COCODE) participated in a dialogue. The meeting, a response to several acts of discrimination against ancestral authorities, aimed to promote respect and coexistence among the different forms of community organization, as well as contribute to ending the discrimination faced by ancestral authorities within the Community Development Council.”

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa Chiquimula since June 2021.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras visits the office of the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC), hears about constitutional challenge against Agro-industrial Law

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“’We are vigilant and trying to unite and become stronger, not only under our own banner, but also with all the other organizations working toward the same goals,’ says the @cntctegucigalpa [National Union of Rural Workers], regarding the constitutional challenge filed against the Agro-industrial Law.

During PBI’s visit to their offices, the CNTC highlighted the serious situation of criminalization of peasant leaders. Despite this, they say progress is being made, with more than 1,000 new land titles granted to peasant families and increasing international support.

‘We are trying to raise awareness among our grassroots members in the territories, especially those most vulnerable to extractive and tourism projects, so that they don’t stop working on their land titling processes.’”

The Agro-Industrial Law

The Center for the Study of Democracy (CESPAD) noted: “On February 10, 2026, a draft law aimed at granting preferential legal and administrative protection to the agro-industrial sector was presented in the National Congress. The proposal stands out for measures such as the streamlining of licenses, the declaration of non-affectability of lands and the immediate intervention of security forces in conflict scenarios.”

Infobae commented: “The approval [in June 2026] of the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agroindustrial Sector by the National Congress has opened a broad debate among productive sectors, peasant organizations, human rights defenders and international organizations on the scope and possible consequences of the new regulations. …The implementation of the regulations and their effects in the coming months will be decisive in assessing their impact on one of the most sensitive issues in the Honduran reality: agrarian conflict and the coexistence between economic development, productive investment and the rights of rural communities.”

After the passage of the Agro-industrial Law, El Heraldo noted: “The forces of public order will be obliged to intervene immediately in cases of strikes, demonstrations or protests on public roads. In such crisis scenarios, the National Police and road authorities must enable safe logistics corridors and clear accesses, ports and routes without delay.”

Then on June 10, Criterio.hn reported: “In a clear violation of parliamentary regulations, the National Congress of Honduras expanded the scope of the Law … to include the energy and tourism areas.”

And on June 15, Criterio.hn further reported: “Not satisfied with the legislative shield granted to sectors such as agribusiness, energy and tourism, the liberal deputy for Puerto Cortés, Alex Berrios Lamothe, promoted the initiative called the Safe House Law. Presented as a response to crime, the initiative deepens the protection of private property by expanding the cases of legitimate defense, even in situations where the protected legal asset is not life but property.”

The constitutional challenge

On June 24, 2026, Telesurtv.net reported: “A massive front made up of more than 217 peasant, indigenous, Garifuna, feminist and social movements organizations appeared before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Honduras to file a preventive habeas corpus. The legal action seeks to stop the application of the recently approved Law for the Strengthening, Protection of the Agroindustrial Sector and Energy Projects, under the argument that it puts at serious risk the communities settled in disputed territories and areas of high productive interest.”

Avispa Midia also reported: “[Lawyer Edy Tábora, the director of the law firm Justicia para los Pueblos / Justice for the Peoples] explained that the legal appeal is directed against authorities of the three branches of government, including Nasry Asfura, who assumed the presidency recently in January of this year.”

That article highlighted: “It is also aimed at the heads of the National Police, Armed Forces, the National Congress, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Court of Justice, ‘for their direct or indirect responsibility in the eventual implementation of measures that could lead to arbitrary detentions, forced evictions and serious violations of fundamental rights,’ the organizations maintain in a public statement.”

Accompaniment

On March 3, 2026, PBI-Honduras, PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Franklin Almendares, General Secretary, and Rosa Santamaría, member of the National Board of Directors, of the CNTC at their office in Tegucigalpa.

The CNTC is affiliated with the Unified Confederation of Honduran Workers (CUTH) which in turn is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), along with 150+ labour organizations including the Canadian Labour Congress.

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the CNTC since May 2018.

Remembering PBI co-founder Father Jaime de Jesus Diaz on the 45th anniversary of the founding of Peace Brigades International

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Father Jaime de Jesus Diaz.

Daniel N. Clark has written that one of the eleven original co-founders of Peace Brigades International 45 years ago was “Jaime de J. Diaz, a Catholic priest with the Corporation for Cultural and Social Development in Colombia”.

Clark noted that at the founding meeting an “international council” was formed, along with an administrative team, and a directorate that include Diaz, Narayan Desai, Murray Thomson and Charles Walker as an ex-officio member.

Clark also writes that in January 1982 a three-person team was formed “which would travel through Nicaragua and Honduras in May exploring possible peace brigade activities”. That team consisted of Clark, Diaz and Julio Quan, the director of the Latin American Center of Friends World College in Costa Rica. Clark adds: “In preparation, Jaime visited Costa Rica and Nicaragua for a few days in March.”

Clark has also noted: “In June [1982], at Charlie [Walker’s] suggestion, I had been appointed Project Director of PBI’s Central America Peace Teams Project, and at the Bergen meetings was named as convener of PBI’s Central America committee, which included Jaime Diaz, Paul Hare, and Julio Quan.”

Clark continues the story of this formative time in his book: Peace Brigades International: Roots and Early Years.

Writings on peace just prior to the formation of PBI

In October 1979, Diaz wrote: “As we have seen from recent events [perhaps referring to the Sandinista Revolution in July 1979], whether one considers it possible to bring about progressive change through democratic and/or legal means or whether one believes this can be done only by resort to arms, there is a growing agreement that radical worldwide change is needed.”

In September 1980, Diaz wrote in the Unesco Courier: “The Third World has for the most part been absent from discussions on disarmament, because it is wrongly believed that this problem solely concerns the superpowers, or the club of countries possessing nuclear weapons.” He continued: “In Latin America the most-costly weapons are imported…The multinational firms make profits either by exporting directly or authorizing manufacture under licence. Arms sales take place without restriction either through the official market or clandestinely. Governments use arms mostly to suppress ‘subversion’. However, the term ‘subversion’ is used arbitrarily to describe any attempt to change the prevailing political and economic order.”

Diaz added in that article: “We have in fact reached the paradoxical situation where the most sophisticated and costly arms race is justified precisely on the grounds of maintaining peace, yet this peace is nothing but a cold war based on official lying, fear, mistrust, the lust for power and profit, and the maintenance of a violent political and economic system whose leaders are firmly resolved to survive even at the expense of the greater part of mankind.”

And years after the formation of PBI, Diaz commented: “Parents who put war toys in their children’s hands are training them, not to defend themselves, but to attack. …This feeds the personal and national armaments and the ideology of violence and unconsciously supports the big arms business, the second largest in the world, along with drug trafficking. Two industries of death that are sisters and support each other.”

His passing

In July 2019, the Archdiocese of Bogotá, Colombia announced: “Father Díaz, priest emeritus of the archdiocese of Bogotá, was on pastoral leave in the diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. We join in prayer to thank God for the life of Father Jaime de Jesus, to ask the Lord to receive him into his Kingdom, and to beg for comfort and peace for the Díaz Castañeda family.”

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