Buenos Aires, Argentina— “For a Peace Culture” was the theme of the Angola-Argentina Forum organized by the Interdisciplinary Center of Cultural Studies (CIDEC) Argentina, along with UPF-Argentina/Angola’s leadership areas IAPP-IAPD. The virtual event took place on July 22, 2023 (1).
Miguel Werner, UPF-Argentina president, began the event by thanking the organizers, panelists, moderators and participants for contributing to the re-encounter of peoples, cultures and regions, “joining forces to overcome a painful past, building fraternal bonds, and creating a present and future of hope, development and sustainability….”
For Angola, the speakers were Dr. Sofía Porfirio, former Angola Parliament Deputy; Dr. Manuel Adão Domingos, UPF-Angola president; and Dr. António Bento Bembe, Deputy and former Human Rights Secretary of State for Angola. The African delegation was followed by Dr. André de Jesús Moda, Secretary of State for Florestas (Angola).
Representing Argentina were: Iya Adéwálé Eugenia Calvi Ifadamitan Elebuibon, president of the Ile ti Oya-ogun Africanist Religious Association; Dr. Alberto Asseff, National Deputy member of the Argentinian Chamber of Deputies’ Commission of Foreign Affairs and Worship; and Prof. Aníbal Gotelli, president of the Interdisciplinary Center of Cultural Studies (CIDEC) Argentina.
The speakers emphasized the importance of values, particularly the family, and working to modify structures and mindsets that cause division. Prof. Gotelli even mentioned “geopolitics of values” and proposed that all be hard-working “Peace bees.” Also highlighted were education and culture, historical bonds, and the need for dialogue and commercial exchange for the development of two neighboring regions with a painful past that linked Africa to America as slaves. In this way, we bring new meaning to an ocean that unites us, like an area of cooperation and peace, and not a dividing one.
“Working with a vision of interdependence, mutual prosperity and shared universal values, UPF shows a moral perspective that could serve as a foundation to erase corruption and exploitation in democratic societies (…) It is essential to find the way to remove historical resentments caused by wars, and prejudice and discrimination caused by dull minds that never learned to respect humans as beings created in the image of God,” claimed Dr. Simão Ferabolli, new president of UPF-South America, in a recorded message shared at the end of the Forum.
The moderators were Ramiro Fuentes Tellechea, Argentinian representative of the António Agostinho Neto Foundation; and Benvindo Wansung Pelani, secretary general of UPF-Angola.
Links:
1) Recording of the Angola-Argentina Forum 22-7-2023: