On February 17, 2009 UPF Peru held its first meeting after delegates returned from the New York Conference. A representative cross section of Peruvian society gathered together in the Federation’s headquarters in Lima to hear reports from the conference participants.
The meeting was opened with prayers offered by Maestro Tahuiro Waman Kanki, the founder of the Historical Inca Society, and the first speaker for the evening was the current Minister of Defence, Dr. Antero Flores Araoz. He enlightened the audience with a clear account of his experiences, emphasizing how much he appreciated the practical content of the conference with speeches from well-known international figures that gave the audience some clear proposals about overcoming the current world economic crisis.
Second to speak was Congressman Yonhy Lescano. He was very impressed with the quality and variety of people gathered for the conference and felt that there were tremendous opportunities for such a group to work together for world peace.
Our third guest from Peru, Rev. Dr. Orestes Sanchez, spoke strongly about the need for international co-operation to take place on a regular basis. The previous day, when the board of directors of UPF Peru met with the Ambassador for Palestine in Lima, he suggested that UPF convene quickly another MEPI meeting. Ambassador Walid Abdel-Rahim was very inspired by this suggestion and pledged his support, saying that he would make arrangements for UPF to meet the Palestinian government in Bethlehem.
In the following question and answer session, Congresswoman Margarita Sucari promised to arrange a meeting in the Congress for UPF in the near future.
The meeting concluded with an explanation of the planned Global Peace Tour by Trevor Jones, UPF Peru Executive Director.
The event proved to be a significant one in the development of UPF Peru: two sitting congressmen attended, the current Minister of Defence spoke, and the audience included a number of political figures as well as religious leaders, professors, and community leaders.