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| Javier Sicilia Photo: Jesús Quintinar |
Milenio: Notimex
The leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, Javier Sicilia, acknowledged today that his proposals were met with "reluctance" and "caution" in the U.S. Congress, but he declared himself satisfied with his effort.
Sicilia, who met individually with several legislators and held a briefing for aides at House and Senate offices, reaffirmed his proposals to legalize drugs and end the war on drugs.
The leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, Javier Sicilia, acknowledged today that his proposals were met with "reluctance" and "caution" in the U.S. Congress, but he declared himself satisfied with his effort.
Sicilia, who met individually with several legislators and held a briefing for aides at House and Senate offices, reaffirmed his proposals to legalize drugs and end the war on drugs.
"They have elections before them right now, they do not want to engage with a movement that has a very thorny agenda," he told Notimex at the end of his speech in a hall of the Rayburn building at the House of Representatives.
"They opened the doors to us, but very reluctantly, very carefully, very cautiously, and it is understandable given the elections and given the way governments act," he added.
In the evening, Sicilia met with Democratic Congressman John Lewis and with other Democrats like Raúl Grijalba and Bob Fillner, plus the Caravan stated that they had visited twenty-seven other legislators' offices.
During the first of two presentations in Congress, first in the House and then in the Senate, Sicilia called on lawmakers to address the issue of drugs as a public health issue, not as one of national security.
Before a handful of sympathetic Congressmen, the poet said that the U.S. problem is not drugs, but addiction and repeated his proposal to legalize [drugs].
He also labeled as a "true idiocy" the proposal by Texas Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, to designate drug cartels as terrorist groups.
In a later interview, the poet defended the use of harsh terms.
"It is just that there are no other words; in order to walk with the politically correct, one has to call things as they are," he told reporters.
On the upcoming elections in the United States, he indicated that although he sympathizes more with the Democratic Party of President Barack Obama, he does not expect major changes on the drug issue because, he affirmed, it is dealt with as a "State policy".
Finally, he confirmed that he plans to withdraw temporarily from the Movement for an interval of two months to recover his personal life, but he made clear that he will return.
"I am very tired, I have to be with myself, be with my family. I'm not cut out for this, I find it hard work," he explained.
But on his last day of action in Washington, after having traveled more than 10,000 kilometers [6,200 miles] and having visited twenty-five U.S. cities, he declared himself satisfied.
"We are returning [confident we have] fulfilled our duty, we did what we had to do, we have planted good seeds and now, certainly, he who has ears will hear," he concluded.