News Release
CLASA Speaker Fr. Alberto Franco discusses Colombia
UDM's Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive (CLASA) and the Gesu Peace and Justice Committee will host Father Alberto Franco on Monday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Ford Life Sciences Building, room 113, on the McNichols Campus.
Franco is a Colombian priest and human rights advocate who has worked for over 20 years to support the rights of Afro-Colombian and mixed race farmers. Colombia struggles with having the second largest number of internally displaced people in the world; many Colombian people are being forced out of their homes due to military occupation. Franco will be discussing his life’s work of building peace during times of war.
He is the executive secretary of Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, a human rights and community organizing group. Despite numerous death threats, he continues to work and spread knowledge of injustice and human rights. Father Alberto said, “In Colombia it is easier to form a guerrilla group than a trade union, and less dangerous. Colombia is a democracy where active non-violence is almost impossible.”
Franco is currently on a speaking tour of the Midwest to raise awareness of the situation taking place in Colombia. He has been a featured speaker at the United Nations World Council of Churches, and has traveled across the world to spread his story of peace in a violent world.
This is a free event and is open to the public. For more information, please contact CLASA Director Gail Presbey at 313- 993-1124 or presbegm@udmercy.edu.
Release date: November 05, 2010
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