Somehow, in 2024 we are still dealing with war, along with political and societal violence.
When I was a little girl living in Peru in 1963, we attended private school and would get picked up by the bus to be taken there. As we arrived to campus, the bus driver got off the bus and approached me, screaming that the U.S. president at the time was shot and killed.
I was in a state of shock after hearing what he said, and even though I did not know who the president was at the time, I still began to cry.
Later, I learned it was John F. Kennedy. When I came down to visit the U.S., I attended church with my granny, where she requested a mass for him.
While I was at mass, I began to think, “How sad that when people get angry or confused, they kill innocent people?”
When I also found out Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, my granny had requested a mass for his soul.
I admired how my granny helped others through prayer, even if she didn’t know them personally.
For me, it was a great remedy when I reflected on how my granny applied her spirituality as comfort for past experiences.
During that time, I learned a total of four U.S. presidents were assassinated throughout history: Abraham Lincoln in 1865, James Garfield in 1881, William McKinley in 1901 and Kennedy in 1963.
Later on, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, JFK’s brother, was assassinated in June of 1968.
Recently, my friend and I watched the Republican Convention on TV, where we witnessed another assassination attempt.
This time, former president Donald Trump was speaking to a crowd when he suddenly grabbed his ear after being shot and ducked down with the Secret Service surrounding him at the podium.
I went down myself and started to cry. After a few moments, we saw him stand up, lifting his fist toward the sky.
Upon seeing a fist pumped to the sky, I interpreted it as a symbol expressing “Life is power.”
I thought, “Enough is enough, no more violence in America or anywhere around the world.”
As Mother Teresa said, “I do not mix work with politics. The fruit of politics is war. If I support one political party, I would not love the other.” She wanted to show love to all people.
While I am not Mother Teresa, I still agree with her.
In my home country of Peru, one president was assassinated on April 30, 1933 – Mr. Luis Miguel Sanchez Cerro. The murderer was Abelardo Mendoza Leyva.
There were other instances of political violence in the Peruvian government. One of those times was when Mr. Alan Garcia, a former president of Peru, committed suicide prior to his arrest on April 17, 2019.
Recently, the government impeached President Pedro Castillo three times before removing him from his position for “permanent moral incapacity” on Dec. 7, 2022.
As of now, Peru does not have an official president.
However, the Vice President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, is currently filling that position. The next election won’t be for another two years.
In the Dominican Republic, there was yet another assassination, which was Rafael Trujillo. Losing support of the army, he was murdered by Gen. J.T. Diaz.
Overseas in Israel, there was the assassination of the fifth prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, in November 1995. He was killed after an anti-violence rally supporting the Oslo Peace Process. The perpetrator was Yigal Amir, who opposed the signing of the Oslo Accords.
We need governments that are in support of a pro-peace, pro-people, pro-women and pro-love society, encouraging loving people who want to preserve people’s lives without getting into any kind of war, because everything has a peaceful solution.
