Former president of Boliivia, Jaime Paz Zamora, advanced a concept of “Espacios amables”, Spaces of Kindness, for cultivating social cohesion during the concurrent interfaith panel during the Global Peace Covention 2014 entitled “A Global Ethical Framework as the Foundation for National Transformation.” The idea is not a new one, but one posited by his late brother, Nestor Paz Zamorra.
How can we make our societies, our nation, into spaces of kindness? “With everything that the concept entails, “ said former president Zamora. According to his explanation, problems such as poverty and discrimination go against everything that spaces of kindness stand for.
At the center of societies that are spaces of kindness is the value of love. Love should be the impetus that defines approaches to education, health and civil society. It may sound utopian, but, as the former president of Bolivia expressed, it is also the central responsibility of leaders and what nourishes the nations.
“If I were to leave a message to the young people, it would be to continue to seek new horizons and we must also venture to new paradigms”. For Zamora, for Latin America to move forward, it needs to envision new utopias.
By: Sarah Ortiz, a blogger for Fundacion Paz Global.