A peace caravan led by Mexican activists kicked off a month-long, cross-country journey in Los Angeles on Monday to call for an end of the U.S.-backed drug war. The Caravan for Peace is organized by Mexican poet-turned-activist Javier Sicilia, whose son was killed by drug traffickers last year.

Javier Sicilia: "As a poet, I’ve always said that poets are the voice of the tribe. And what I’ve done, what I think is important, is to give voice to many of the forgotten, many of the victims. And through that voice, we’ve been able to put into the center of the consciousness of the country and the political consciousness the people who are victims of this war and the necessity for justice, the need to have justice and to create peace."

Los Angeles was the first of around 20 stops for the peace caravan in its journey across the United States.

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/14/headlines