Karina Ansolabehere to present lecture on ‘Violence and Peace Movements in Mexico’

Karina Ansolabehere will present a lecture titled "Violence and Peace Movements in Mexico" at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in Quad 264, Saint John's University.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Latino and Latin American Studies program at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.

Rising levels of violence and the war against drug traffickers mark the last seven years in Mexico. Extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture now are common and have claimed the lives of approximately 50,000 people since 2006. In this context, a new social justice movement has emerged called Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad (Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity). Its goals are to recognize the rights of the victims of violence and begin a process of dialogue and non-violent resistance with the Mexican state. Ansolabehere's talk will explore the relationship between dialogue and peaceful resistance in the quest to end drug traffic and violence in Mexico.

Ansolabehere is a professor and researcher at FLACSO (Latin America Faculty of Social Sciences) in Mexico and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota during the 2012-13 academic year. Trained in sociology and political science, she is a leading voice in the academic study of human rights and democracy in Latin America.

The mission of the Latino/Latin American Studies program at CSB and SJU is to promote greater awareness and understanding of Latino and Latin American history and culture among the CSB, SJU and local communities.