Am I Safe in Latin America?

As I bask in the ecstasy of anticipating my upcoming trips to Latin America, I know that I will be participating in the most important revolution in history – a Consciousness Revolution that has become essential during this time of so many crises. I also know that, although I am a revolutionary agent of change, I will feel safe in the countries I visit. 

People sometimes ask, “Isn’t it dangerous there?” referring to provocative news about gun violence in places like Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. 

“I feel much safer there,” I assure them, “than in the United States.” I point out that those killed in the countries I visit almost always are involved in one way or another with criminal activities, such as narco-trafficking, or movements against powerful corporate and political interests. The murders are focused, not indiscriminate or random.

We in the United States, on the other hand, face the possibility of being shot every time we enter a church, school, movie theater, supermarket, or attend a public activity by some crazed individual who does not know anything about us – and is armed with a military grade weapon. Nowhere in the world are indiscriminate killings as frequent and prevalent as in the US. With 120.5 guns for every 100 people, the US ranks far above any other country in firearms ownership and civilian gun murders and indiscriminate mass killings. Compare this to the countries where I take people: Colombia (10.1 guns per 100 people), Ecuador (2.4), Guatemala (13.1), Mexico (15). (1)

Unlike the US, just purchasing a gun in other countries is challenging – unless you are part of a criminal organization and intend to use the firearm against those who challenge you. For example, as reported in the Los Angeles Times:

The only gun shop in all of Mexico is behind a fortress-like wall on a heavily guarded military base. To enter the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales, customers must undergo months of background checks — six documents are required — and then be frisked by uniformed soldiers. The army-run store on the outskirts of Mexico City embodies the country’s cautious approach to firearms, and a visit here illustrates the dramatically different ways two neighboring countries [the US and Mexico] view guns, legally and culturally. (2)

Most of the guns in Mexico, as well as other countries, come illegally from the US and are used by people who are involved in illegal activities against their “enemies.” 

In a few days, I’ll be deep in the Amazon rainforest. It’s an area where I was a Peace Corps volunteer back in the late 60s and early 70s. At that time, local indigenous people, the Shuar, were fierce warriors, famous for shrinking the heads of their enemies. However, killings were conducted against specific enemies who were infringing on their territory or had committed a crime against them. I was not threatened. Now, the wars are over, and I never feel safer then when I am with indigenous people in their fabulous forests. 

Today the Shuar and their neighbors, the Achuar, Quichua, Sapara, and other indigenous communities, including those in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, are leading the world in this new revolution – a Consciousness Revolution against climate change, environmental destruction, and social injustice. They march on capital cities, launch demonstrations, and travel the world speaking out against government and corporate policies that are threatening life as we know it. In these troubled times, these warriors are the vanguard of a peaceful rebellion against the Death Economy that I often discuss in my writings. They use their voices and their bodies, not guns, in their rebellion. They are committed to protecting their homes and their forests – and to assuring that future generations of all living beings will inherit a Life Economy that cleans up pollution, regenerates destroyed environments, recycles, and develops sustainable technologies that do not ravage our beautiful planet. They lead this revolution for all of us. 

I take people to these countries because the indigenous people have invited us to join them in this essential Consciousness Revolution. Not only do I feel safe in these countries; I also know that we are working to make the world safe for our children.

There are many ways you can become part of the revolution. You can do it by spreading the word through social media, participating in political or consumer campaigns, writing, speaking out, teaching, and through other avenues. 

All of us – you and I – can take different routes as long as our destination is the same, to transform the Death Economy into a Life Economy.

If you would like to join hands physically with the indigenous people themselves – be personally and directly inspired by their leaders and shamans, by their men, women, and children, and by their magical sacred sites and lands – please join me on one of my upcoming trips. It will be a life-changing experience.