Dom Hélder Câmara was archbishop of Olinda and Recife during Brazil’s military dictatorship. A liberation theologian, he helped the poor organize for justice.
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (b. 1931)
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel is an Argentine pacifist, community organizer, and nonviolent activist. He boldy protested the Dirty War in Argentina in the 1970s.
Gustavo Gutiérrez (b. 1928)
Gustavo Gutiérrez is a Peruvian theologian and originator of liberation theology, which opposes unjust social and political structures on a biblical basis.
Paulo Freire (1921-1997)
Paulo Freire was the influential Brazilian eduction theorist who developed critical pedagogy, a philosophy that combines education with critical theory.
Mayerly Sánchez (b. 1984)
As a 12-year-old girl, Mayerly Sánchez started a children’s peace club in Colombia amid rising gang and guerrilla violence. She was part of the UNICEF workshop that launched the Children’s Movement for Peace. Today, she is one of the most important visionaries pursuing peace in Colombia.
Rutilio Grande (1928-1977)
Rutilio Grande was a Jesuit priest who became a martyr for speaking out against violence and poverty in El Salvador in the 1970s.
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
In the 70s and 80s during a brutal military regime in Argentina, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo demanded justice for loved ones who had “disappeared”.
Víctor Jara (1932-1973)
Víctor Jara was a Chilean musician who was tortured and murdered during the 1973 Chilean military coup for his public nonviolent activism through song.
Daniel Barenboim
Peacemaker and writer Paul Dekar profiles Daniel Barenboim, a Jewish Argentine-born pianist and conductor, in a series for Interfaith Peacemakers Month.
Baruch Tenembaum (b. 1933)
Baruch Tenembaum is an Argentine interfaith advocate focusing on Jewish-Christian relationships. He founded the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.