True Parents' Plans for Latin America

Article written in 1996 updated in 2014. True Father’s plans for the region are as he originally gave them, mainly in 1995.

October 19, 1997 True Parents proclaimed the Hoon Dok Hae tradition, which Father wrote in Chinese characters. Alejandro de Souza is standing, far right.

Father concentrated his activities for forty years in Asia and the United States. Yet, once he had built a platform from which to express globally the values that True Parents’ advocate, Father became deeply interested in and dedicated much of his time to Latin America.

From December 1994, he frequently visited the continent and became convinced — as he stated to several heads of state in Latin America — that South America can play a very important role in solving the major problems facing the globe and humanity, by fulfilling the necessary conditions. Before achieving the peace that we crave, several problems need solving; fundamentally these involve equity, the need to reduce inequalities in living standards between the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, which includes technological and other disparities.

To the degree that all activities that affect human beings are interrelated, so are the problems. Solving some of the underlying problems of human society, the rest would be solved consequently. Among them is the problem of peace, of how to build peace in the world.

Father Spoke of Four Major Problems

First, Father was very concerned about environmental problems, covering ecological problems - - the indiscriminate abuse of nature, indiscriminate felling of trees, which brings on the effects of desertification, the indiscriminate exploitation of aquatic species, reduction of green spaces, threats to and suppression of species, etc. All of which call for environmental protection.

Second, a problem related to the environment and environmental pollution is one caused by the concentration of industries and population in large cities. “It is no exaggeration to say that whoever controls the water and rivers, controls the world; in fact, wars could eventually occur over possession of water,” he said.

Third, problems related to food cause an estimated 870 million people around the globe to be undernourished. An example of this is Argentina, famous for its production of beef and wheat, but a nation where children still sometimes die from malnutrition.

Father made a careful examination of the basins of the Paraguay River, the Paraná River and Amazon River, scrutinizing them by air, land and water with a view to how the resources might be better utilized for people’s benefit and for the preservation of nature.

Fourth, Father emphasized the problem of moral degradation, “moral pollution,” also caused in part by structural problems in human society, in which all the benefits of development that man can enjoy are concentrated in large cities. Everything is concentrated there — art, culture, education, entertainment, medicine, technology, information, money, etc. This causes people to leave the tranquility of the interior to go to large cities in order to gain these benefits and more opportunities, looking for what brings the most happiness — to have a better tomorrow than we have today, to have a future.

The costs of leaving the natural life to go to school or to advance is sometimes overlooked. A high percentage of young people end up leaving their studies, abandoning circumstances that are pressing and stressful and finally falling into drug addiction, into crime and into sexual promiscuity. The Unification Movement is already testing the development of several pilot projects, covering a wide range of activities, the results of which would involve solving the problems mentioned above.

Alejandro and his wife Setsumi during True Parents first visit to Jardim, Brazil

Urban and Rural Remedies

One of the ideas that Father proposed was to decentralize and decongest large cities. This invites us to use our creativity in putting agricultural villages and fishing villages to profitable use through eco-oriented tourism.

The utilization of villages aims for three goals. 1) Education: Installing educational institutions locally and using distance education methods (internet, videos, etc.) ensure that rural youth will receive a diploma that holds the same value as those who live in cities, studying on the campus of a university. Young people would not be forced to leave the nation’s interior and the benefits of a healthy and natural lifestyle, which contributes so much to building a rounded character. True Father founded the World

League of Colleges, with the intention of supporting serious research and the development of the various viable projects in collaboration with experts worldwide.

2) Food Production: Father was stunned by the natural beauty of our continent, the supply of natural resources and the huge potential in our fields and rivers. The need for food in the world is increasing day by day. It is known that when China opens itself to the world, it will be an inexhaustible market for food. In China, food production capacity decreases by about six hundred million tons per year, six hundred thousand productive hectares are lost in that time as land use turns toward industrialization.

Everyone wants progress; any developing country wants to go in that direction, with industrialization as a means to achieve it. If countries that are already suffering from a lack of food turn toward industrialization, what happens when the food producing countries join them?

Today European protectionism through farm subsidies prevents access to South American products. Yet openness is a matter of time, because humanity has achieved much improvement in health and quality of life, causing organic products to be in demand today. No region in the world can produce as much food without agrochemical pollution as can Latin America, or at least with a significantly lower degree of pollution.

The above-mentioned village agricultural pilot projects would be tested on a scale of from three to ten acres per family, where depending on the conditions in the area, cereals, fruits and flowers might combine with forestry and fish farming (as well as sports, hobbies and artistic and cultural activities). Flour obtained from grains and powdered fish would be used in the production of different food compounds that are lightweight and practical to carry, which would cheapen freight costs. If these projects worked, they could move to any of the developing countries and to the most deprived areas.

The Unification Movement’s group of companies has over twenty years’ experience in the production of fish meal fit for human consumption. In Montevideo, Uruguay, they are running a project for fishing and processing shrimp and krill; toward this end, they have a fleet of five factory ships, two of which have already been converted for such activity.

All activities would be centralized; without leaving the country, young people would study the curriculum of prestigious universities until obtaining their diplomas. At the same time, they could be involved in food production, acquiring skills to plant and grow various crops and to raise animals, birds and fish, ensuring a good income and gaining knowledge to augment their studies. Learning a trade in this way would enable them to develop in different work areas if they were to venture into the city later in life. Were projects such as these to develop in the Paraná — Paraguay area, they would facilitate the exit to the world of food produced in the region.

3) In tourism (hobby and leisure industry) Father proposed the creation of many resorts by each MERCOSUR country, which would combine the activities referred to in points 1) and 2) with recreational activities such as fishing and hunting, among others. They should be original and creative centers, backed by a fast and convenient transport infrastructure (small and medium aircraft), to attract greater numbers of tourists to famous places like Rio de Janeiro, Niagara Iguazú, Punta del Este, Bariloche, etc. In nearby places where fish farming is practiced in artificial lakes, fishing enthusiasts could enjoy themselves, creating a situation like fish-and-pay, which is mushrooming in Brazil.

Benefits of Outdoor Sports

After thorough studies to prove whether or not a species bred in captivity develops viruses that may infect fish in their natural habitat, fish would repopulate the rivers, which have been devastated by senseless and indiscriminate fishing. Restocking would cause revenues from tourism to become much higher. This would be of greater advantage than leaving fisheries to whatever consequences might arise.

South American species, such as golden surubí, pacú and boga are attractive luxuries to fishing fanatics around the world, both for their voracious appetites and for the taste of their flesh. Tourism in the Pantanal has been decreasing significantly from year to year because of the absence of the species in rivers where they had once been abundant.

Similarly, breeding native animals such as carpincho, ñandú, alligator, wild boar and other species could lead to the creation of hunting preserves for lovers of that sport. The mere fact of afforestation would help attract different wildlife preserves. An interesting addition is the creation of rural cinemas, which by the projection of the best videos and movies from more than a hundred and eighty countries, would entertain tourists when the weather does not cooperate and make these centers places to visit at any time of year. They could introduce games and swimming competitions, creating colorful villages that develop a reputation and become famous for one particular natural spectacle, such as flowers or birds.

Aerial view of the Jardim training center

Rev. Moon’s conviction is that we should decongest cities and return to interrelationship with nature: Learning to nurture and cultivate the species, we would learn to love nature as God loves it, to feel love and the immense joy felt when God created it for us, for us to use and enjoy. We would learn to consume food with love and gratitude, to stop irrationally exploiting the natural world. We would learn to love and care for nature and take only what was necessary. We would learn to nurture and cultivate our natural character with camaraderie and sharing. If we live in this way, when we leave this world we will go where God is and leave behind a better world. Virtues are developed with the help of a suitable environment. That’s the global ideal.

This would automatically begin to resolve environmental problems, such as pollution, and lack of food. Crucially, our young people would develop a healthy and upright character. Money is not the missing ingredient. If we want the money that runs in a stream through the northern hemisphere to flow someday to our continent, we must utilize the most valuable things we have, ideas that attract the attention of private enterprises, the interest of our governments and — Why not? — the interest and the blessings of God.