Latin American Nobel winners sign letter calling on Putin to end Ukraine war

A group of 163 Nobel Laureates from a wide range of countries and fields signed a letter calling for peace in the wake of the Kremlin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

In the letter published on Thursday, the signatories – who include former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez and famed Peruvian author Mario Vargas-Llosa – joined the Western world “in condemning these military actions and President Putin’s essential denial of the legitimacy of Ukraine’s existence.”

“In a move that recalls the infamous attack of Nazi Germany on Poland in 1939 (using similar tricks of feigned provocation) and on the Soviet Union in 1941, the government of the Russian Federation, led by President Putin, has launched an unprovoked military aggression — nothing else but a war — against its neighbor, Ukraine. We choose our words carefully here, for we do not believe the Russian people have a role in this aggression.”

Last month, as the drums of war were first being heard around the world, Vargas-Llosa published an op-ed in the Peruvian outlet El Comercio reminding his readers that Putin is not a typical Western, democratic leader.

“Vladimir Putin, the man who is about to plunge Europe into a war of unpredictable results, is neither an intellectual nor a man of books: the education he received is that of an officer of the USSR's political police, the KGB,” he said.

Yet the famed Latin American author remains hopeful that the world may yet avoid falling into another world war.

“Will a war break out that endangers the peace of the world and could degenerate into an atomic confrontation, which, after the coronavirus pandemic, would leave the rest of the planet in a state of deliquescence or end it? I personally don't think so, although, of course, knock on wood, because anything could happen.”

Although Russia Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov did not sign the letter, he did come out in public opposition of Putin’s illegal invasion.

The editor-in-chief of independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta posted a video message on its website on Thursday sand said he feels grief and shame over Putin’s decision to start a war with neighboring Ukraine.

"Only the anti-war movement of Russians can save life on this planet,” he added.

Similarly, last Friday he joined over 100 Russian journalists in signing a petition against Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.

"We, Russian media correspondents and experts who write about Russia's foreign policy, are discussing the military operation launched by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. War has never been and will never be a method of conflict resolution and there are no excuses for it," they said.