79 years ago, on August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States of America (USA) dropped two atomic bombs on the populations of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing the immediate death of many tens of thousands of people and many more in the days, months and years that followed. The effects of the radiation are still felt today, as evidenced by the high rates of malformations and cancer diseases that continue to be recorded there.
Nothing justified such criminal bombings. World War II had already ended in Europe. Japan was in the process of surrendering unconditionally. The war would soon be over. The sole purpose of this crime against Humanity was to show the world the unbeatable power of the US at the time, a power to which everyone, especially the Soviet Union (USSR), had to submit or else suffer the same tragedy. It was a deliberate crime, part of the US strategy to gain world supremacy in the post-war period.
Keeping the memory of these events alive is of utmost importance if the peoples are never to allow such horror to happen again.
This preservation of memory is also a fundamental part of the permanent and tireless struggle for peace and for the abolition of nuclear weapons, which is as old as the existence of these weapons. A struggle that is all the more decisive in times like ours, when lies and warmongering propaganda are widespread.
A nuclear explosion would result in the immediate death of everyone within a radius of several kilometres of the impact zone, by generating temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius and winds with speeds of over 1000 km/h: the result is the formation of firestorms of enormous destructive power that sweep away everything in their path.
Today, a nuclear war, which would never be confined to a specific territory, in addition to the immediate deaths it would cause, would have lasting effects on the environment, leading to catastrophic global meteorological changes that could persist for several years. As several scientists have emphasised, the meteorological changes associated with the so-called nuclear winter would reduce the duration or eliminate the fertile growing seasons of plants for years, leading most humans and other animal species to succumb to starvation.
Given the size and power of current nuclear arsenals, a nuclear war would not simply repeat the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but would multiply it, jeopardising the very survival of Humanity.
The Portuguese Council for Peace and Co-operation (CPPC) trusts that, despite all the disinformation and manipulation, the peoples will realise the serious threat posed by the current arms escalation, including nuclear weapons, and the incitement of militarism and war.
The CPPC trusts that the peoples’ aspiration for peace will prevail over the promoters of war, the interests of the military-industrial complex and all those who are indifferent to and profit from the death, suffering and destruction that war entails.
The CPPC considers the involvement of all defenders and lovers of peace, of democrats, regardless of political differences, religious beliefs or others, to be of the utmost importance for the success of this struggle.
To this end, remembering and paying tribute to all the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and honouring the struggle of those in Portugal who were imprisoned and tortured during fascism for defending peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons, we call on you to join us in this important fight, namely by signing the petition “No to Nuclear Weapons! For Portugal to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons!”, so that Portugal signs and ratifies this treaty.
Only with a general, simultaneous and controlled disarmament – namely the abolition of nuclear weapons – enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, will it be possible to actively move towards a safer country and world of peace and co-operation.
The petition can be signed at: https://shorturl.at/BgasT
The National Board of the CPPC
6-09-2024
