JUANES Wins Colombia’s National Peace Prize

Presented by The United Nations Development Programme & Representatives of Colombia’s Leading Television, Radio and Newspaper Media Outlets, The Award Recognizes The Socially-Involved Music Superstar’s Efforts To Aid Landmine Victims Through His Mi Sangre (My Blood) Foundation And His Role In Organizing The Historic Paz Sin Fronteras (Peace Without Borders) Concerts

In an announcement made Sunday, Latin Rock superstar JUANES was awarded Colombia’s prestigious National Peace Prize.  Bestowed annually by a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and representatives of leading Colombian media outlets, the award hailed Juanes as “the artist most involved with the problems generated by the armed conflict in Colombia” in regards to the work of the artist’s Mi Sangre (My Blood) Foundation – which strives to spotlight the horrors of landmine use in Colombia (and around the world) in the hope of both banning the prolific weapons and bring aid to innocent victims seriously injured by the deadly devices.   (www.fundacionmisangre.org/)

The National Peace Prize also cited Juanes’ work as a co-founder and principal organizer of the historic Paz Sin Fronteras (Peace Without Borders) concerts that first brought together the citizenry of Colombia and Venezuela last year in a demand for regional peace, and this year saw a record-breaking 1.2 Million young Cubans fill Havana’s Revolution Square in a demonstration of unity and the hope for “One Cuban Family”. (www.pazsinfronteras.org/)

Juanes is currently in Colombia as a featured speaker at “The Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World” (www.reviewconference.org/) – which is the Second Review Conference of the landmark Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines. With delegates from 156 countries participating, the summit seeks to end the suffering caused by antipersonnel mines – by prohibiting their use, requiring the destruction of existing stockpiles, and obliging States to clear mined areas and assist victims.

In related music news, NPR (National Public Radio) recently selected Juanes’ “Fijate Bien” as one of “The Decades 50 Most Important Recordings”- joining works from artists such as Radiohead, OutKast, Green Day, Eminem, Jay-Z, Coldplay, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, M.I.A., Kanye West, The White Stripes & More.  The title track from Juanes’ vaunted debut album at the dawn of the new millennium, “Fijate Bien” gave voice to both Colombia’s landmine epidemic and Juanes’ own traumatic sense of personal loss in a song the Miami Herald described as: “a haunting, wrenchingly powerful recording that burns with a cold fire” and The Los Angeles Times declared: “A brooding and edgy work… an uncompromising work of almost nihilistic disillusion and social outrage.” 

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