Stone for Peace-Countries whith have accepted the "Stone for Peace"/The Americas/Caribbean

Peru, El Salvador,Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala,Panama,Chile,
Venezuela, Nicaragua, Dominica, Argentine, Brazil, Cuba, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Uruguay, Jamaica

■Area　　　　　 1,285,220 km²
■Population　　27,219,266 (2005 census)
■Capital　　　　Lima
■Ethnic groups 　Indigenous (45%), mixed background ("mestizo") (37%), European (15%), African, Japanese, Chinese, and other (3%)

The Stone for Peace was first accepted on August 6, 1991, the memorial day of the 1945 atomic bombing in Hiroshima, by then Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori. The presentation ceremony was held at the Presidential Palace in Lima with the attendance of the ministers of foreign affairs, interior, education and economy, other Cabinet members, the chairman of the Japanese Peruvian Association, and A-bomb victims living in Peru, among other people.

■Area　　　　　 256,370 km²
■Population　　13,850,000 (July 2005 estimate)
■Capital　　　　Quito
■Ethnic groups　Indigenous 25%, mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish) 65%, Caucasian and others 7%, African 3%.

The ceremony was held at the National Library in the complex of the National Cultural Center in Quito, meeting our request to place the Stone for Peace at a public place. Attending the event were Foreign Minister Diego Cordovez, the director of the National Cultural Center, a counselor of the Embassy of Japan and many people involved in education or cultural promotion.

■Area　　　　　 1,972,550 km²
■Population　　103,263,388 (2005 census)
■Capital　　　　Mexico City
■Ethnic groups　 Indian-Spanish (mestizo) 60%, Indian 30%, Caucasian 9%, other 1%

President Carlos Salinas de Gortari chose Tlatelolco square in Mexico City as the venue of the ceremony where the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America was signed in 1967. The grand event was attended by Foreign Minister Fernando Solana Morales, the ambassador of Japan, a delegation of Japanese economic organizations and others along with the president.

■Area　　　　　 129,494 km²
■Population　　5,142,098 (2005 census)
■Capital　　　　Managua
■Ethnic groups　Mestizo (mixed European and indigenous) 69%, white 17%, black (Jamaican origin) 9%, indigenous 5

The Stone for Peace was put up on a concrete monument at a newly built Peace Park in the center of Managua. Most Cabinet members, the ambassador of Japan and other dignitaries attended the presentation ceremony along with President Jose Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo. The ceremony received so much media attention.

■Area　　　　　 110,861 km²
■Population　　11,177,743 (2002 census)
■Capital　　　　Havana
■Ethnic groups　Ethnic groups: 51% mulatto, 37% white, 11% black, 1% Chinese (according to Cuban census data)

The ceremony was held at the Asian House in Havana where a huge collection of articles or gifts from Asian countries is exhibited. Commander Jesus Montane Oropesa, President Fidel Castro’s adjutant commander in chief, attended the ceremony on behalf of the president. Among other participants were the ambassador of Japan, seninor government officials and peace activists.

■Area　　　　　 1,141,748 km²
■Population　　42,888,592 (2005 census)
■Capital　　　　Bogota
■Ethnic groups　Mestizo (58%), white (20%), mulatto (14%), black (4%), mixed black-Amerindian (3%) and Amerindian (1%)

Strict security precautions added a stately atmosphere to the ceremony held at the Presidential Palace in Bogota. In addition to President Misael Pastrana Borrero, the ambassador of Japan, Cabinet members, and senior government officials attended.

■Area　　　　　 51,100 km²
■Population　　4,328,000 (2005 estimate)
■Capital　　　　San Jose
■Ethnic groups　European and some mestizo 94%, African origin 3%, Chinese 1%, Amerindian 1%, other 1%

The ceremony was held at the Presidential Office in San Jose, the capital known as a demilitarized city and home to the International Peace University.? President Miguel Angel Rodriguez accepted the Stone for Peace at his office in the presence of the ambassador of Japan, a few presidential aides and ministers.

■Area　　　　　 176,215 km²
■Population　　3,399,237 (2002 census)
■Capital　　　　Montevideo
■Ethnic groups　European descent 93%, African descent 6%, mestizo 1%

President Jorge Batlle Ibanez accepted the Stone for Peace at the congress hall in Montevideo where the public has access to see the Stone. The ambassador of Japan, many Cabinet members and other high officials attended the ceremony.

■Area　　　　　 10,991 km²
■Population　　2,673,800 (2006 est.)
■Capital　　　　Kingston
■Ethnic groups 　African 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, Chinese 0.2%, White 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1%

Stone for Peace donated to Jamaica Governor- General Kenneth Hall at King’s House. Also attending the donation ceremony were Jamaican House Speaker Delroy Chuck, Japanese Ambassader Masahiro Obata and other key figures of the relevant ministries.
“The stone will be placed at the sculpture park at University of Technology, Jamaica”Governor-General Hall said.