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A
series of essays by SGI President Ikeda in which he reflects
on his encounters with various world figures
César and Ana
Milena de Gaviria--
Repaying Friendship with Friendship
Just before my scheduled visit to the Republic of
Colombia
in February 1993, the capital, Santa Fe de Bogota, was rocked by a terrorist
bomb blast. The previous weeks had seen a succession of terrorist acts
by one of Colombia's powerful drug cartels. While previous attacks had
frequently targeted government buildings and facilities, this latest blast
killed and injured many innocent civilians.
The terrorist attack was widely reported on U.S. television.
An international conference scheduled to take place in the Colombian capital
had to be canceled after its overseas participants pulled out, fearing
for their lives. Even some reporters left Colombia because they felt it
was too dangerous to remain. I was in Miami making final preparations
for my visit when I received a telephone call from the president’s
office asking whether my trip was still on.
The stated purpose for my visit was to attend the opening
of an exhibition at the Colombian National Museum. Entitled "Eternal
Treasures of Japan," it featured works of art on loan from the Tokyo
Fuji Art Museum and was scheduled to open on February 8. In 1990, Colombia
had loaned the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum some 500 priceless national treasures,
including a 1,700-carat, uncut emerald being shown outside of Colombia
for the very first time. The "Eternal Treasures of Japan" was
conceived as an expression of gratitude to the Colombian people and appreciation
for the wonderful exhibit that had graced our museum just a few years
before.
During the planning stages of this project, some people
in Japan voiced fears for the safety of the works. Although theirs was
a very practical concern, I had a different viewpoint. My reason for going
to Colombia was friendship. The exhibition, I felt, was a symbol of our
feelings for the Colombian people. Friendship is irreplaceable; it is
more important than the most valuable objects. This, I believe, is the
true meaning of culture.
I wanted to act in good faith. It is important to repay
sincerity with sincerity and friendship with friendship--especially
when it is needed most. From Miami, I informed the office of the Colombian
president that I intended to visit the country exactly as scheduled.
A few days later, I paid an official visit to the House
of Narino, the presidential palace. President César Gaviria Trujillo
and First Lady Ana Milena Muñoz de Gaviria welcomed me with smiles.
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Upper left: Uncut emerald (1700carat). Middle: Exhibit of Colombian gold
in Tokyo (1990). Bottom right: Golden headband. |
At the time, President Gaviria was said to be one of
the world’s three youngest heads of state. He had assumed the office
of Colombian president, one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, when
he was only 43. Youth and aspiration emanated from his resolute presence.
When Gaviria was still young, his father died, and he
had to shoulder responsibility as head of his family. He became president
of Colombia after the leading presidential candidate was struck down by
an assassin’s bullet, and he was hastily nominated as his replacement
during the election campaign. I also assumed heavy responsibilities while
still young, so I felt for this pillar of the Colombian nation and the
great trials and hardships he must have endured.
As we talked, President Gaviria remarked that he would
like Japan’s leaders and all its people to understand that Colombia
is a land of great variety and diversity. It is unfair and unbalanced,
he said, to think of the country solely in terms of its drug problem.
In an interview, Gaviria once remarked that it pained him deeply to have
to spend so much of his time and energy fighting the violence and injustice
of the drug trade, because the time and resources consumed in this battle
could be better allocated. The underprivileged and children: these should
be the main concern of a nation’s president.
Soon after beginning his term in office in 1990, Gaviria
made sweeping revisions to the country’s laws so that more Colombians
could participate in governing their country. He promoted a policy of
openness, liberalizing trade, privatizing national industries and inviting
foreign investment. As a result, Colombia achieved the most stable economic
growth of all Latin American countries. Gaviria proudly noted that while
other countries in Latin America were having difficulties paying back
their international loans, Colombia’s payments were on schedule,
and per capita income was rising.
Admiring the intensity of his commitment, I said: "Every
country has its problems. However, there can be no mutual understanding,
and no peace, as long as we focus on those aspects alone and see them
as the total picture. Instead of looking only at the surface, we need
to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes and confirm things with
our own eyes. Especially in this age of increasing globalization, we need
to take concrete action to improve mutual understanding."
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| Mr. and Mrs. Gaviria meeting Mr. and Mrs. Ikeda in Tokyo (January 1998) |
Although I was talking about nations, I think the same
is also true of individuals. We do not always learn the truth about a
person by taking a cold, objective view. In fact, in many cases, the quickest
way of getting to know someone is to engage them in a spirit of warm goodwill.
The First Lady, Mrs. Gaviria, also shares her husband’s
strong convictions. Declaring children to be the nation’s top priority,
she sponsored a music program for underprivileged children and young people
from the ages of five to 25. When we met in Japan in August 1993, she
told me that more than 3,000 young people were participating in this program.
It has grown to include 17 orchestras, 63 music groups and 22 choral groups.
She also described what a moving sight it was to see young people who
had never held a musical instrument before they joined the program, and
who had been deprived of opportunities for education and self-development,
giving beautiful performances at the presidential palace. I was impressed
by how strongly she believed in the power of culture. Culture develops
and improves people, she said, and has the power to put an end to violence.
Fortunately, the Colombian showing of the "Eternal
Treasures of Japan" exhibition, which owed much to Mrs. Gaviria’s
generous support, was a great success. It was the first major exhibition
of Japanese art ever to be shown in Colombia. Until then, the image of
Japan was that of a country of technology and karate, and many Colombians
didn’t even know where it was on a map. The exhibition gave many
their first encounter with the spirit of the "land of cherry blossoms."
I have taken great pleasure in fostering friendship between
Japan and Colombia. At last our two countries, on opposite sides of the
Pacific Ocean, have begun to learn about and understand each other a little
better.
In February 1994, President and Mrs. Gaviria visited
Soka University. The Colombian president’s speech to the students
made a deep impression on their young minds. He stated his conviction
that politics is the art of making the impossible possible. What kind
of a world would it be, he asked, without people with ideals and vision,
prepared to devote all their energy to working for something that initially
seems impossible?
It is his firm belief that peace and the eradication
of poverty are indeed achievable. He also noted that during the Cold War,
there were endless outside resources available to developing nations to
keep wars going. But now that the Cold War is over, the international
community is not providing these same nations with aid to support democracy
and eliminate poverty. We must not forget the poor, he insisted.
Fidel Duque Ramírez, former Colombian ambassador
to Japan, once said to me that the lack of great leaders was one of the
biggest problems facing the world. A great leader, he said, is someone
who can generate hope. In a world shrouded in darkness and lacking direction,
a great leader can bring light and point the way forward. In the person
of former president Gaviria, I saw a youthful leader prepared to risk
his life to fight for the people. He reminds us that poverty and violence
are not other people’s problems: they concern us all. In their fight
to alter our perceptions of Colombia and solve its problems, former President
and Mrs. Gaviria are carrying the banner for the entire human race.
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