The history of Latin America will be told using a multi-media show in the WCC Assembly

SAO PAULO, Brasil, January 20, 2006

An elderly indigenous man and woman from the Andean zone, a revolutionary, a black pilgrim Taxi Heathrow Airport and a girl will tell the story of the people of the Latin American continent in the IX World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly. The five personalities, created by Jesús Seda, will speak of the struggle against different kinds of economic and political domination since the Spanish conquest, the struggle of indigenous peoples, women and children.

Telling the history of Latin America to the world in a show that will last Tan hour and 20 minutes was a challenge taken on by Alvaro Peterson Jr., a radio and television professor from the Methodist University of Sao Paulo (UMESP). He was responsible for creating the Latin American Plenary, a show that will be presented in the Pontifical Catholic University next February 19.

The WCC Assembly will begin next February 14 with the presence of Brazilian government authorities and the State of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as Nobel Peace Laureates Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Desmond Tutu and Rigoberto Menchu. More than 3,000 people will attend among delegates, observers, guests and journalists.

"It is not a comedy," warned Peterson. The show includes projected images, testimony, scenes and shots of grassroots manifestations in diverse regions. For this, the UMESP mobilized a five-person team that worked for a year collecting and editing videos and photos from different of the continent.

Similar work was carried out with the sound track that includes Andean sounds, Brazilian samba, mixed with the voices of a 300-person live choir. Peterson will be in Porto Alegre from January 21 - 23 for the final rehearsals of the show that he said was a "multimedia pantomime".  With a great deal of experience in children's programs, Peterson opted for the language of critical humor, characteristic among Latin Americans. He also said he was inspired by Charles Chaplin.