More than 70,000 people dead in five years. They were sons. They were daughters. They were fathers. They were mothers. The pain that’s left behind is all that remains. It is the result of the so-called War on Drugs that both the U.S. and Mexican governments have been fighting against the drug cartels, on both sides of the border.

That same pain is what encouraged a group of about 150 peace activists and relatives of victims to start a month-long “Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity” through major U.S. cities. The caravan, which began on Sunday, August, 12, and ends in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12, starting point was the San Diego’s Historical Friendship Park, in the U.S.-Mexico border.

Javier Sicilia, a renowned Mexican poet whose 24 year-old son, Juan Francisco, was killed last year, has become the leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity. Sicilia is the central figure in the caravan. Some elected officials, including State Senator Juan Vargas and Congressman Bob Filner, were present at the start of the caravan in the park.

Bringing together victims of the drug war from both countries, the Caravan aims to expose the root causes of violence in Mexico, to raise awareness about the effects of the drug war on communities in the U.S., and to inspire U.S. civil society to demand new policies that will foster peace, justice and human dignity on both sides of the border.

“Our purpose is to honor our victims, to make their names and faces visible,” Sicilia said. “We will travel across the United States to raise awareness of the unbearable pain and loss caused by the drug war – and of the enormous shared responsibility for protecting families and communities in both our countries.”

The Caravan had a series of events to commemorate victims of failed policies in both countries. After the press conference in Friendship Park, there was a mass at the University of San Diego’s Founders Chapel followed by a presentation from the Transborder Institute, with a report on the murders and violence of the drug war in Mexico. There, Sicilia received the university’s Dove of Peace Award.

That afternoon, a rally and candlelight vigil was held at Chicano Park with testimonials from mothers from San Diego and from Mexico.

“Human rights, like peace, has no borders. The San Diego / Tijuana border is ground zero for many Caravan for peace issues,” said Enrique Morones, lead organizer of the events in San Diego.

Gretchen Burns Bergman, who organized the evening event in Chicano park said, “Mothers from both sides of the border came together to tell their stories and share their outrage and tears, in an effort to end these senseless tragedies.”

The media in San Diego focused a lot in Sicilia, who was featured part of Time’s person of the year, “The Protester,” in 2011. Since he became the leader of the movement last year, he has been one of most outspoken personalities against the War on Drugs.

The caravan calls for, among several issues, the exploration of alternatives to drug prohibition; a halt to the illegal smuggling of weapons across the border to Mexico; and an end to the militarization of the border and the criminalization of immigrants.

“I spent decades as a police officer trying to make these drug laws work, but in the end it didn’t do one bit of good,” said Neill Franklin, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and a retired narcotics cop from Baltimore. “Keeping drugs illegal not only doesn’t reduce drug use, but also causes death and destruction by creating a lucrative black market where violence is the primary tool used to protect profits. The blood of the 60,000 dead Mexicans and countless Americans who have lost their lives in illegal drug market violence here in the U.S. is on the hands of politicians who refuse to fix our clearly broken drug policies.”

You can follow the Caravan for Peace at www.caravanforpeace.org.