It is my wish that through these letters you may have a deeper understanding of the ideas and processes I apply every day in my hearings. I also wish that by reading these accounts, you may also find the courage to become a conciliator.
The letter format is not a new one, and I have always cherished the idea of writing letters, even from the age in which letters carried that fresh stamp smell. My first savings were spent in mailing several letters. Many of the books in the Bible were written as letters, which we can read today, two thousand years later, as if they were written to us.
I will try my best to stay true to the events that I have lived, though most likely many of those stories will reflect the memories that came to mind as I wrote them down. As Gabriel García Márquez said: “life is not what happened, but what we remember and how we remember it”.
Paraphrasing Jorge Luis Borges, I will say that my telling of the story will be true to the reality of the events, or in any case my personal memory of the events, which is the same. So, my esteemed reader, don’t fret over the details of the stories I tell, but rather look for the truths that sustain those stories.
Finally, as you read on, allow yourself to be permeable, that is, soak it in, as my dad Dr. Amado Yunes used to say. If you have this book in your hands, it is because God wants to make you an instrument of peace. A person who strives to forge better agreements and by doing so, solve conflicts. Conflict Resolution are the letters that have helped me on the road, and I hope they help you as well.