# Abrazos, no balazos

Part of a series on :
Chicanos and Mexican Americans :
Terms
Identity
Chola/o
La Raza
Pachuca
Pachuco
Pinta/o
Xicanx
Concepts
Anti-Mexican sentiment :
History
Early-American Period
Josefa Segovia
Las Gorras Blancas
Mexican–American War
Mutualista
San Elizario Salt War
Sonoratown
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Pre-Chicano Movement
1917 Bath riots
Bisbee Deportation
Bloody Christmas
Bracero program
California agricultural strikes
Cantaloupe strike of 1928
Citrus Strike of 1936
La Matanza
Mexican Repatriation
Operation Wetback
Plan de San Diego
Porvenir Massacre
Sleepy Lagoon trial
Zoot Suit Riots
Chicano Movement
Aztlán
Black-brown unity
Brown Berets
Católicos por La Raza
Tulare labor camps rent strike
Delano grape strike
Centro Cultural
Chicanismo
Chicano Moratorium
Colegio César Chávez
CFMN
Conferencia de Mujeres
CRP
East L.A. walkouts
Hijas de Cuauhtémoc
Huelga schools
Land grant struggle
Las Adelitas de Aztlán
Los Siete de la Raza
Los Seis de Boulder
MANA
MAYO
MEChA
Occupation of Catalina Island
PCUN
Plan Espiritual de Aztlán
Plan de Santa Bárbara
Quinto Sol
Raza Unida Party
United Farm Workers
Post-Chicano Period
1985–1987 cannery strike
1992 Drywall Strike
2019 El Paso shooting
Abolish ICE
Arizona SB 1070
Castro 2020
Chicano Art Exhibit
DACA
Great American Boycott
IRCA
Farah strike
Justice for Janitors
Murder of Selena
Proposition 187
South Central Farm :
Culture
Language
Abrazos, no balazos
Caló
Chicano English
Chicano names
Órale
Food
New Mexican cuisine
Tex-Mex cuisine
Mexican-American cuisine
Music
Chicano rap
Chicano rock
Chicano soul
Tejano music
Symbols
Cal-Style VW
Homies
Lowrider
Lowrider bicycle
Mexican-American folklore
Pancho Claus
Zoot suit :
Literature
Literature
Chicana literature
Chicano literature
Chicano poetry
Autobiographical
Always Running
Living Up the Street
Who Would Have Thought It?
Novels
Bless Me, Ultima
Caballero
Desert Blood
From This Wicked Patch of Dust
Mexican WhiteBoy
The Dirty Girls Social Club
The House on Mango Street
The Rain God
The Revolt of the Cockroach People
So Far from God
Under the Feet of Jesus
...y no se lo tragó la tierra
Poetry and Short Stories
Emplumada
I Am Joaquin
Moment of Silence
Pensamiento Serpentino
The Moths :
Chicano studies
Fields
Chicana feminism
Chicanafuturism
Organizations
MAS Programs, Tucson
NACCS
UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
Texts
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
Brown, Not White
The Church in the Barrio
This Bridge Called My Back
Theory
Barrioization
Coyolxauhqui imperative
Gringo justice
Nahui Ollin
Nepantla
New tribalism
Rasquachismo
Spiritual activism
Vergüenza
Youth control complex :
Visual art
Visual Art
Chicana art
Chicano art
Chicano cinema
Paño
Tortilla art
Art Collectives
Asco
Culture Clash
East Los Streetscapers
Los Four
Mujeres Muralistas
Teatro Campesino
Royal Chicano Air Force
Art organizations
Centro de Arte Público
Galería de la Raza
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
Precita Eyes
Self Help Graphics & Art
Locations
Balmy Alley
Chicano Park
Estrada Courts
Great Wall of Los Angeles :
Law
Supreme Court cases
Botiller v. Dominguez
Hernandez v. Texas
San Antonio I.S.D. v. Rodriguez
Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co.
U.S. v. Brignoni-Ponce
Plyler v. Doe
Medellín v. Texas
Flores-Figueroa v. U.S.
Leal Garcia v. Texas
Mendez v. Westminster
Bernal v. Fainter
Perez v. Brownell
DHS v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal.
Federal Court cases
Madrigal v. Quilligan :
Population
Population by City
Arizona (Tucson)
California (Los Angeles)
Illinois (Chicago)
Michigan (Detroit)
Nebraska (Omaha)
Texas
Dallas–Fort Worth
Houston
Multiethnic
Blaxicans
Californios
Nuevomexicanos
Tejanos
Indigenous Mexican Americans
Punjabi Mexican Americans :
Lists
Chicano films
Chicano poets
Chicano rappers
Mexican Americans
Writers
Bibliography :
United States portal
Category
Index :
vte :
"Abrazos, no balazos" is a Spanish-language anti-war slogan, commonly translated in English-language media as "Hugs, not bullets" or "Hugs, not slugs" (though "balazo" is more literally "gunshot"), and often compared to the English "Make love, not war".

## History

The slogan was initially associated with the Chicano counterculture of the 1960s, and figured prominently in the Mexican-American anti-war movement, as a slogan in opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
It later became more broadly used throughout Mexican and Mexican-American culture. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 65th President of Mexico, used the slogan to describe his security policy during the campaign season of the 2012 Mexican general election. The general idea being that he would seek to reduce the escalating violence of the drug cartels, as well as "moralize" police forces widely seen as brutal and corrupt within the context of the Mexican drug war. However, this policy has remained controversial as the homicide rate reached record levels during AMLO´s presidency. By late 2024, time in which Claudia Sheinbaum began her presidency, the policy of "hugs, not bullets" was seen widely as abandoned as the new government has been perceived as once again taking a more aggressive stance against drug violence.
The city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas implemented a policy based on the slogan in an attempt to reduce violent crime.
It continues to be a feature of informal street art. Photographer Lupe Flores documented its use as graffiti on the Mexico–United States border wall, protesting the wall and the militarization of border communities.