L. Ron Hubbard Honored with the Change of the Rose of Peace at the National Palace of Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA, January 11, 2012 (Press-News.org) On 6 January 2012, L. Ron Hubbard was honored with the change of the Rose in the Court of Peace of the National Palace of Culture of Guatemala.
The ceremony began with a Mayan ritual where candles of distinct and significant colors were lit in recognition of Ajau (a significant Mayan God) for the opportunity to perform the symbolic changing of the rose. Speeches were given by Master Guillermo Penagos, advisor to the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Guatemala, and Carlos Rivera from the National Civil Police who told stories of how the message of peace has been spread to many Guatemalans using the principles of L. Ron Hubbard. Mr. Francisco SanzPolo, the President of the Friends of L. Ron Hubbard Foundation, received the award for L. Ron Hubbard and had the honor of changing the rose on the Monument of Peace.

The award was bestowed in recognition of L. Ron Hubbard's work for the promotion and dissemination of world peace through the distribution of one million copies of the booklet "The Way to Happiness" to the people of Guatemala. "This program [The Way to Happiness] has promoted peaceful coexistence and social harmony and provided a platform for human development in the pursuit of happiness," said Carlos Vasquez, a ministry advisor.
In 1981, L. Ron Hubbard wrote "The Way to Happiness", the first moral code based wholly on common sense, with the purpose to help arrest the current moral decline in society and restore integrity and trust to humankind. It contains 21 basic principles that guide one to a better quality of life. "The Way to Happiness" further holds a Guinness Record as the world's single most translated non-religious book in the world. To date, over 100 million booklets have been distributed in over 170 nations.

L. Ron Hubbard was born in Tilden, Nebraska on March 13th, 1911, the son of a Naval Officer. His travels began at an early age by becoming the nation's youngest Eagle Scout of his day in 1924 - just two weeks after his thirteenth birthday. By the age of 19 he had traveled over 250,000 miles before the advent of air travel by way of land and sea throughout the Americas, the Caribbean and the Far East. These travels brought Mr. Hubbard face to face with many different cultures where he witnessed widespread social degradation in many different lands. This provided him a first hand insight into society's most prevalent issues and served as a research base to his philosophical and humanitarian works in use today.

For more information on L. Ron Hubbard, please visit http://www.lronhubbard.org and for more information about The Way to Happiness, please visit http://www.thewaytohappiness.org.