Gabriela Mistral lived through the First and Second World Wars, events that motivated her reflections on how hatred is fostered through language. This pacifism can be observed in a series ofrecados, lectures, and press articles. In these, she describes hatred as a drug, silence, and xenophobia. The writer rejects the spread of hatred in ideologies that function like drugs, such as warlike patriotism andNazism, which she considers pharmacopeias of "direct-action claw", like birds of prey. On the contrary, she calls for developing an attitude more akin to the "huemul", which saves itself without going into battle, through cordiality and the intelligence to foresee danger. For Mistral, building harmonious coexistence requires positioning the signifier "peace" in every discursive environment, even when conditions are not conducive to it. From her perspective, silence in such situations denotes foolishness or malice. Finally, she identifies xenophobia as an opponent of peace, whose roots stem from the arrogance of not needing those who are different to build a more plural and friendly culture.