Daily Headlines: March 1, 2016

* Venezuela: Defeated presidential candidate Henrique Capriles claimed that an investigation into alleged improprieties when he was Miranda state governor are part of a government plot against a possible referendum seeking the dismissal of President Nicolás Maduro.

* U.S.: A new poll found that 78% of Latino voters believe women should have the right to an abortion if respondents disagree with such an action.

* Argentina: Former Argentine intelligence chief Antonio Stiuso testified as part of the probe into the apparent murder of crusading prosecutor Alberto Nisman in January 2014.

* Colombia: Santiago Uribe, the younger brother of ex-President Alvaro Uribe, was arrested over supposedly creating a paramilitary force known as the “Twelve Apostles.”

YouTube Source – AFP (Henrique Capriles lost in a tight presidential election to current President Nicolás Maduro in 2013).

Online Sources – GlobalPost, NBC News, Yahoo News, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: February 24, 2016

* Latin America: The Zika virus outbreak has shined a light on the debate over abortion and birth control to the forefront across the Americas including in Puerto Rico where officials have capped the prices of condoms.

* Cuba: The two Republican presidential candidates of Cuban background – Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz – are vehemently opposed to White House plans to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

* Bolivia: President Evo Morales conceded defeat following a referendum where a majority of voters opted against a constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to run for a fourth straight term.

* Costa Rica: Costa Rica’s nickname of being the “Switzerland of Central America” may come into question after police reported a record 558 murders in 2015.

YouTube Source – AFP (“The United Nations (earlier this month) urges countries hit by the dangerous Zika virus to let women have access to contraception and abortion.”)
 
Online Sources – NPR, Scientific American, Reuters, The Tico Times, CBS News

Uruguay: 5400 Legal Abortions in the Past Year Says Catholic Church

An estimated 5400 legal abortions have taken place in Uruguay over the past year according to information from the local Catholic Church.

As mentioned in the Uruguayan press, the data was based on pamphlets that were distributed in churches nationwide over the weekend.  The statistics were reportedly based on a study that analyzed the number of abortions done since first trimester abortions were legalized in 2012.

The pamphlets allegedly mentioned that parishioners should use the information to “reflect” on the issue of abortion.  In addition, the text in the booklets also advised readers to keep them until October’s presidential election.

The information in the pamphlets contradicts Uruguayan officials that mentioned last February that 6676 abortions took place between December 2012 and November 2013.

The issue of abortion has become an important topic ahead of the presidential election in approximately five months time.  Adding fuel to the fire was the decision by doctors in the city of Salto who refused to oversee the abortion requested in the name of mentally disabled woman who became pregnant when she was raped.  (Uruguayan law permits abortions in the first fourteen weeks when the mother's health is at risk, a fetus has malformations or the pregnancy was due to rape).  As a result, the woman was taken to a hospital in the capital city of Montevideo though it hasn’t been mentioned in the press if she underwent an abortion or not.

Salvadoran Top Court Rejects Abortion Request (Updated)

The Supreme Court of El Salvador rejected a seriously ill pregnant woman’s request to abort her deformed fetus.

“This court determines that the rights of the mother cannot take precedence over those of the unborn child or vice versa, and that there is an absolute bar to authorizing an abortion as contrary to the constitutional protection accorded to human persons 'from the moment of conception,’” according to the court’s 4-1 decision yesterday.

The lone dissenting magistrate claimed that he was not in favor of abortions but did want to ensure that the pregnant woman would receive all medical treatment “without having to recur to legal authorization to protect the life of the mother and the human being she is carrying in her womb.”

The infirm woman, identified as “Beatriz,” has been diagnosed with lupus and kidney disease while her fetus is anencephalic and missing a large part of its brain and skull.  Doctors have warned that “Beatriz” could die trying to give birth to her child, who may not survive beyond a few hours after being born.

(Update: Salvadoran authorities on Thursday permitted doctors to perform an emergency C-section on "Beatriz" next week.  The procedure would be risky, however, and there is no guarantee that she or her fetus would survive).

"We cannot appeal the case because this was the last step, the Supreme Court," said Victor Hugo Mata, Beatriz's lawyer, who also noted that the judges “are saying Beatriz is not in danger and she must pursue the natural way of delivery and we must see what happens.”

As we mentioned earlier this month, President Mauricio Funes said that “Beatriz” has the “right to decide” whether to abort “and not the organizations trying to take advantage of her situation.”

The Salvadoran health ministry, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and women’s rights groups have advocated in favor of providing “Beatriz” with an emergency abortion.  On the other hand, conservative groups like the Salvadoran Catholic Church have argued that the “case should not be used to legislate against human life, especially against the unborn.”

(Update: On Thursday an IACHR spokeswoman urged El Salvador to allow "Beatriz" to undergo an abortion in order to save her life).

World Watch: Change of heart?

* Vatican: Vatican authorities said that condom use may be acceptable to avoid the spread of AIDS and other diseases yet they are still “immoral” as a birth control device.

* Asia: Tensions increased between the two Koreas after one of the most serious military clashes since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

* Germany: Samuel Kunz, the "world's third most wanted" suspected Nazi, died last week near his hometown near Bonn, Germany.

* Ireland: The Irish government has come under fire over approving an $11 billion bailout from the E.U. and I.M.F.

Image – Getty Images via The Guardian ("The Vatican attempted to clarify the pope's comments about condoms.”)
Online Sources- The Guardian, New York Daily News, ABC News, CNN

World Watch: Irritable Iranian

* Iran: How did Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad react to the U.N. sanctions passed today? By comparing them to “a used handkerchief that should be thrown in the waste bin.”

* Middle East: U.S. President Barack Obama pledged $400 million in development aid to Gaza while also opening the possibility for peace talks with Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

* South Africa: Local health groups denounced soccer governing FIFA for supposedly “blocking condom and safe-sex information distribution” at World Cup venues.

* North Korea: In a letter to the U.N. North Korean officials denied that their military sank a South Korean warship in March.

Image – The Guardian
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Christian Science Monitor, MSNBC, CNN, BBC News

Honduras prohibits morning-after pill

Most of the recent news regarding Honduras has centered on the fragile discussions to end the political crisis caused by the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya. In the meantime, a law took effect this week that will have a strong affect on Honduran women.

The new law- which was passed by the Honduran legislature before the crisis- bans the sale and distribution of the morning-after pill. Proponents of the measure claimed that the pill induced abortions, a procedure which is unconstitutional in Honduras. Furthermore, backers of the controversial act accused opponents of being backed by foreign groups in favor of abortion.

The ban on the birth control device comes at a time when some Honduran human rights activists claimed that women’s rights have been restricted under de facto rule:

“The cruelest form of repression against women has been sexual violence designed to intimidate women against leaving their homes” (said Soraya Long of the Observatorio de la Transgresión Feminista)…

(The ban against the morning-after pill) “shows how the ultraconservative political class has joined with religious fundamentalists to rollback the social changes and laws obtained for the rights of women” opined (Adelay Carías of Feministas en Resistencia).

The move in Honduras comes days after a Peruvian high court banned the free distribution of the morning-after pill. (Latin American countries vary in their laws on the birth control device, however).

Image- Guardian UK
Online Sources- CIMAC, AFP, Catholic News Agency, Xinhua

Costa Rican priests forgive women who abort

Ideally, the following move by Costa Rican priests would be done year-round and without major doubts. Yet it’s a positive step for the Catholic Church in the Central American country to preach inclusion and treat women with the respect they so often deserve:

(…) This Lent and Easter week, the 300 or so priests within the Archdiocese of San Jose have been given the order to pardon anyone who has had an abortion and anyone involved in the procedure such as doctors, nurses, family members and friends.

The amnesty period will go from Feb. 25 to April 29 and was decided upon by the Archbishop Monseñor Hugo Barrantes. This is not the first time the Archdiocese has approved such a policy during this holy period, but it is the first time that they made the announcement to the public.

Typically, the act of abortion can have a person excommunicated from the Catholic Church as it is seen as a break from the way of the Lord, according to the Archdiocese.

Abortion is illegal in Costa Rica under all circumstances except if the mother’s life is at risk. Nevertheless, an estimated 27,000 illegal abortions are performed yearly.

Birth control measures in Costa Rica are so harsh that the country’s government even prohibited a campaign designed to promote use of the "morning after pill".

Image- Baltimore Sun
Online Sources- Spero News, Tico Times, LifeSiteNews.com

Daily Headlines: April 24, 2008

* Puerto Rico: Earlier this week, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama unveiled his plan to stimulate Puerto Rico’s economy.

* U.S.: The Congressional Hispanic Caucus blasted Democratic leaders as “spineless” and no better than Republicans over the issue of immigration reform.

*Paraguay: Will Vatican officials strip president-elect Fernando Lugo of his position as Catholic bishop?

* Chile: Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman reports in the following video on contraception and the controversy over “morning-after” pills:

Sources- Seattle Times, USA TODAY, MSNBC, YouTube

”The pill” banned from Chilean health plans

Chile's constitutional court barred a government program which distributed the “morning-after” pill free to women and girls as young as 14. The tribunal voted 5-4 against the program after a group of opposition legislators compared giving away the pill to abortion, a procedure which is illegal in Chile.

The government of President Michelle Bachelet created the plan last year by arguing that poor women deserved access to contraceptives normally available to the wealthy. According to a Bachelet administration spokesman after the verdict:

"This means going back to square one, this means only women with money will be able to buy the pill, and that bothers the government and the immense majority of the country," government spokesman Francisco Vidal told reporters.

Coincidentally, Bachelet emphasized the “machismo and sexism” facing women during this interview over the weekend.

Image- Cleveland Leader

Sources- Bloomberg, Associated Press, independent.co.uk, The Latin Americanist, Reuters

Daily Headlines: January 29, 2008

* The Los Angeles Times looks at Latin Americans hired to serve as private security in Iraq and Afghanistan.

* Tourists are returning to Oaxaca nearly two years after chaotic violent protests.

* Unemployment in Latin America dropped for a fifth straight year in 2007 according to the International Labor Organization.

* Much like last year, the Brazilian Catholic Church is adamantly opposed to free condom distribution during the Carnival season.

Sources- Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, the Latin Americanist, Reuters, Canadian Press

Image- Journal Peru (“Latin American mercenaries in Iraq.”)