International
A year on from Argentine abortion law, change is slow
AFP
A year ago Argentina joined the limited ranks of Latin American countries to have legalized abortion, but while that gave hope to millions of women, changing mentalities, practices and infrastructure has proved more difficult.
“In small villages, you go for an ultrasound in the morning and in the afternoon the baker congratulates you on your pregnancy,” Monik Rodriguez, 33, told AFP.
Rodriguez, who has three children, runs a service accompanying women who want to have an abortion in Salta, a conservative Catholic province in the South American country.
Away from the big city of Buenos Aires, where women erupted in celebration when the law was approved, many in more remote and conservative areas of Argentina face the same stigma as before.
“There are still things that need to come out of hiding,” said Rodriguez, who can take up to 125 telephone calls a month as part of the project launched by the Women’s Strength civil association.
“The most important thing is to listen. It’s about trying to overcome the hurdles, accompanying them through the health system so they don’t get lost in the bureaucratic labyrinth.”
Rodriguez takes calls from all sorts: teenagers and first-time mothers to women with large families and even those that are pre-menopausal.
“On this line, abortion is not recommended but neither is motherhood romanticized,” said Rodriguez, who underwent a secret abortion a decade ago when already mother to one child.
“I was late and had an abortion. It went badly and I had to go to hospital. The tests showed I hadn’t been pregnant.
“It was the secrecy that created worry. Along with misinformation, that is what puts us at risk.”
The government estimates that 3,000 women died between 1983 and 2020 in clandestine abortions, of which there were up to 500,000 a year.
– Anti-abortion pressure –
For a century, abortion was only legal in cases of rape or if the mother’s life was at risk.
Legalization has not led to a sudden spate of abortions, particularly in places like Salta.
Miranda Ruiz, 33, is the only doctor in Tartagal — a small town of 75,000 people in Salta — not to exercise her legal right to be a conscientious objector to carrying out abortions.
Anti-abortion groups in the town are influential.
In September, Ruiz was briefly detained following an accusation by the aunt of a 21-year-old patient that she had performed an abortion beyond the authorized limit of 14 weeks.
Feminist groups are demanding that her case be dismissed.
“It is a way of bringing the other doctors to heel,” said Sofia Fernandez, a member of the National Campaign for the Right to Abortion — a collective of 300 feminist organizations that have been fighting for 15 years for change.
They say there are still 1,500 people facing criminal cases over abortions.
The complaint against Ruiz was the only one made in 2021, although there have been 36 court filings against the law, mostly claiming it is unconstitutional.
“Of those, 24 have already been dismissed,” said Valeria Isla, the director of sexual and reproductive health at the health ministry.
– ‘Huge inequality’ –
“There is a huge inequality in access to the practice depending on location,” said Isla.
During the course of 2021, the number of specialist medical teams carrying out abortions rose from 943 to 1,243 despite the pandemic complicating matters.
Distribution of the drug misoprostol, which chemically provokes abortions, rose from 9,000 in 2019 to more than 43,000 in 2021.
“But there is a lot of demand and we’re not able to increase (the number of) these (teams) at the necessary rate. It’s a structural stumbling block,” added Isla.
There were more than 32,000 abortions conducted in public hospitals and clinics in 2021, said Isla, whose big goal for 2022 is to train medical teams specialized in abortions, to make their services more widely available and to inform women of their rights and the tools at their disposal.
That would help Rodriguez avoid taking calls from desperate young teenagers like one “locked in a bathroom crying … she had just dropped a home pregnancy test down the toilet and couldn’t afford to buy another one.”
International
Interpol Operation Leads to 8,700 Arrests and Massive Drug Seizures Across Latin America
Interpol and the Organization of American States (OAS) announced the arrest of more than 8,700 people and the seizure of over 3,300 firearms and 56 tons of illegal drugs across 20 countries in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean following a six-week multinational security operation.
According to a statement released by the OAS, the operation — known as Operation Orca XI — was carried out between October 15 and November 30, 2025, under the coordination of Interpol, with support from the OAS and funding from the European Union.
The operation resulted in 8,701 arrests linked to illegal firearm possession, drug trafficking, and other criminal activities. Authorities also confiscated nearly 200,000 rounds of ammunition, $256,025 in cash, and 210 vehicles connected to criminal operations.
Participating countries additionally reported the seizure of 6.9 tons of cocaine, 659,403 coca plants, 9.3 tons of coca paste, 38.5 tons of marijuana, two tons of methamphetamine, and 11 kilograms of ketamine.
In its statement, the OAS emphasized that illegal arms trafficking in the region is closely tied to other forms of organized crime, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and cybercrime.
“Criminal organizations behind these crimes often use the same routes for multiple illicit goods,” the organization stated, adding that Operation Orca XI exposed the strong links between these criminal networks.
International
Mexico Denies Interpol Red Notice Against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya
Mexico’s Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana (SSPC) stated on Wednesday that Sinaloa Governor on leave Rubén Rocha Moya is not subject to a Red Notice issued by Interpol, following reports that claimed an international warrant had been issued against him.
In an official statement, the federal agency said consultations were conducted with both national and international authorities, confirming that no international search or arrest mechanism exists against the Sinaloa politician.
“The Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection informs that the governor on leave of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, does not have a Red Notice issued by Interpol,” the SSPC said.
The clarification comes after speculation circulated regarding an alleged international order targeting Rocha Moya, prompting federal authorities to publicly deny the claims.
International
Rubio and Lavrov Hold Talks After Large-Scale Russian Assault on Ukraine
The United States remains willing to mediate in the war between Russia and Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubiosaid Tuesday following a large-scale Russian attack against Kyiv.
“Every time you see these large attacks by either side, it is a reminder of why this is a terrible war (…) that must come to an end,” Rubio told reporters after holding a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Speaking during an official visit to India, Rubio stated that the United States is “ready and prepared to do whatever it can” to help facilitate an end to the conflict.
“We hope the opportunity presents itself at some point,” he added.
Russia warned on Monday that it could launch additional strikes against Kyiv, including attacks targeting what it described as “decision-making centers,” after carrying out weekend bombardments involving dozens of drones and missiles across Ukraine. The attacks reportedly killed four people.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Lavrov urged the United States during the call to evacuate diplomats from its embassy in Kyiv.
Rubio later clarified that Moscow had issued a warning to all embassies in the Ukrainian capital, not only to the U.S. diplomatic mission.
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