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
Iran issues threat to Trump as conflict escalates over Strait of Hormuz
The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, threatened U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, warning him to “beware of being eliminated.”
The Republican president had warned on Monday that he would strike Iran “very hard” if the Islamic Republic blocked oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed since the war began eleven days ago.
“Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Others more powerful than you tried to destroy the Iranian nation and failed. Beware that you are not eliminated,” Larijani wrote on X.
Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — the ideological military force of the Islamic Republic — also said their forces would move to block oil exports from the Gulf.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military offensive against Iran is far from over.
“Our aspiration is that the Iranian people free themselves from the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, that depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the measures taken so far we are breaking their bones, and we are not finished yet,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
International
Driver detained after suspicious vehicle incident near the White House
The driver was detained and no injuries were reported after an incident that occurred before dawn in Lafayette Square, just north of the White House.
The U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for presidential security, said in a statement that it was “investigating a suspicious vehicle.” The driver of the car was taken into custody and is currently being questioned.
Washington remains under heightened security measures amid the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Israel against Iran.
Police closed several major streets around the White House. However, by about 8:30 a.m. local time (12:30 GMT), government employees and staff from nearby institutions were allowed to pass through the area with proper identification, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Dozens of emergency vehicles with flashing lights responded to the location, while tourists and residents waited for authorities to reopen the streets.
International
Trump Raises Possibility of “Friendly Takeover” of Cuba Amid Deepening Crisis
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, reiterated Monday the possibility that Washington could pursue a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, amid the severe crisis facing the island following the oil blockade promoted by the U.S. government.
Speaking at a press conference in Miami, the president said that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently “negotiating” with representatives of the Cuban government, although authorities in Havana have repeatedly denied that such talks are taking place.
Trump suggested that Washington could play a more direct role in the island’s future.
“It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they’re really down to, as they say, fumes. They have no energy, they have no money. They are in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis, and we really don’t want to see that,” the U.S. president said.
The president also argued that the Cuban government had long depended heavily on support from Venezuela, particularly oil supplies.
According to Trump, that support has been drastically reduced following measures adopted by Washington.
“They were living off Venezuela. Venezuela doesn’t send them energy, fuel, oil, money, or anything anymore. They couldn’t survive without Venezuela, they couldn’t have made it, and we cut everything off,” Trump said.
UN experts warn Nicaragua runs vast transnational network to monitor exiled dissidents
Iran issues threat to Trump as conflict escalates over Strait of Hormuz
Driver detained after suspicious vehicle incident near the White House
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International5 days agoTrump announces 17-nation alliance in the Americas to “destroy” drug cartels
-
International4 days ago
Mexico, Brazil and Colombia left out of Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” summit
-
International2 days agoTrump Raises Possibility of “Friendly Takeover” of Cuba Amid Deepening Crisis
-
Central America2 days agoGuatemala Remains in “Restricted” Press Freedom Category, Chapultepec Index Warns
-
International13 hours agoDriver detained after suspicious vehicle incident near the White House
-
International13 hours agoIran issues threat to Trump as conflict escalates over Strait of Hormuz
-
Central America2 days agoUN Report Warns of Nicaragua’s “Transnational” Surveillance Network Targeting Dissidents
-
Sin categoría12 hours agoUN experts warn Nicaragua runs vast transnational network to monitor exiled dissidents
-
Central America2 days agoUN Rapporteur Warns of “Deep Crisis” in Guatemala’s Judicial System