The Zika virus has raised the issue of abortion in Latin America, where a number of countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua and Chile restrict the right to terminate a pregnancy in all cases. Will Zika change the debate and policies on a woman’s right to choose in the Americas?
The government of President Salvador Sánchez Cerén has launched a new, expansive (and expensive) anti-crime package targeting gang leaders, reforming prisons and establishing renewed police presence in select municipalities. Will it work?
In August 2015, El Salvador registered its bloodiest month since its 1980-1992 civil war. There were 907 murders, including 52 in a single day on August 27. The country is on track to end the year with over 6,000 murders in a population of just 6.4 million, making it the most violent country not at war in the world.
This past May, El Salvador suffered its highest murder rate since the end of the country’s civil war 23 years ago. But this grisly flash of news—what journalists in the region call the nota roja—doesn’t give the wider context. There’s another story to be told here beyond the numbers: how Latin American journalists are affected by the violence they cover and how, in turn, their coverage is creating a cultural acceptance of violence.
Is there a greater hypocrisy than dedicating yourself to basic human rights, while leaving the possibility of unjust imprisonment and death due to an inhumane and retrograde stance on a critical social and health issue?
