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News Highlights
ISLA
Every
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ISLA
highlights: April 2007
Reflections
and commentary on ISLA press coverage by Karen Crump, ISLA associate. Ms. Crump
has been monitoring the U.S.
and British press on Latin America for 25 years.
She also monitors the televised Spanish language press in the United States, and a variety of news sources
from Latin America.
Highlights from our April 2007 issue
Abortion
Mexico
Legislators in Mexico
City voted 46-19 to allow women to choose abortion
during the first trimester of a pregnancy determined to be incompatible with their
lifestyle. This ruling marks an abrupt departure from national abortion laws,
dating back to 1931, and outlawing abortion in all cases other than rape. A
pregnancy conceived during a rape may be terminated at any point, even as late
as the eighth month. Although abortion is permitted at a national level in the
case of rape, local medics and officials have been inconsistent about allowing
women to exercise this right, especially in rural Mexico.
ISLA includes seven pages of coverage on Mexico’s abortion laws and the newly instated
reforms in Mexico City.
Several of the articles make clear that abortion has been readily available in Mexico City, and that the
real issue is the class divide when in comes to safe abortions. This theme
features prominently in the lead article “Abortion ban may be lifted”, by Kevin
Hall of the Miami Herald (ISLA, April 2007, page 9), as well as “Mexico’s
Medical Underground” by Cecilia Sanchez and Hector Tobar of the Los Angeles
Times (ISLA, April 2007, page 11). The Los Angeles
Times editorial, “A choice in Mexico”
(ISLA, April 2007, page 15), the only editorial on this subject appearing in
isla sources, draws the same conclusion.
Death due to complications during an illegal abortion is the fifth
leading cause of death among Mexican women.
While the safety of abortion in Mexico
is the focus of most articles appearing in this segment of isla’s Mexico
service, certain articles prove outstanding in other areas. The Washington Post
article “In Mexico, Powerful Forces Drive a Furious Debate over Abortion” by
Manuel Roig-Franzia (ISLA, April 2007, page 10) is superlative in clarifying
existing laws, changes being considered, and reforms implemented thus far (both
in Yucatan and Mexico City.) The Financial Times article “Mexico Abortion vote
set for constitutional challenge” by Richard Buchanan (ISLA, April 2007, page
14) does a good job of comparing reforms in Mexico City with those in Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia where a slight loosening of
abortion laws has been evident. Buchanan also makes the point that a tightening
of abortion laws recently occurred in two Central American countries, Nicaragua and El Salvador,
where abortion is now illegal under any circumstances, including rape.
Abortion also emerged as a primary topic in our Dominican
Republic service, constituting the lead
article. “Raids fuel abortion debate” by Frances Robles of the Miami Herald
(ISLA, April 2007, page 81) provides a wealth of information contrasting
abortions laws and reality in the Dominican Republic. The current
Dominican penal code proscribes abortion under any circumstance, including rape
and incest. However, unlike Mexico
City prior to legalization in April, abortions are
prosecuted. 12 people were arrested in February 2007 and three clinics were
closed. Those arrested include doctors, nurses and their patients.
The Robles article stems from the case of Yamina Then, a
woman arrested in March, along with her doctor. Then insists she was not having
an abortion when police stormed her physician’s office. According to Then, she
miscarried and the doctor was assisting her. However, her doctor, Numas Perez
articulates the dilemma many Dominican doctors encounter –since all abortions
are illegal in the Dominican
Republic, the number of unsafe abortion
skyrockets. Despite strict anti-abortion laws and practices, the Dominican Republic has the highest per capita
abortion rate in the region -44 per 1000, double that of the U.S. Therefore, as Perez advises Robles, “Go to
all the hospitals in town and there are lines of women bleeding” as a result of
illegally performed abortions. “It is the doctors’ job to assist these bleeding
women.”
A small chart from the Miami Herald (ISLA, April 2007,
page 251) corroborates the reality denoted in the Robles article. Robles cites
United Nation’s figures showing Latin America as having the second highest rate
of abortions in the world (following Eastern Europe), despite some of the
strictest laws on the book. The Herald chart from the Alan Guttmacher Institute
reveals the estimated number of abortions by country in Latin
America. Leading the list is Brazil (population 188 million), a nation
with zero tolerance –abortion is not permitted unless the mother’s life is in
jeopardy. Nevertheless, nearly 1-½
million abortions are performed annually in Brazil. Brazil
is followed by Chile (population
16 million), which does not allow abortion under any
circumstances, then Colombia (population 43 million), where
abortion is permitted in the case of rape, or if the pregnancy jeopardizes the
life of the mother. The Dominican Republic (population 9 million),
comes in fourth, followed by the vastly more populous country of Mexico (population 107 million), accounting
for nearly ½ million abortions per year, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Immigration –the
imponderable
Haiti
A quick review of ISLA’s April 2007 Haiti service
reveals a sad reality: eleven pages (15 articles) are devoted to Haitian
immigration and they are all from the Miami Herald. Although ISLA editors do
cull redundant articles, usually from wire services, this is unnecessary when
it comes to Haitian immigration.
Miami Herald coverage exposes U.S. policy toward Haitian
immigrants as nothing short of cruel. The Herald treads a lonely path and
should be commended for its compassionate coverage. Given the dearth of
coverage by other ISLA sources, one cannot help but wonder if people really
care about the plight of Haitian immigrants outside of Florida, and, more importantly, if they
might care were coverage more diverse. Fred Grimm makes a similar observation
(ISLA, April 2007, page 278) in his April 24 column. He notes that the debate
on wet-foot-dry-foot policy and its application only in the case of Cuban
immigrants is hot and heavy in Florida,
giving Florideans the impression that changes are inevitable once immigration
reforms are made. However, Grimm asserts that people in Florida live in a bubble, far removed from
national opinion. Indeed, Herald coverage reflects that bubble (Cuba makes the front page of the Herald most
days of the month, while other ISLA sources can pass an entire month without
publishing a single article on Cuba.)
It is probable that the lack of coverage in remaining ISLA sources is more on
par with the national interest level and that the press bares a measure of
responsibility for this outcome.
Further evidence of a lack of interest in the press, with
the exception of the Herald, can also be seen in the articles on U.S.
immigration reform appearing in ISLA’s Latin America General section. These articles
rarely address the discriminatory treatment of Haitian immigrants and the dire
need for a more equitable policy vis a vis Haitians. In other words, this issue
does not seem to be entering the debate in Congress. Articles covering
immigration in our Latin American General section spring from a wide range of
sources and are fairly abundant (ISLA, April 2007, pages 271-281).
In addition to the Herald’s excellent coverage of Haitian
immigration, including many lengthy news articles throughout April, ISLA
included two by columnist Ana Menendez on this subject (ISLA, April 2007, pages
92 & 96.) The Executive Director of
the Florida Immigrant
Advocacy Center,
Cheryl Little, also wrote a strong letter to the editor (ISLA, April 2007, page
97) elucidating the tragic treatment of Haitians at the hands of U.S.
immigration authorities. Little reflects on former Attorney General John
Ashcroft’s decision to detain 200 Haitian asylum seekers in 2002. Some had
already been granted asylum or bonds by immigration judges and were detained
anyway. Little notes that this harsh policy applies to Haitians of all ages,
even as young as two. Her strong advocacy on behalf of Haitian immigrants can
be traced back through the years by scanning ISLA’s archives. Nothing slips Cheryl
Little’s keen eye when it comes to immigration injustices.
Luis Posada Carriles
A Los Angeles Times editorial appearing April 20, 2007
(ISLA, April 2007, page 267) aptly sums up the galling truth: A terrorist
walks. Despite clear obligations under international law, Luis Posada Carriles
has been released while awaiting trial on immigration violations. ISLA’s
coverage of Posada Carriles begins on page 260 and continues through page 269
of our April 2007 issue. All ISLA sources, with the exception of the Manchester
Guardian, are published on this issue.
ISLA associate, Luis Solano, has also written extensively
about Posada Carriles, detailing a long list of nefarious acts in the region.
He exposes many of Posada Carriles contacts in Central
America. Mr. Solano’s
excellent and accurate reporting can be accessed in ISLA’s Special Reports
section.
A New York Times op-ed article by Bernardo Alvarez,
Venezuelan Ambassador to the United States,
makes a cogent argument for either extraditing Posada Carriles, or trying him
on terrorist charges in the U.S.,
as stipulated by international law. (ISLA, April 2007, page 266). Mr. Alvarez
is a frequent contributor to the New York Time’s op-ed page, as a very
selective use of information and the omission of important details characterize
Time’s coverage of Venezuela.
Mr. Alvarez provides the details and arguments that are often missing from the
Times reporting.
ISLA’s coverage of the Posada Carriles case is followed by
a lengthy article on Gustavo Villoldo (ISLA, April 2007, page 269), another
Cuban exile working with the CIA in the 1960’s. Villoldo lead a CIA contingent
in Bolivia
dispatched to capture and kill revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara. He has since
written a book and is trying to revive the discussion over the authenticity of
Che’s remains, currently displayed in Cuba. Villoldo would like us to
believe that these endeavors are on behalf of Che’s offspring and to set
today’s youth straight about Che, whom he refers to as “a blood-thirsty
killer.” He denies any financial incentives may be at play. Mr. Villoldo, like
Mr. Posada Carriles, walks free in Miami
–reportedly with a lock of Che’s hair in his pocket.
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