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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Factbox-Latin America's abortion rights in spotlight as Chile debates legalization
By Natalia Siniawski and Sarah Morland MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Chile's Congress is set to begin debating a bill that could make abortion legal on request nationwide, a debate which could have ripple effects across Latin America as a rift grows between nations making reproductive choices more accessible and those hardening legislation against abortion. Major Latin American countries like Mexico and Argentina provide broad access to abortion, while a Supreme Court case in Brazil seeking to expand access has been stalled for eight years. Although some countries have recently expanded abortion rights amid a wave of progressive politics, most still ban abortion in all or nearly all cases. FIRST TO LEGISLATE Cuba became Latin America's first country to decriminalize abortion in 1965, decades ahead of its neighbors. Public hospitals provide the procedure free up to 12 weeks, with later abortions allowed in certain cases. These cases - rape or incest, fetal non-viability or risk to the woman's health or life - are commonly known as the "tres causales" (three reasons) and serve as a key reference across the region. Guyana legalized abortion in 1995, allowing it on request up to 8 weeks, with some extensions. Uruguay legalized abortion on request in 2012 up to 12 weeks, while Chile in 2017 eased a total ban to the tres causales restriction up to 12 weeks. In 2020 Argentina legalized abortion up to 14 weeks. Since President Javier Milei took office, some groups have raised concerns about cuts to funding and limited access to related healthcare. In 2022, Colombia — which had earlier legalized abortion under the tres causales — decriminalized abortion up to 24 weeks, placing it among the world's more permissive countries. Mexico ruled criminal penalties for abortion unconstitutional in 2021 and reaffirmed this with a broader ruling in 2023, but as of today 10 of 32 administrative entities have yet to update their local laws. LIMITED ACCESS Much of Latin America currently allows abortion in limited cases - many use the "tres causales", and others allow for a broader set of reasons including mental health, economic constraints and social issues. Few countries allow abortion beyond the first three months. Brazil, the region's most populous nation with some 211 million inhabitants, currently allows abortion only with the "tres causales", specifically if the fetus is missing parts of its brain or skull. A Supreme Court case seeking to decriminalize abortion was filed in 2017 but remains on pause. Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela have limited access broadly aligned with the "tres causales", though many restrict it to situations where the woman's life is at risk, while pregnant women living in Central America and the Caribbean are broadly subject to stricter laws. Even in countries where abortion is legally permitted under certain conditions, barriers such as limited medical infrastructure, provider reluctance, and documentation requirements can make access difficult. In many cases, pregnancies must meet strict timelines or legal proof standards. TOTAL BANS Much of Central America and the Caribbean ban abortion in all or most cases. Countries with complete bans include Nicaragua, which ended exceptions even for life-threatening pregnancies in 2006; Honduras, where a 2021 constitutional amendment makes reversal unlikely; and El Salvador, which enforces some of the region's strictest penalties. El Salvador's constitution recognizes life from conception, and women have received decades-long prison sentences for abortion-related charges, even when advocates argue the cases were miscarriages or even newborn deaths. As of now, no women are imprisoned under these charges, but President Nayib Bukele has said he will not change the law. Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the Caribbean island on Hispaniola, ban abortion in all circumstances. Dominican activists are seeking legalization under the "tres causales" but efforts have stalled. In Haiti, a penal code that would have decriminalized abortion up to 12 weeks was delayed after the president's assassination in 2021. A worsening armed conflict has led to widespread sexual violence, a failing health system and mass insecurity, forcing many pregnant women to seek care across the Dominican border. Activists say pregnant Haitians have been targeted in Dominican deportations. In 2013, the Dominican Republic changed its law to revoke its nationality from children born to Haitian parents.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Haiti calls for urgent regional gang-fighting support as US shies off funding
By Sarah Morland (Reuters) -Top Haitian ministers called for urgent security support from neighbors at a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Thursday, while the U.S. signaled it would not continue current funding aimed at holding back the nation's armed gangs. Powerful gangs, armed with guns the U.N. believes are trafficked largely from the United States and across the land border with the Dominican Republic, have taken control of most of the capital and expanded to the central plateau and agricultural heartlands, displacing over 1 million people. "While we remain determined to assist the Haitian people achieve the peace, security and prosperity they deserve, the United States cannot continue shouldering such a significant financial burden," U.S. Caribbean Affairs deputy assistant secretary Barbara Feinstein said at the meeting. The U.S. has cut much overseas aid and frozen some funding it earlier pledged to support a U.N.-backed mission in Haiti, and earlier this week Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that OAS should play a greater role in supporting Haiti's security, such as mobilizing a force. "The OAS is uniquely positioned not only as a forum for diplomacy, but as a vehicle for coordinated, concrete action," Feinstein added. A handful of countries have pledged troops to the mission, but only a fraction of these have deployed. The Kenyan-led force remains under-resourced and has had little success in helping police hold off gangs' advances in and beyond the capital. OAS special advisor Jared Genser recommended that unless the mission is proven capable of providing security for Haitians, the U.N. Security Council should vote to convert it to a formal peacekeeping mission - a measure repeatedly requested by Haitian leaders but opposed by veto members China and Russia. Haitian Defense Minister Jean-Michel Moise said the situation was being fueled by gangs profiting off cocaine trafficking from Colombia to buyer nations and arms trafficking from the United States by sea and across the Dominican border. "This criminal economy fuels a local war machine," he said. "Haiti is on the brink of being fully controlled by criminal gangs and we cannot allow that to happen. We desperately need the help of the international community." Haiti counts about 12,000 police and 1,000 military officers for a population of nearly 12 million, officials said. Moise also called for restrictions - including some based on implications in human rights abuses - on selling arms to Haiti's government to be eased, citing gangs' easy access to militarized weapons.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Haiti gangs' US terrorism designation risks harming most vulnerable, NGOs warn
By Sarah Morland and Harold Isaac PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - The designation of Haiti's major gangs as terrorists by Washington could risk further entrenching their power by limiting financial and humanitarian aid, NGOs focused on organized crime and human rights have warned. The United States last week designated Viv Ansanm, the armed alliance that controls most of capital Port-au-Prince, and Gran Grif, which operates in the breadbasket Artibonite region, as terrorist groups, following similar measures made recently for Latin American drug cartels. The designation is intended to isolate the groups, denying them access to financing from U.S. people or companies. "Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against these vicious groups and are an effective way to curtail support for their terrorist activities," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time. Analysts at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime said on Thursday that the designation could, however, "inadvertently worsen the situation on the ground." It said the move could threaten the activities of some NGOs who engage with gangs to deliver aid to communities under gang control - potentially cutting off aid and making populations even more dependent on the armed groups. International businesses could also leave Haiti to avoid the risk of falling foul of U.S. law, it added. Haiti's Center for Analysis and Research for Human Rights earlier this week raised similar doubts, saying the move could hurt NGOs working with Haiti's most vulnerable in gang-controlled areas, already hit by frozen U.S. aid funding. "If drastic and appropriate measures are not taken to contain the root of the problem (such as) arms trafficking from the United States and across the Haitian-Dominican border, then gang members, most of whom are social victims, could become even more radicalized," it said in its report. An alliance of gangs has been using brutal tactics to grow its power since the 2021 assassination of Haiti's last president. Pierre Esperance, who heads Haiti's National Network for the Defense of Human Rights, said in an interview on Tuesday that his group had long considered the gangs as terrorists. "During 2024 they started setting people on fire while they were in their homes, they stopped them from running out and burnt them, rapes continued, kidnappings... These are terrorist acts," he said. In a recent report, Haiti-focused security adviser Halo Solutions Firm said while nuanced enforcement could cripple gang financing, "a policy that does not distinguish between corrupt enablers and extorted survivors will risk collapsing the commercial backbone of the country." Haiti's central bank on Wednesday warned lenders, exchange bureaus and payment services to be vigilant for exposure to operations financing terrorist groups. More than 1,600 people were killed in violent clashes in the first three months of this year while over 1 million are internally displaced, according to U.N. estimates, with local security services backed by limited international support.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US designates powerful Haiti gang alliance as transnational terrorist group
By Sarah Morland (Reuters) - The United States on Friday designated Haiti's powerful Viv Ansanm gang alliance, whose members have taken control of almost all the capital Port-au-Prince and spread to surrounding areas, a "transnational terrorist group". The U.S. Treasury Department also applied the designation to the Gran Grif gang, which in October took responsibility for a shocking massacre of at least 115 people in the agricultural town of Pont-Sonde. "They are a direct threat to U.S. national security interests in our region," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, adding that providing material support or resources to the gangs could lead to "criminal charges and inadmissibility or removal from the United States." The gang conflict in Haiti has been met with little international response, while neighboring countries, including the U.S., have continued to deport migrants back to the Caribbean nation despite United Nations pleas not to due to humanitarian concerns. Over 1 million people have been displaced by the conflict, and tens of thousands more in recent weeks, as the violence has spread to central Haiti, forcing more health facilities to shut their doors and pushing more people into severe food insecurity. Frozen U.S. funding for security efforts and the dismantling of the U.S. agency for International Development, as well as other cuts, also complicate the situation. The latest designations come after the U.S. in February designated Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, alongside a number of other organized crime groups across Latin America including Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, as global terrorist organizations. The U.S. government later invoked a rarely used wartime act to designate Tren de Aragua as "alien enemies," resulting in the deportation without due process of many Venezuelans to a controversial prison in El Salvador, which is being paid to hold them. It was unclear what, if any, impact the terrorist designation would have regarding Haiti. Armed groups in Haiti have made significant gains in the first part of 2025, as an under-resourced, U.N.-backed security mission has stalled, and along with police has been unable to hold off advances of the heavily-armed and well-funded gangs. The U.N. has called for tougher measures to prevent guns being trafficked to the Haitian gangs, especially from the U.S., which it said was the major source of illegal firearms in Haiti via ports in Florida. Luckson Elan, who heads Gran Grif, and Jimmy Cherizier, who acts as spokesman for the Viv Ansanm alliance that is seeking political representation in Haiti, are both subject to U.N. sanctions.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Defiant Caribbean leaders dismiss trafficking accusations as US targets Cuba's doctor diplomacy
By Sarah Morland (Reuters) - Caribbean leaders this week rejected U.S. accusations of Cuban labor exploitation after the United States announced it will restrict the visas of officials tied to a Cuban government program that sends medics abroad. The U.S. announced the measure late last month, arguing that the labor export programs run by Cuba's government, which include many medics, "enrich the Cuban regime." It further argued that those involved are complicit in the "exploitation and forced labor of Cuban workers." See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Cuba's leaders, however, reject the U.S. stance as Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "personal agenda... based on falsehoods" and said the measure could affect millions of healthcare beneficiaries. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants who fled the island to Florida, where President Donald Trump's top diplomat would later win a Senate seat. Since Cuba's 1959 revolution, its medics have been dispatched to countries around the world, treating diseases that wreak havoc on poor countries, from cholera in Haiti to Ebola in West Africa. The program is also a key source of hard cash as the island nation endures its latest deep economic crisis. Cuba says a decades-long U.S. embargo, opposed by the vast majority of the United Nations, is the key driver of the crisis. "Out of the blue now, we have been called human traffickers because we hire technical people who we pay top dollar," said Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley at a hospital event. Rowley added that he was prepared to lose his U.S. visa. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves noted at least 60 people in the small island nation are on a Cuban-run haemodialysis program used to treat kidney failure. "If the Cubans are not there, we may not be able to run the service," he said, adding Cuban personnel are paid the same as locals. "I will prefer to lose my visa than to have 60 poor and working people die." Last week, Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith told reporters that her government views Cuban medics as important. "Their presence here is of importance to our healthcare system," she said, pointing to 400 doctors, nurses and medical technicians currently working in the country. In a social media post, Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell also vouched for the program, saying his government "follows all international best practices in the recruitment of labor."
