Right- and left-wing governments in Latin America are taking away the rights of women and transgender people

Originally published on Global Voices

This is an extract from an article by Argentine journalist Luciana Peker published in Muy Waso, a Bolivian media partner of Global Voices.

The Argentine government closed the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity. It closed it. It did not downgrade it, or merely modify its organizational chart. President Javier Milei took office in December 2023 and kept his promise to eliminate it. He then opened the Sub-Secretariat of Protection against Gender Violence, under the Ministry of Human Capital.

At the end of May, this agency was transferred to the Ministry of Justice. It was headed by Claudia Barcia, who resigned on June 6 when she found out — by WhatsApp — that the executive branch had dissolved the area of help for women victims of gender violence.

The charges against former Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez — who is accused of committing violence against his wife and former First Lady Fabiola Yáñez — show that those who are in favor of policies against gender-based violence are capable of exercising it. Those who are against these policies, like Milei, are capable of keeping their promises. Without polarization, both are united to stop helping victims.

In response to the charges against Fernandez, the presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni declared that the Argentinian hotline for victims of abuse was still working. But it suffered a 25 percent budget cut, according to Argentinian women's rights organization ELA‘s Latin American Gender and Justice Team. On top of that, the budget allocated to the state program “Acompañar”, which grants a minimum wage for half a year to women who have faced violence and sexual abuse, was slashed by 80 percent. Activist and lawyer Lala Pasquinelli says:

Las líneas de ayuda sufrieron una reducción de personal del 38 por ciento, quedaron dos trabajadoras por turno. La 137 (violencia sexual) no existe más. El programa Acompañar pasó de ayudar a 34.000 víctimas a 430.

The helplines suffered a personnel reduction of 38 percent, leaving two workers per shift. The 137 line (against sexual violence) no longer exists. The accompanying program went from helping 34,000 victims to 430.

Cuts to women's rights in Argentina

Lala Pasquinelli, the creator of the feminist project “Mujeres que no fueron tapa” (“Women who were not a cover”) and author of the book “La Estafa de la feminidad” (“The femininity scam”) says that “the setbacks are overwhelming on all fronts: formal, symbolic, and material.”

Argentina's austerity policies affects women, she highlights. “If there are cuts in health, [women] are the ones who wander between hospitals […] The dining rooms remain without food, and they are the ones who roll up their sleeves.”

And it's not only about what's not there anymore, but also what has been demonized. In addition to the budget cuts in public policies, the social sectors are perplexed, isolated, and atomized in the face of the attacks.

Argentina went from being a vanguard country to being the vanguard of attacks against women and sexual diversity. The mirror that had expanded Argentina's green tide for women's reproductive rights to the whole region is now legitimizing a global phenomenon of regression.

Each national or continental context has its own cardinal points, but they coincide in going backwards and generating a false nostalgia about the past. The bans on gender education and human rights frame women and queer movements as the enemy. This “give[s] a supposed ‘cultural battle,’ which is entertainment that covers up the cruelty of hunger,” Pasquinelli explains.

In Argentina, the free distribution of contraceptives was approved in 2002, sex education in 2006, same-sex marriage in 2010, gender identity law in 2012, and legal abortion in 2020. The calendar now looks like “Back to the Future” in reverse.

Milei's government renamed the ungendered “Día de las infancias” (Childhood Day) to “Día del niño” (Child's Day), which uses a gendered term for child that also means boy. Theannoucement read: “Our purpose is that all children grow up in a healthy and safe environment, far from those who promote gender ideology and threaten their integrity.”

A map of regression

In Peru, lawmakers attempted to pathologize trans people. Protestors managed to stop the backlash. In a world of disinformative chaos, accusations towards those who are left at the social fringes impact the streets and culture. It is a latent threat.

The extreme right wants to brand sex education as gender ideology and spur a debate that lights up anti-feminist groups.

Xiomara Castro governs Honduras, but women in power no longer guarantee women's rights. Her win was considered a great victory, as she named several feminists in the government, but Castro “vetoed a law in favor of sexual education for children. Her minister of education, together with an evangelical pastor, broke the guidelines and showed support for the churches. That shows that we are going backwards,” says activist Melissa Cardoza, of the National Network of Human Rights Defenders and the Assembly of Women Fighters of Honduras.

In 2021, Uruguay was a pioneer in approving the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy. Now, lawmakers have presented three bills that go against these hard won rights, such as the draft bill that seeks to repeal Uruguay's law against gender violence. However, in times of false information and disinformation, not repealing it is not enough.

Attacks and disinformation

There are attacks that have tangible effects. Therefore, they cannot be underestimated. There are others that are intercepted, but spread their poison regardless. Something fundamental is that attacks are not isolated.

The current information models work in a bubble. It's not even about what kind of media each person reads, but rather what a person's algorithm feeds them on a plate. Everyone has their own bubble and believes, or ends up believing, that their bubble is the world. We must see the bigger picture, more than the GPS, and not miss the forest for the trees.

In Uruguay, they sought to repeal their gender violence law and create a domestic violence law. What is domestic is once again the center of what's considered feminine and the only place where — supposedly — women could be helped. A girl who goes out partying and is abused would not be a victim. But a wife who stays at home would be a victim.

Above all, the idea of gender violence would be crossed out and replaced with an obsolete term that was used when we first started spelling out the problem: family violence. The family. The holy family. Even the violent family. Not the diverse family. They want to get rid of the limits of what can, and can't, be done within a family. But no means no, in families too.

Demirdjian highlights:

No es casual que se ponga en cuestión la voz de las mujeres y la violencia de género. Son proyectos regresivos que dejarían desprotegidas a las mujeres que denuncian, pero que existan los proyectos y que el tema esté en debate es un retroceso.

It is no coincidence that the voice of women, and [the existence of] gender violence, are being put into question. These are regressive projects that would leave women who report unprotected, but the fact that the draft bill exists and that the issue is under discussion is [already] a step backward.

Creating a villain to go against sexual diversity

The Plata River stretches throughout South America. Apart from electoral results, no one along the river wants to swim against the current. Women have to guard what they won, on one end, and on the other, they have to cry for what they lost. Everywhere, women are accused of lying, and lying itself becomes a way to speak without any basis.

The Southern Cone can become a cone of silence. In Paraguay, on August 22, 2023, the Senate Committee on Family, Childhood, Adolescence, and Youth approved a bill on the prohibition of teaching gender ideology in educational institutions.

It is not a pandemic, nor a virus that spreads. “Gender ideology,” poetically painted as a villain, sneaks across borders. It's not an exception; it's an international orchestration.

In El Salvador, at the end of February 2024, President Nayib Bukele lashed out against gender education and decided not to include it in public education. Education Minister José Mauricio Pineda posted: “Fact-checked: We have removed all traces of gender ideology from public schools.”

Bukele made the decision after meeting with Trump and Milei in the United States at the Conservative Political Action Conference. In the 1970s, the Condor Plan commanded military coups in South America from the United States. Their collaboration is no longer to fly over, but to silence.

Peru's president is a woman who was not elected and is destroying policies for women, even without any electoral support. Yet, international treaties that are above national constitutions and national laws guarantee that, beyond electoral ups and downs, public policies for women and queer rights cannot be eliminated.

Different types of government, the same strategies

In Latin America, there are many elected and non-elected governments, democracies with left- or right-wing authoritarianism, and none respect the rule of law and the right of women to a life free of violence.

They all use the same old strategies. Removing organizations against gender violence is in the album of almost every country. The project of Dina Boluarte is to cancel the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP). She justifies it by saying that it will be “unified” with the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (MIDIS).

Amid the crisis of corruption and human rights violations that Peru is experiencing, feminist lawyer Parwa Oblitas says:

Fusionar el Ministerio de las Mujeres sería un grave retroceso, ya que lleva más de 30 años y ha promovido políticas que, si bien no alcanzan, combaten la desigualdad de género en el país.

Merging the Ministry of Women would be a serious setback since it has been in existence for more than 30 years and has promoted policies that, although not enough, combat gender inequality in the country.

Activist, poet, and teacher Violeta Barrientos connects the dots:

Están con la moda Milei y quieren fusionar ministerios para invisibilizar. Por eso se propuso poner el Ministerio de la Mujer dentro de otro: para diluirlo. Era muy escandaloso convertirlo en Ministerio de la Familia.

They are following Milei's footsteps and want to merge ministries to invisibilize [women]. That's why they wanted to put the Ministry of Women inside another one: to dilute it. It was very scandalous to turn it into the Ministry of the Family.

Barrientos also explains that current Peruvian politics are conservative and far-right. “It seeks to favor illegal mining, destroy our institutions, concentrate their power in Congress and take over the courts, just like in Venezuela, to tie the country's hands before the 2026 elections.” She also highlights that, before this happened, the population had repudiated these measures in the streets.

This backslide is not a news headline, but a constant. It does not happen in one place, but in many. Latin America is going against progress and backtracking after decades of moving forward.

Written by Muy Waso Translated by Dalia Tarek · View original post [es]

Both Old and New Morochocha offer significant drawbacks

Originally published on Global Voices

New Morococha. Screenshot from a promotional video by Minería Chinalco.

In 2013, Chinese mining company Chinalco (中国铝业集团有限公司) sparked an international conversation about extractive impacts with the news it had successfully relocated an entire Peruvian town of 5,000 residents to clear space for a copper mine. At the time, the relocation project in Morococha, central Peru, was touted as a solution to protect villagers from pollution and environmental degradation as a result of mining practices, and as a potential template for Chinese overseas investment in Latin America. 

Ten years later, experts describe the move as a “tragedy.” 

Joselyn Jaua, a Peruvian journalist who covers the environment and communities in the region, explained to Global Voices that Chinalco’s policies have deeply impacted both Old Morococha and New Morococha: “The rise of poverty is notorious for relocated and non-relocated people alike.” 

The relocation project was perceived as a pioneering approach by Chinese mining companies in managing relationships with communities abroad. Chinalco, the state-owned company that acquired Peru’s biggest copper mine in 2007, which has invested USD 4.476 billion in the megaproject, promised on paper to provide local job opportunities, consult representatives from the communities, and prioritize environmental and social problems raised by the inhabitants of Morococha. 

Raúl Las Madrid, Legal Affairs Manager for Chinalco Peru Mining, said in a video of ProInversion, a Peruvian government agency, earlier this year.

En la actualidad, esta población ha sido reasentada a una nueva ciudad que nosotros construimos desde cero. Fue parte de nuestro compromiso y responsabilidad social. Lógicamente, tienen agua, desagüe, luz permanente, tienen diversas iglesias para todos los credos, centros educativos y hospital.

Today the population has been resettled to a new city that we built from scratch. It was part of our commitment and social responsibility. Logically, they have water, drainage, permanent light. There are educational centers, a hospital, and various churches for all faiths.

However, many residents and environmental activists argue that the company has failed to honor its promises. A 2019 study by the National University of Central Peru revealed that most of the population of New Morococha believes their economy, job stability, and access to social benefits promised by Chinalco have not been fulfilled.

Jaime Borda, a Peruvian activist with Red Muqui, a local network advocating for the rights of communities impacted by mining projects, told Global Voices.

Actualmente el distrito de Morococha se encuentra en situación de pobreza y extrema pobreza. Muchas familias han tenido que migrar a otras ciudades en busca de mejores oportunidades dado que la nueva ciudad de Morococha no garantiza una vida digna o un movimiento económico.

Currently, the district of Morococha is in a situation of poverty and extreme poverty. Many families have had to migrate to other towns in search of better opportunities since the new town of Morococha does not guarantee a decent life or economic movement.

Instead, Chinalco has relied on subcontracting and outsourcing labor, leading to low wages, according to Borda.  

Since 2013, 96 percent of the residents in Old Morococha have been compelled to relocate to a flood-prone wetland area, which is also isolated from the central highway. The situation is even worse for some 20 families who have refused to resettle. 

“The remaining families in Old Morococha are facing daily harassment from the Chinese mining company Chinalco,”  Borda said. “Every day, they are destroying the few houses of the settlers, until the last brick disappears.”

According to him, these families are cut off from electricity and clean water, living in conditions “like in the times of the cavemen.” They have also been blocked from key access routes, restricting their ability to meet basic needs like work, food, and healthcare. 

A 2018 report released by the United Nations concluded that four Chinese-owned mining companies, including Chinalco, violated the human rights of Peruvians. The report said the Toromocho copper mining project of Chinalco has generated conflicts with the population in Morococha, and the resettlement process of the community members has been incomplete and dangerous.

Anatomy of a relocation

Chinaclo didn't initially plan to relocate the town. The town of Morococha, now known as Old Morococha, is situated in the province of Yauli, about 140 kilometers east of the capital Lima. It is known as the birthplace of the Peruvian mining boom of the 1930s. After decades of poorly regulated mining around Old Morococha, the town was left with a dangerous and unpredictable legacy: A toxic, uncovered mine tailings deposit in the middle of the city. The town also lacked a proper sewage system and residents used communal latrines before the relocation.

A Map and figures of the Morococha relocation project. Source: BBCMundo

In 2006, Peru Copper Inc., a Canadian mining company that had acquired concession rights to the Toromocho project, sought approval from the Peruvian government to convert the underground mine into an open-pit mine. The company hired Social Capital Group, a Peruvian mining consultancy, to conduct environmental and feasibility analysis for the project. The report highlighted that relocating the town was the only feasible and sustainable solution, given the deteriorating conditions in Morococha and its proximity to the Toromocho mining site.

Although the majority of the local population was in favor of the resettlement at the time, the unprecedented scale of relocating such a large town posed a significant challenge. When Peru Copper invited bids for the concession, only one company expressed interest: Chinalco. “No other company was willing to invest USD 50 million in a social project without any guarantee of return,” Cynthia Sanborn, a political scientist focusing on China and Latin America at the University of Pacific in Peru, explained to Dialogue Earth in 2013. 

Chinalco, the world's third-largest aluminum producer, has played a significant role in expanding China’s influence in Latin America's mining sector. As a state-owned company, Chinalco is integral to China’s national strategy of securing mineral resources both domestically and abroad. The Toromocho project, which Chinalco acquired from the Canadian company with a total investment of USD 860 million in 2007, was the first greenfield copper mine developed by a Chinese corporation abroad. 

In 2018, the company invested another USD 1.3 billion dollars in the expansion. Despite delays in development during the pandemic, Toromocho remains the fifth-largest copper producer in the country. Peru is the second-largest copper producer in the world. 

New Morococha. Google Maps Photos. Image by José Salcedo, 2019. Fair Use.

The Chinese company stated that it has “brought earth-shaking changes to the lives of the local residents” (“这些举措给矿区居民的生活带来了翻天覆地的变化”) in the Yauli province. The efforts that the company championed include building a sewage treatment plant, facilitating the relocation of 1,050 households from the mining area, and investing in local healthcare infrastructure. Chinalco also promised to hold a “round table” (“La Mesa de Diálogo”) with communities and committed to hiring local staff to make major decisions for the future of the community. By 2023, the company claimed that it had hired 1,500 employees for the Toromocho project, with only 20 Chinese staff. 

Borda argued that while the new town has basic services, economic activities in Morococha remain stagnant because the company outsources low-wage jobs. The company also failed to establish a promised camp for mining workers, a settlement designed to house laborers involved in mining operations. It typically features basic accommodations, communal facilities, and necessary amenities to support the workforce. The camp is also expected to boost the local economy. Spaces for dialogue promised by the company have also shrunk in the past few years, Borda said, and the non-settled families were excluded from it. 

In 2022, miners protested against Chinalco with a strike and blockade after the company laid off almost 1,000 workers, among other environmental and social conflicts.

Project Toromocho in Old Morococha, 2017. Screenshot of Documentary Morococha: Invisible Voices.

Chinalco did not respond to a request for comment from Global Voices. 

Chinalco’s failed promises and residents’ dissatisfaction

To understand Chinalco’s responsibility to the population of Morococha, two basic agreements must be understood: The Marco Deal, a contract between the company and the population of Morococha that addresses poverty, basic health services, and housing and drafts a strategy to boost the local economy; and the environmental impact study, which defines the impact of the Toromocho project on the community and the environment. To date, the Marco Deal has not been signed, and the Environmental Impact Study has not been implemented. 

According to the Geological, Mining, and Metallurgical Institute of Perú (INGEMMET) 2017 report, the city of Old Morococha faces an “imminent, non-mitigable danger” due to severe risks, including visible structural damage, proximity to mining waste and tailings, and ongoing seismic hazards exacerbated by active mining operations. The combination of these factors renders any mitigation efforts ineffective, underscoring the extreme vulnerability of the area.

Map of Old Morococha showing the inhabited homes and demolished homes in 2013 and 2016, three years after the relocation began. Source: 2017 Report by the Geological, mining and metallurgical Institute of Perú. Fair use.

Those who have moved to New Morococha are also exposed to some environmental risks. 

The new town, which is also called Carhuacoto, was built in the middle of two lagoons and on what was previously a swamp, so the humidity not only affects the buildings but also the health of the residents. In a 2015 investigation, a woman and her family were given a small 50-square-meter unit in New Morococha, but humidity from the swamp caused her serious health issues, forcing them to return to Old Morococha. Now, they live in an overcrowded former school, sharing the space and one bathroom with several families.

The INGEMMET report concluded that frequent floods and liquefaction of soils caused by earthquakes may affect the safety of residents living in buildings of New Morococha, where most urban facilities, including schools, religious temples, and health centers, were built within 26 months between 2010 and 2012. The report said the company has not yet informed residents of what they would do to mitigate those risks. 

Furthermore, the residents who have not yet moved are reluctant to accept Chinalco’s offers. They claimed that the company only offered USD 9 for each square meter of their homes, hardly enough for them to buy a new house in New Morococha. 

While Chinalco claims that “all risks have been resolved,” their report also acknowledges that Peruvians, who have endured a history of colonization and resource exploitation, harbor deep concerns about mining development. This apprehension is especially pronounced among Indigenous communities living in the Andes, who are particularly sensitive to these issues.

Borda emphasized that the Peruvian authorities share responsibility for the failure of the resettlement project. They neglected their role as protectors of the population’s rights, amending laws to favor mining companies over local communities. They also approved the company’s Environmental Impact Study, despite ongoing concerns about environmental and water issues that can affect the local population. Similar cases happen not only in Morococha but also in other mining towns in Peru.

Written by Gabriela Mesones Rojo, Alicia Chen

Doctors and activists call this a ‘return to caveman times’

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Melissa Vida for Global Voices

On May 10, 2024, one hundred years on from the decriminalization of homosexuality in Peru, the government officially categorized trans, intersex, and non-binary people as “mentally ill” by presidential decree.

This decree, which President and Minister of Health and Economy Dina Boluarte signed, defines “transsexualism” and “gender identity disorders in childhood” as mental illnesses. “Dual-role transvestism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” are also included in this category. What’s more, this decree refers to homosexuality as an “ego-dystonic sexual orientation,” which is a mental health condition.

This measure is part of the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS), which outlines insurable health conditions for insurance policies.

A government official subsequently explained that this reclassification was decreed to “ensure total health care coverage for mental health” under PEAS. However, the country’s trans community considers this measure outdated and a reversion to so-called “conversion therapies” like Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression Change Efforts (ECOSIEG).

The government in Peru’s neighboring country, Colombia, is also debating these practices. Efforts are currently underway using draft legislation to prohibit torture and invasive practices seeking to change people’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) stopped considering those whose gender identity is different from the one they were born with as mentally ill. In the most recent version of the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases catalog, ICD-11, “gender incongruence of adolescence and adulthood” and “gender incongruence of childhood” replaced outdated diagnoses like “transsexualism” and “gender identity disorders in childhood,” respectively.

On May 18, 2024, some 200 protesters took to the streets to protest against this measure. For many LGBTQ+ people, this measure puts them at increased risk of violence and discrimination. Between 2012 and 2021, at least 88 LGBTQ+ people were killed. However, due to Peru’s lack of laws penalizing hate crimes, there was no justice for those killed.

LGBTQ+ film festival cultural director Jheinser Pacaya denounced this measure on social media:

A 100 años de la despenalización de la homosexualidad el @Minsa_Peru no tiene mejor idea que incluir a las personas trans en la categoría de enfermedades mentales. Exigimos y no descansaremos hasta su derogaracion. pic.twitter.com/gKczZeq0OI

— Jheinser Pacaya (@jheinserrr) May 14, 2024

Tweet: One hundred years on from the decriminalization of homosexuality, the Ministry of Health @Minsa_Peru has suddenly decided to consider trans people as mentally ill. We demand that this measure be repealed and won’t rest until it has been.

Image: STATEMENT

The civil association Outfestperu deplores the approval of D.S.009-2024-SA, which describes transsexuality as an illness. This outlook stigmatizes transgender people and perpetuates discrimination.

Instead of considering transsexuality as a medical condition, we should foster acceptance and respect for all gender identities.

We demand that this law be repealed and that the MINSA focus on protecting fundamental rights by promoting equal access to healthcare.

Lawyer and LGBTQ+ activist Manuel Siccha, who was the first openly homosexual councilor in Lima’s Metropolitan Council, opposes these measures. Siccha urges Congress “to exercise its supervisory procedures and request detailed information from the Ministry of Health on the safeguards in place to prevent this pathologization and ensure comprehensive and respectful care for LGBTQ+ people in the Peruvian health system.”

Siccha also urges the Health Commission of Congress to “open a discussion and evaluation space on this regulation with the essential technical, political, and civil society actors, who should have been consulted.” He considers it imperative to bring this health update up to date with ICD-11, thus aligning it with “international standards and accurately reflecting diverse gender and sexuality experiences in a non-stigmatizing manner.”

Boluarte, Peru’s first woman president, has emphasized her social conservatism, which goes hand in hand with the conservative majority in the Peruvian Congress. In 2022, following a campaign led by the anti-rights group “Don’t Mess with My Kids,” Congress removed “gender ideology” from all school textbooks. On March 5, 2024, this measure also had a far-reaching impact in El Salvador, where the Ministry of Education removed such content from its guides, books, and other educational materials by presidential directive.

On May 21, 2024, Colombian journalist @VickyDavilaH posted a survey on X for people to decide whether or not they agreed with the decision that trans, crossdressing, non-binary, and other gender identities should be considered mental illnesses. Police violence watchdog NGO Temblores shared her post, reminding her that WHO had stopped categorizing trans people as mentally ill in 2018. What’s more, it also stated that “non-normative gender identities are not up for public discussion. This type of judgment puts people with diverse gender identities at increased risk of violence and discrimination, thus violating multiple rights and impacting their lives on several fronts.”

On May 10, 2024, Human Rights Watch stated that this law “was profoundly regressive” and “further calcifies prejudices against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people” in Peru, where there are no policies on diversity. He urged the Peruvian government to repeal this “biased and unscientific decree and aim to implement the WHO’s updated classification of diseases with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity.”

According to Dr. Víctor Zamora from the School of Government and Public Policy of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, this decree undermines any progress Peru has made regarding rights and gender. For Zamora, “there remains only one way for the health authorities to move away from caveman culture and back to modernity”: repeal this law that is an outright violation of the LGBTQ+ community’s non-discrimination rights.

LGBTQ+ rights organizations call for these groups to march on June 29, 2024, as part of Pride Month. This will enable their “visibility to grow stronger and demonstrate to the State that we require a country with greater justice and equality.” This march would be more symbolic than ever.

Written by Lucía Jiménez Peñuela Translated by Laura · View original post [es]

A look at International Women's Day in seven cities

Originally published on Global Voices

In Caracas, 14 feminist organizations organized International Women's Day. Photo by Daniel Echeverría, 2024. Used with permission.

Every March 8, millions of women mobilize in Latin America to be part of the agenda of International Women's Day. The problems experienced by women and gender diverse people in the region are not few: since 2018, 14 of the 25 countries with the most femicides are in Latin America, 27.4 percent of women in the region experience multidimensional poverty, and nearly 8,400 women die each year in the region due to complications in pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. According the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Latin America one in two women does not have a job and one in four does not have their own income. In Central America, less than 40 percent of women have a bank account.

On this day, women respond to and highlight the problems that affect them in their own contexts, causing each town and each Latin American city to have its own complaints and requests.

Here are some Latin American cities that filled their streets on International Women's Day.

Mexico City, Mexico 

In Mexico City there was a strong official presence, the use of tear gas was reported, several people were injured, and one person was reported dead. Photo by Andrea Paola Hernández, 2024. Used with permission.

More than 180 thousand people mobilized in the main Zócalo Square of Mexico City asking for justice for the ten women murdered every day in the Mexican Republic, and the 52,000 families who are actively searching for their missing relatives. With music, performance and chants, the participating contingents also marched for equal pay, sexual and reproductive education, and access to the national justice system.

Read more: International Women's Day in Mexico City: A demonstration shrouded in sorrow

This International Women's Day stands out because it occurs in a special electoral year for Mexico, where the two main candidates for the presidency are women. One hundred and sixty-four protesters had to be treated for symptoms of heatstroke, after 2024 began breaking records of extreme drought in the country. Seven people required hospitalization, including one who died from cardiac arrest. The use of tear gas against the protesters was reported on social media, but the CDMX government assures that they were fire extinguishers to put out the bonfires with which they protested in the Zócalo.

Caracas, Venezuela

In Caracas there was the right to speak for all people. Photo by Daniel Echeverría, 2024. Used with permission.

The March 8 protest in Caracas is one of the smallest in the region. This year, however, saw an increase with the attendance of just over a hundred protesters in Plaza Venezuela, among whom there was a beautiful diversity: non-binary identities, trans women, allied men, children, women of color, labor and rights activists humans. The slogans of the demonstration were focused on femicides (169 from January to October 2023), trans femicides, the right to free, safe and free abortion, salaries equal to the basic basket, the elimination of the tax on menstrual products, and justice for imprisoned women and the politicians and activists criminalized by the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Read more: Rocío San Miguel, Venezuelan rights activist and lawyer, detained and reported missing

The demonstration highlighted the gender violence that women and LGBTQ+ populations experience every day in Venezuela, but with a specific focus: the role of state institutions and the violence that the Venezuelan government has exercised over the last decade. The precariousness of work, the feminization of poverty in the context of the humanitarian emergency, and the increase in the Venezuelan state's persecution of female politicians or activists were at the center of the day. During the demonstration, police officers took photos of the protesters, which is illegal in Venezuela.

Lima, Peru

International Women's Day protest in Lima, Peru, 2024. Photo by Pierina Sora. Used with permission.

The march in Lima was organized in six blocks: Women and LGBTQ+ people, sex workers, women with disabilities, relatives of victims of femicide and disappearance; mothers and children; transmasculinities, transfemininities and non-binary people or gender non-conforming people; first-timers, independent activists, feminist groups and organizations; mixed organizations and groups; and citizens in general.

Although the protesters also spoke out against the president of the Republic Dina Boluarte, there was no type of repression.

Asunción, Paraguay 

Contingent of domestic workers in Asunción, Paraguay. Photo by Noelia Díaz Esquivel, 2024. Used with permission.

Five thousand Paraguayan women gathered in the Plaza Uruguaya in Asunción to defend the labor, political, social, cultural and economic rights of working women, in the midst of the dismissal of Senator Kattya González and the Chartist (movement of the ruling party ANR, led by former president Horacio Cartes) intention to repeal the law on comprehensive protection for women.

Read more: In Paraguay, complaints of family violence increased by 243% between 2015 and 2023

A discussion was held to analyze the setbacks and advances in terms of rights, which was attended by senators and deputies Esperanza Martínez and Johana Ortega. Subsequently, they marched to the Plaza de la Democracia where a group read a manifesto containing the demands of more than 20 civil organizations, which are part of the Feminist Articulation of Paraguay. Part of the document states that:

Nos encontramos en un momento crítico, donde el sistema capitalista, narco, mafioso y racista imperante en nuestro país, ataca impunemente y con fuerza a las familias de la clase trabajadora, violando nuestros derechos que fueron conquistados con nuestras luchas históricas. 

We find ourselves at a critical moment, where the capitalist, drug, mafia and racist system prevailing in our country attacks working class families with impunity and force, violating our rights that were won with our historical struggles.

Job insecurity was also questioned, the usurping of funds from retirement funds, the minimizing of femicides, the delay of maternity and breastfeeding protection laws and care policy systems. Likewise, organizations denounced the increase in cases of femicides in 2023, with 45 cases, and the girls and boys who are left orphaned.

Santiago de Chile, Chile 

International Women's Day protest in Santiago, Chile. Photo by Majo Montilla, 2024. Used with permission.

On the eve of International Women's Day and after seven years of waiting, the Chilean Congress approved the Comprehensive Law against Violence against Women. Last year alone, the country recorded 41 completed femicides and 221 attempted femicides (its highest number in the last decade). So far in 2024, 10 gender-based murders have already been recorded (two more than those perpetrated in the same period in 2023), that is, one feminicide a week. That is the context in which the Chileans went out to march last March 8.

Under the slogan “lives free of violence,” the center of Santiago was flooded with purple and green scarves and indignant faces. Forty-five thousand people according to figures of the the Chilean police; 350 thousand, according to event organizers. In a country where abortion is still criminalized, the social consensus seems to understand that it is not a celebration: International Women's Day is a day to protest and that is how it is lived.

Santiago's is a protest demonstration, a strike. Repression is expected and attendees take logistical precautions to avoid encountering radical groups at the end of the day. However, this year cultural expression took precedence as a form of protest. The repressive outbreaks were minimal and the acts of violence were isolated.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

International Women's Day protest in Buenos Aires Argentina, 2024. Photo by Amanda Cotrim. Used with permission.

Thousands of women took to the streets in Argentina to defend their rights and protest against the policies of recently elected president Javier Milei. In recent months, Milei's government eliminated the Ministry of Women and Gender Diversity; his party presented a project to overthrow the abortion law that was approved 3 years ago; recently the government banned neutral language throughout public administration.

Read more: President Javier Milei's parcel of laws to deregulate Argentina approved by the Argentine Congress

At the event, they shouted that the Green Wave (Marea Verde), the Latin American feminist movement born in Argentina to guarantee the legalization of abortion, will become a tsunami.

Guatemala

In San Benito, Petén they demanded justice for the femicide of Darcy Rodríguez and the girl Sharon Figueroa. Photo by Guadalupe Figueroa. Used with permission.

From Petén, to Ixcán, Quiché, Izabal, Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, Alta Verapaz and Santa Rosa, hundreds of women mobilized in their departments to commemorate March 8.

In San Benito, Petén, women, young people and girls asked the justice institutions to work on the shelved cases, mainly the femicide of Darcy Daniela Rodríguez Ibáñez and the case of Sharon Figueroa, who was kidnapped in the patio of her house and found murdered.

In Ixcán, Quiché, in the north of the country, representatives of different organizations held a meeting where they demanded an end to violence, respect for the rights of indigenous women and community decisions.

In Santa Cruz Barillas, Huehuetenango, the Aq'ab'al Women's Association facilitated a space for reflection where justice was requested for the fire at the Virgen de la Asunción Safe Home — which occurred on March 8, 2017, which left 41 charred girls and 15 with serious burns — as part of their demands.

#MemoriasDelFuego En Barillas, recuerdan el incendio en el Hogar Seguro

Exigen al MP que investigue para darle justicia a las familias y a las niñas. “Cuando es violencia contra la mujer y las niñas se negocia con el agresor y eso no es justicia” manifiestan.

Xhap Junior pic.twitter.com/LgYEMBkuMY

— Prensa Comunitaria Km169 (@PrensaComunitar) March 8, 2024

#MemoriasDelFuego In Barillas, they remember the fire in the Safe Home. They demand that the MP investigate to give justice to the families and girls. “When it is violence against women and girls, negotiations are made with the aggressor and that is not justice,” they say. Xhap Junior

Other Latin American cities were also filled with protesters, banners and chants. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, 50 years were celebrated since the first time the country's feminist movements took to the streets to protest for their rights on International Women's Day. This year, Puerto Rican women focused on highlighting the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services.

Bogotá, Colombia, one of the largest marches in the region, gathered women who denounced a growing wave of femicides, sexual violence and impunity throughout the country.

In Montevideo, Uruguay, 20 feminist groups proposed a work strike for women, to highlight their role in the national economy. The slogan of the strike, under the motto “Not one right less, enough setbacks.”

“And what, and what, and what is this about, they kill us and rape us and no one does anything!”, “The police don't take care of me, only my friends take care of me!”, “Sexist government, oppressive government, is only feminist on television!”, “Girls shouldn't be touched!” were some of the messages that International Women's Day left us with, in what became one of the years with the greatest mobilization of women.

Written by Gabriela Mesones Rojo, Andrea Paola Hernández, Prensa Comunitaria, Revista Emancipa, Majo Montilla, Amanda Cotrim, Pierina Sora Translated by Gabriela Mesones Rojo · View original post [es]

The Prosecutor's Office will file a criminal complaint again

Originally published on Global Voices

More than 200,000 women were sterilized in the 90s in Peru as part of a state policy of Alberto Fujimori's government. Photos by Liz Tasa and Tadeo Bourbón. Used with permission.

This article was published by Salud con Lupa on December 23, 2023. An edited version is republished on Global Voices under a media partnership.

On December 7, 2024 — the same day that the Constitutional Court released former President Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity — the Supreme Court of Justice of Peru stopped the judicial process for hundreds of thousands of forced sterilizations committed during the Fujimori dictatorship, and ordered that the case return to the point where it was in October 2018, in the Supraprovincial Prosecutor's Office for Cases of Human Rights Violation, so that a new criminal complaint can be formulated and a judge can decide whether the process is to be opened or archived.

The decision of the Supreme Court comes as a result of the lawsuit filed by the former minister of health of the Fujimori government, Alejandro Aguinaga, to avoid being judicially investigated in this case. Among the arguments he presented, Aguinaga maintains that his constitutional rights are being violated and that the investigation lacks cause because in the two decades since the case has been filed eight times due to lack of evidence.

Marino Costa Bauer, Eduardo Yong Motta, Alberto Fujimori and Alejandro Aguinaga. Image by Salud con Lupa. Fair use.

During the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori, more than 272,000 women and 22,000 men were sterilized in regions with high levels of poverty and a majority Indigenous population, as part of the National Reproductive Health and Family Planning Program. Although the exact number of operations without consent that were carried out is unknown, there are more than 8,000 people registered in the official Registry of Victims of Forced Sterilizations of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. The victims suffered discrimination from their family and community, and were left with physical and psychological consequences that they suffer to this day.

In December 2021, Judge Rafael Martínez ordered the beginning of a preliminary investigation against former president Alberto Fujimori and senior officials of his government, such as former health ministers Alejandro Aguinaga, Marino Costa Bauer, Eduardo Yong Motta and advisor Ulises Jorge Aguilar. For this case, the Prosecutor's Office presented its evidence gathered in 16 years of investigation, during two months of hearings.

They are accused of being responsible for the deaths of five women: Mamérita Mestanza, Alejandra Aguirre, Reynalda Betalleluz, Marpia Espinola, and Celia Ramos, who had complications after operations carried out under terrible health conditions and without monitoring by medical personnel. They are also sought to be held responsible for the injuries committed against another 1,315 victims in a context of serious human rights violations.

The case of Celia Ramos represents very well how most of these sterilizations were carried out: in 1997, at the age of 34, she went to a health center to receive dental treatment and her doctors identified her as a candidate for a tubal ligation. Under the insistence and pressure of health workers, who even visited her at home without her consent, Ramos agreed to the surgical intervention and died of sepsis 19 days later.

Women sterilized against their will spoke in letters about their physical and emotional consequences, as well as the stigma and discrimination they suffered. Photo by Liz Tasa. Used with permission.

This judicial investigation began three years after the Prosecutor's Office presented its criminal complaint in 2021. One of the conclusions reached by the Public Ministry was that forced sterilizations were a State policy that aimed to reduce poverty. In 1991, through a territorial demographic evaluation, the state concluded that there was “a negative relationship between population growth and economic growth.” The procedures were done mainly among women in rural areas of the jungle and mountains.

The Prosecutor's Office has also documented with testimonies, journalistic publications and reports from institutions such as the Ombudsman's Office, the Ministry of Health and the Congress of the Republic, that health personnel forced low-income women to tie their tubes under deception, threats or the false promise of giving them food.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, those who carried out the practice were doctors who, from their position of authority, helped implement the sterilization policy in the subregion IV of Cajamarca, where Mestanza's death occurred. However, they continued to work without problems in the health sector after the events became public.

Alberto Fujimori and his children: Kenji and Keiko after leaving the Barbadillo prison, where he was imprisoned for 14 years. Photo by Andina / Vidal Tarqui. Fair use. [AN: do we have permission?]

That same day, former President Alberto Fujimori was released from prison thanks to a ruling by the Constitutional Court that led to his pardon in 2017. The release occurred despite the fact that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights asked the Peruvian state to refrain from this measure, to guarantee the right to justice of the victims of La Cantuta and Barrios Altos, cases for which he was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison.

Written by Salud con Lupa Translated by Gabriela Mesones Rojo · View original post [es]

Street vendors, corporations, and political activists are surfing the Barbie wave

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Global Voices featuring ‘Barbie tacos’

From Barbie tacos to Barbie planes, Latin America has jumped on the Barbie bandwagon. The film, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, ranked third in Mexico in the movie's box office performance worldwide on its opening weekend. Brazil came right after and Argentina was also in the top countries.

Californian actress of Honduran descent, América Ferreran also starred in Barbie and now has a Barbie doll modeled after her. She stated to Collider that “[t]he fact that there’s a Barbie movie and that the story has shifted and expanded to include more of us to be able to be seen in that iconic and very culturally dominant brand, that’s very unexpected and not something that I ever thought I would say that I was a part of.”

The overall marketing budget for Barbie's film and merchandise allegedly surpassed the film's own budget at $150 million. And in Latin America, street vendors, corporations, presidential candidates, and political activists are surfing the Barbie wave.

Barbie in food

From Mexico to Chile, all kinds of corn doughs have been colored pink with beet juice or artificial coloring. Mexican and Guatemalan street vendors have attracted clients with pink tacos. Salvadoran, Venezuelan, and Chilean vendors have done the same with pupusas and arepas.

Here is an example of the ‘Barbie tacos’, served in Guatemala City:

@dulccini

Barbie Tacos en zona 10 uf uf demasiado buenos, vayan con sus besties o sus amorcitos after movie, vale la penaaa #guatemala #barbietaco #tacos #taqueriadelgüero #fyp #parati #foryou

♬ Barbie Girl – Vynx Dance

Barbie Tacos in zone 10 wow wow too good, go with your besties or your sweetheart after the movie, it's worth it!

Small Salvadoran foodchain Kuskatan is also serving blue ‘Ken’ version of pupusas in San Salvador:

@kuskatan_sv

Respuesta a @raquelcastro4393 Este #Domingo de #pupusas ven y sumérgete en la magia de la película #Barbie con nuestras pupusas de color Rosa y Celeste. Te esperamos en #kuskatan para compartir juntos la emoción de este increíble estreno ¡Solo por tiempo ilimitado! ¡Ven y vive la magia en cada mordisco! puedes visitarnos en la Calle Chiltiupan, Ciudad Merliot o en el #MercadoHulaHula también puedes pedirlas al 2250-3050 #pupusas #barbiegirl #estreno #nopuedesperdertelo

♬ Barbie Girl – Lady Aqua

This #Pupusas #Sunday come and immerse yourself in the magic of the #Barbie movie with our pink and light blue pupusas. We are waiting for you at #kuskatan to share together the excitement of this incredible premiere. Only for limited time! Come and live the magic in every bite! you can visit us at #Chiltiupan Street, Ciudad Merliot or at #MercadoHulaHula you can also order them at 2250-3050.

In Santiago, Chile, people can also find local varieties of delicious stuffed corn doughs. Here, a vendor is making ‘Barbie arepas':

@picandoarepascl

Nos ponemos en #modobarbie para que puedas venir a comer tu arepa favorita con masa rosada la masa es de betarraga com semillas de linaza, uma combinación deliciosa y sana ¿te animas? #arepas #arepasenchile #arepadecolores #arepasensantiago

♬ sonido original – Picando Arepas

We get in the #Barbiemood so you can come and eat your favorite arepa with pink dough. The dough is made of beet with flaxseed, a delicious and healthy combination, are you up for it?

Barbie on planes

Larger corporations have also sought to benefit from Barbie's popularity. Mexican low-cost airline Volaris has painted Margot Robbie as ‘Barbie’ on one of their planes. Their marketing on Tiktok is also promoting ‘women as Barbie pilots‘.

@maliamillet

#volarismexico #barbie #rosa

♬ sonido original – malia millet

I just can't  

Barbie in social causes

The film has been applauded by Mexican feminists, such as Julia Didriksson, who left the cinema feeling “revigorated.” Afro-Colombian feminist activist Carolina Benitez Mendoza asked the film's critics on TikTok if “they were expecting a radical, anticapitalist and antiracist angle” from the film.

In Lima, Peru, where deadly protests broke out against President Dina Boluarte — and where state forces are accused of lethally shooting more than 60 protestors — activists put up a box with the words “Barbie Dictator” representing Boluarte. The woman in the box is holding guns while passersby tell her: “Shoot, shoot!”

@daleplaype

Video completo en Youtube: SantoBrasa #parati #fyp #foryou #fypシ #viralperu #viraltiktok #viralperuano #19dejulio #tomadelima #tomadelima #ima #limaperú #peru #peru #peruana

♬ sonido original – Dale Play

Dictator Barbie in Lima's demonstrations

In Mexico, too, there is an activist Barbie. According to Amnesty International's records, there are more than 110,000 missing persons, most of whom are victims of drug cartels or kidnapping gangs. In light of the poor efficacy of state-sponsored searches, it is mainly volunteer groups of women who search for disappeared loved ones among the Mexican plains, looking for clandestine graves. One of them, Delia Quiroa, created “Barbie Buscadora” (“Barbie Searcher”) when the film came out.

In Mexico, a group of mothers who are searching for disappeared family members released the #Barbie Buscadora-Searcher- she is dressed ready to go look for clandestine graves in search of her missing family member whose photo is emblazoned on her shirt. @DeliaQuiroa created her. pic.twitter.com/0DDRWjR7UD

— Andalalucha (@Andalalucha) July 21, 2023

Quiroa told journalists:

Barbie es todo lo que una persona quiere ser, pero ésta es una Barbie que no quiere ser. (…) Ella es lo que nadie quiere. Nadie quiere ser un buscador, nadie quiere estar buscando a un familiar.

Barbie is everything a person wants to be, but this is a Barbie that doesn't want to exist. (…) She is what nobody wants to be. Nobody wants to be a searcher, nobody wants to be looking for a relative.

Barbie in humor

Other people have sought to make fun of living conditions in poorer areas in Latin America through Barbie. Among the countless parodies on Tiktok, this one has been one of the most popular, titled, “If they would have filmed ‘Barbie’ in my neighborhood.” It showcases the crowded minibuses, issues with buying cooking gas, flooding, and insecurity. The music is Aqua's Barbie Girl song remixed with cumbia rhythms.

@

♬ –

If they had filmed the Barbie Movie in my neighborhood

Written by Melissa Vida

How can this situation persist in such a mixed-race region?

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Connectas

This article was written by Carlos Gutiérrez for Connectas, and was edited and republished by Global Voices under a media agreement.

When Pedro Castillo was removed from the presidency of Peru, after attempting to dissolve the Congress, The New York Times revealed that, faced with popular protests, the security forces fired assault rifles and caused “the death of unarmed people who were hundreds of meters away.” Various organizations and the media described these acts as excessive.

But the issue went far beyond the use of force. Amnesty International, in its recent  Lethal Racism report based on 25 documented cases, states that “the deaths registered during the protests suggest a marked racist bias on the part of the Peruvian authorities” and that, of this group, at least 20 have the characteristics of an “extrajudicial execution,” all of them in the cities of Andahuaylas, Chincheros, Ayacucho, Juliaca, and Lima. The report refers to the fact that the vast majority of protesters came from the Indigenous areas of the country.

Racism is a significant issue in Peru. According to data from the Ministry of Culture of Peru, 57 percent of the population believe that the Indigenous or native population of the Amazon is discriminated against because of their way of speaking, their clothing and their physical features, while 60 percent of the population consider that Afro-Peruvians are discriminated against because of their skin color, physical features and because they are associated with crime.

Actually, this topic goes far beyond Peruvian borders. It is a harmful ideology present in all Latin American countries, where, according to the World Bank, one in four people identifies as Afro-descendant and is part of “the most invisible minority in Latin America.” This organization reports that 133 million people belong to this social group, the majority in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Ecuador.

It is a paradoxical situation as Latin Americans also suffer racist attacks in other parts of the world. Such an incident became known worldwide in mid-May, involving Brazilian footballer Vinícius Junior from Real Madrid. It happened during a match against Valencia at the Mestalla stadium when many spectators hurled racist insults against the star athlete; the scandal was huge. This was the tenth case of racial harassment of Vinícius.

Later, on social networks, the player stated that racism in football is frequent and both the Spanish League (La Liga) and Federation consider it normal. “The championship, which once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi, now belongs to the racists,” he wrote on Twitter. For its part, Real Madrid released a statement in which it reported that it had gone to the state attorney general's office to denounce “such attacks” as “a hate crime” that constitutes “a direct attack on the model of coexistence of our social and democratic State governed by the rule of law.”

Latin America and the Caribbean can tell their story through acts of discrimination and racism because they are “a constitutive part of the region's problems,” researchers Álvaro Bello and Marta Rangel write in CEPAL Review. They explain that this situation had consequences of “poverty, exclusion and inequality in the lives of millions of people,” especially in Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. They point out that Latin American states face an enormous challenge not only on the economic side but also in terms of democratic progress and state reforms.

Another highly publicized case is that of the vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, who has denounced racist attacks against her. One such attack took place during a protest in front of the Colombian Congress on September 22, 2022, when a 62-year-old protester had no problem exclaiming: “She is an ape … What education can a black person have, blacks steal, rob and kill.” The woman faced charges for “speech motivated by hate.”

Others, however, criticized the politician for using alleged racist attacks in order not to be held accountable, such as when faced with objections to an official trip to Africa with a large entourage, she replied, “With a mixed-race or white man, respect would be a given.”

Given these situations, the question arises as to what racism is. A statement from the Red Integra in Mexico—a network comprising more than 100 academics from 50 research and higher education institutions—points out that it is “a structural form of domination that makes groups and individuals inferior, which is expressed in ideas, institutional practices and in everyday life.” Social anthropologist Gabriela Iturralde agrees and emphasizes that “we are not part of races, but racism imagines it that way.” The biggest problem is that this set of beliefs is normalized and naturalized. “We have accepted it as an unquestionable truth,” says the researcher at Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.

Former Senator María Celeste Sánchez (the first Afro-Mexican woman in the Senate of the Republic) suggests addressing “systemic racism” on her TikTok account, because people of African descent have experienced an “erasure” of history, and have not been represented in the laws for centuries. According to data from the World Bank, this population group in Latin America is 2.5 times more likely to live in chronic poverty than white or mestizo people. In addition, they have fewer years of schooling, higher unemployment rates, and “are still overrepresented among the poor and underrepresented in decision-making positions, both in the public and private sectors.”

This is significant because, according to the same study, at least one in four Latin Americans identifies as Afro-descendant. This implies that at least a quarter of the Latin American population suffers heavily from racial discrimination.

Sánchez explains:

There is greater poverty, because there is less education. It's not that African-American women can't learn to read or write, that is not the case. It is that access to these rights has been limited because we have been neglected and not included in the laws and public policies.

Why do Latin Americans, mostly mestizos, show racist behavior? According to Iturralde, this is because a model has been established “that imagines the mestizo [mixed person] as a race, so much so that many of them think of the fifth race, the bronze race.” Those outside of the mestizo model are excluded, as is the case with Indigenous and Afro-American groups. It is a discourse that imagines a homogeneous society, but not egalitarian or equitable.

¿Has escuchado que “En América Latina no existe el racismo”?

En Pictoline y @elpais_america reunimos 5 testimonios sobre el #RacismoCotidiano al que miles de personas se enfrentan diariamente.

Espéralos este domingo en el especial: ¿Cuál es el problema de no ser blanco? pic.twitter.com/RiUd559RRb

— pictoline (@pictoline) February 4, 2023

Have you heard that “Racism does not exist in Latin America”?

At Pictoline and @elpais_america we have gathered 5 testimonies about the #EverydayRacism that thousands of people face daily.

Read about them in this Sunday special report: What is the problem of not being white?

This is the origin of the “myth of racial democracy”—a narrative that has made us believe there is no discrimination because of centuries of miscegenation in Latin American countries, wrote journalist Ana María Ospina in the Spanish newspaper El País. Ospina talks about Colombia, but that situation is replicated throughout the continent:

The idea that we are a ‘mixed nation’ and that our culture (and physiognomy) is the happy result of a mix of African, Indigenous and white-European cultures prevents reflection on the conflicts and inequities generated by slavery and economic exploitation of ethnic communities.

The idea that we are all equal comes from the configuration of nationalisms in Latin America. But that belief erased cultural diversity. “It erased our contributions and everything for which we should feel proud and proud not only because of our phenotype,” stresses former Senator Sánchez.

Macarena Bonhomme, a professor with a doctorate in social sciences from the Autonomous University of Chile, explains that in Chile national identity is recognized “as being constituted exclusively of European and Indigenous descent, but excluding any African origin, despite the fact that the Afro-Chilean movement proves otherwise.” For her, this “construction of whiteness” makes it possible “to reject at the local level what the Chilean nation-state has historically sought to dissolve, which is Indigenous ancestry, that is part of this mestizo identity. This allows us to explain why plurinationality was one of the most controversial aspects in the debates during the Constitutional Convention.”

The Latin American states bear a lot of responsibility in this situation and should work to build greater equity. “I would like to be so idealistic as to say that the economic model must be changed. Of course, it must be done, to guarantee a better distribution of wealth and the exercise of all rights, without discriminating against anyone. More must be invested in education, human rights and respect for diversity,” Iturralde tells CONNECTAS.

Racism hinders the development of Latin American societies. “We will not be able to move forward as long as we do not make visible the diversity that exists in our countries,” says Sánchez. Governments should recognize that there are different social groups, and address their particular needs. “If we don't see this from an intercultural perspective, if we continue to see ourselves as a homogeneous group, in which we are all already Latinos, we will not be able to advance in any way in Latin America,” she emphasizes.

El Mito del Mestizaje y el racismo integracionista mexicano

A diferencia del racismo segregacionista estadounidense, acá n se separo a la gente por “racializaciones” sino q se condicionó todo al hecho d volverse mestizos (occidentalizarse) para sobrevivir

Se borró la identidad https://t.co/uSGa9nlOg8

— Tenoch Huerta Mejía (@TenochHuerta) January 27, 2022

The myth of miscegenation and Mexican integrationist racism

Unlike American segregationist racism, here people were not separated by “racialization” but rather everything was conditioned on the fact of becoming mestizos (westernizing) to survive

Identity was erased https://t.co/uSGa9nlOg8

— Tenoch Huerta Mejía (@TenochHuerta) January 27, 2022

It is necessary to note that, although not enough, some steps have been taken. In the case of Vinícius, the Brazilian government responded strongly from the presidential podium, and symbolically, by turning off the lights of the Christ the Redeemer statue in protest. Sánchez points out that there has been a “considerable change” in Brazil because there are more and more Afro-descendant people in universities. There are also affirmative action policies in Brazil, akin to those in the United States.

Still, the road is long. For Ospina, it is necessary to propose public policies to eliminate “structural racism.” In November 2022, during the Foro Tendencias, a forum co-organized by El País in Madrid, in a conversation with the director of El País, Francia Márquez pointed out that the real challenge for states is in education, and anti-racist practices should be encouraged. “I experience this as Vice President, but children live it every day, and grow up with stereotypes,” she said.

In the end, racism is like alcoholism: you have to accept the disease and quit the denial in order to tackle it. It is urgent that we recognize ourselves as racist societies and that Latin American governments take real legal and educational actions to grant all groups the status of citizens with full rights, including having languages, phenotypes, traditions and customs different from the dominant ones. Only by recognizing and respecting diversity can we transcend our history of oppression and discrimination.

Written by Connectas Translated by Teodora C. Hasegan · View original post [es]

‘Autocracies don't believe in multilateralism,’ experts say

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Connectas

This article was written by Cristian Ascencio for CONNECTAS and republished by Global Voices under a media agreement.

In the sixties, singers and songwriters would appeal to the dream of Latin American brotherhood in their lyrics. Countries that share a common past and language could have a common, prosperous future and would no longer be pawns in the world powers’ games. But in the 21st century, this idealized Latin American unity barely appears in the occasional university lecture and in some academic forums — not that there have been no concrete attempts, such as the South American trade bloc Mercosur established in the 1990s and still active today. However, the loss of ideological affinities, the arrival of new authoritarian governments, and increasing mistrust have kept this type of initiative at a standstill.

The year 2023 seemed to be an ideal time for the region to face, together, the shared problems of this polarized world — a world that also needs Latin America. Several of the planet's most important green lungs, such as the Amazon, and key resources for the energy transition, such as lithium, are located here. But little has emerged in terms of common projects. Instead, tensions and disputes have been rife on Twitter, with international relations resembling the dynamics of a Roman coliseum.

Argentina and Ecuador have just withdrawn their respective ambassadors in each country after a minister of Ecuador's former government of Rafael Correa escaped from the Argentinian embassy in Quito. She was there seeking refuge while the Ecuadorian justice system was investigating her. She then turned up in Venezuela. Current Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso wrote on Twitter: “I am very sad that Alberto Fernández, president of Argentina, has put his personal friendship and political affinity with Rafael Correa before the fraternal relationship between the peoples of Argentina and Ecuador.”

Fernandez responded on Twitter:

Presidente @LassoGuillermo, reciba estas palabras con el sincero afecto de siempre. Haga el esfuerzo de no mezclar este incidente producto de la impericia de oficiales del Estado ecuatoriano con el amor que a nuestros pueblos vincula. https://t.co/OQmzguX2KZ pic.twitter.com/GMMWZ95IOP

—Fernández (@alferdez) March 21, 2023

President @LassoGuillermo, receive these words with the sincere affection of always. Try not to mix this incident, the product of the imperfection of Ecuadorian State officials, with the love that binds our peoples.

This is not Fernández's first diplomatic trouble. He had already been involved in a controversy with his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric, with whom he shares ideological views. The issue began because the Argentinian president, as part of the Puebla Group, signed a letter criticizing Chile's justice system due to the postponement of the trial against a Chilean politician and friend, the former parliamentarian and presidential candidate Marco Enríquez Ominami.

Boric responde a Grupo de Puebla: “Yo respeto las instituciones, espero lo mismo de mis colegas” https://t.co/SehW4diwIL pic.twitter.com/aRrIiJqWY7

— El Mercurio (@ElMercurio_cl) February 17, 2023

Boric responds to Puebla Group: “I respect institutions, I expect the same from my colleagues.”

Chile, on the other hand, has just become embroiled in a controversy with Bolivia and Venezuela due to the migratory crisis. Chile claimed that these countries are hindering the return of their irregular migrants, to which the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, demanded Chile respect the human rights of this population. Most of them are Venezuelans escaping from the social and political crisis created by the government that Gil represents.

The government of Dina Boluarte in Peru, who assumed office in December after former president Pedro Castillo was removed by Congress and has since presided over a deadly crackdown on protesters, has had tensions with almost all leftist leaders in Latin America. So much so that the Peruvian Congress even declared Colombian President Gustavo Petro persona non grata. Almost at the same time, the Peruvian government withdrew its ambassador to Mexico after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) said he would continue to support Castillo.

AMLO, who on other occasions has appealed to the traditional principle of “non-interference” of Mexican diplomacy, even maintained in one of his morning conferences that Castillo's dismissal was a farce. “Democracy was trampled on and a great injustice was committed by removing him and imprisoning him, and then establishing a de facto authoritarian and repressive government,” he said.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro are fighting the fiercest fight, which has been raging for months in the Twitter ring. In the most heated part of this exchange, Petro cited a CNN tweet reporting that New York prosecutors accused Bukele government officials of colluding with gang members. Petro wrote on the social network: “Instead of making government pacts under the table, it is better that the justice system can make them on top of the table without deceit and in search of peace.”

Bukele, a constant Twitter user, was quick to respond. Bukele confronted Petro with the fact that the Colombian Prosecutor's Office is investigating his son Nicolás Petro for allegedly bribing businessmen and prisoners in exchange of presidential favors.

Pónganse de acuerdo. Primero acusa de tratos inhumanos y ahora hablan de “mejores condiciones”.

Además, no entiendo su obsesión con El Salvador.

¿No es su hijo el que hace pactos bajo la mesa y además por dinero?

¿Todo bien en casa? https://t.co/zLjoZoy66R

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 9, 2023

Work it out. First you accuse me of inhumane treatment and now you talk about “better conditions”.

Besides, I don't understand your obsession with El Salvador.

Isn't your son the one who makes pacts under the table and also for money?

Is everything okay at home?

Colombian analyst Nury Gómez argues that politicians no longer seek to engage in debate and have become confrontational:

They do not adopt a national outlook, they govern according to the ‘ranking’ they get in popularity polls. They govern to capture the attention of citizens who are connected on Twitter, with orders rather than dialogues and with national agendas frozen in time.

In the specific case of Bukele and Petro's Twitter conflict, Gómez claims that both want to be seen as the leaders of their respective political spheres:

Bukele, with maximum approval in his country, undertakes the archetype of the ‘authoritarian father,’ speaking of ‘eradicating evil at its roots’ in order to save his citizens from criminals. No matter the transgression of human rights. Petro, for his part, has wanted to be the symbol and voice of the Latin American left. His 2022 inauguration speech made it clear. Both need an enemy to place them in the international public opinion. They need each other, in attack and in defense, to build an idyllic narrative of their achievements and to be considered heroes. Petro does not have the approval rates or the results of Bukele, but he does have a fan base that defends him.

Jeanne Simon, political analyst and academic at the University of Concepción, Chile, adds that what was seen between Bukele and Petro “has to do with the presidents’ new style, which comes from Donald Trump, in which they use [Twitter] as almost an official means of communication (…) It has to do with new styles of rulers, especially of a populist kind.”

Sebastian Grundberger, director of the Political Parties and Democracy in Latin America Program of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, told CONNECTAS:

Twitter displays the ability to immediately set the agenda. We see people like Rafael Correa, the former Ecuadorian president convicted of corruption, who from Belgium is sending a barrage of tweets all the time. Or this argument between Petro and Bukele, two people who have a lot of ideological differences, but have something in common: a very big ego and a conviction that they play some historical role.

In the absence of regional leaders and with more and more presidents flirting with authoritarianism, it will be difficult for Latin America to make progress in its integration. As Francis Espinoza, a Chilean political scientist, says: “Autocracies do not believe in multilateralism.”

Moreover, democratic governments also find their relationship with authoritarian governments problematic. Questions arise: Is it ethical to form a common front with authoritarian allies? Would it not give international backing to anti-democratic regimes such as Ortega's in Nicaragua, which expels and strips opponents of their nationality, or Maduro's in Venezuela, which represses its opposition? Perhaps we can only aspire to a true Latin American brotherhood when all countries share something basic: full democracy.

Written by Connectas Translated by Melissa Vida · View original post [es]

Medalith wants imprisoned women to feel capable of achieving their dreams

Originally published on Global Voices

Photo of Medalith Ravichahua, used with her permission.

March is Women's History Month, a time that invites us to reflect on the different ways of being a woman. We would therefore like to share the stories of Peruvian women deprived of their liberty. Their life experiences put into question narratives of control and patriarchal dominance — when what is considered female becomes less important than what is considered male, thus creating structural inequalities between men and women.

Prisons are often viewed as male environments in our social imagination. They have been built in accordance with the needs and experiences of men while disregarding those of women. They are also defined by violent dynamics. However, there are almost 75,000 women in prisons throughout the world, and these women show resilience and strategies to rebuild their lives behind bars. As researchers, we decided not to focus on their crimes, as this can lead to these women being pigeonholed and opens the door to more stigmatization.

In spite of challenging life stories and difficult prison conditions, there are women in prison today seeking to create new opportunities for themselves. This is the case of Medalith Ravichahua, owner of “The Queen's.”

During her ten years in prison, Ravichahua began working as a hairstylist. Recently, on her way home from a long day at work, she told us about her time in the prison’s hair salon:

I was always working and working. That was how I de-stressed. I would work in the hair salon until about 9 or 10 in the evening […] It was my only way of being free.

Having the chance to work while in prison was not only a source of income, but also became an important resource in preserving her identity and protecting her mental health.

Identity and mental health are a collective experience, especially in societies blighted by inequality. Creating positive projects with those around her in prison, as well as those waiting for her outside, ultimately transformed her time in prison.

One day, Ravichahua, with her long nails and always impeccable hair, took on the challenge of learning to use a hammer and file during a shoemaking workshop. As the granddaughter of a shoemaker, she became invested in setting up her own footwear business from prison. And thus The Queen's was born.

As the son of an inmate, he didn’t make any difference and treated them like his mom. […] My son was empathetic and fulfilled his entrepreneurial role.

It’s not a matter of being a businesswoman and production, production, production. No. Because money won’t free them, but their therapy will.

Photo of Medalith Ravichahua, used with her permission.

Unlike men, who have more freedom, whose wives can bring their things and who can go out and the likes, we can’t […] The difference between men and women is huge. This is because men have more freedom in all aspects, while women have outright restrictions.

This lets my friends know that they shouldn’t listen to what they tell us. We want to leave with a goal in mind. We must learn new things and remember that we should be model inmates. A prime example of resocialization. No matter what they say, we will keep pushing ahead.

Written by Adriana Hildenbrand, Lucía Bracco Bruce Translated by Laura · View original post [es]

Racism has ultimately determined who can rightfully protest or live

Originally published on Global Voices

Photo by Juan Zapata/Connectas

This is an extract of an article written by Elizabeth Salazar Vega for Connectas, and republished on Global Voices under a media partnership agreement. 

I must only have been six years old when my mother concealed her identity to protect me. “If anyone asks where your parents are from, tell them your mom is from Ica and your dad is from Arequipa,” she said one day while combing my hair. After tying it with a ribbon, we set off for school in Miraflores. This is one of Lima’s most affluent districts, and where I spent my early school years.

However, sometime later I came to realize that her native Ayacucho, in the southern Andean region of Peru, was an all but a forbidden word in the capital. Those migrating from this city were looked down upon with suspicion and identified as terrorists merely for being born there. The demonym for Puno (Puneño), which is the border region with Bolivia where my father was born, is also used as an insult in major classist cities.

Nothing has changed in Peru. Over the last few years, the so-called terruqueo has spread throughout the country. This term describes a practice that vilifies protesters by accusing them of being terrorists. Its objective is to ultimately diminish their voice and credibility. As such, neither natural origin and skin color discrimination nor terruqueo will instantly disappear with generational change. Beca 18 is a state-funded program for talented but disadvantaged youths. However, their academic merits count for nothing when they are judged on their appearance and way of speaking. Indigenous students’ attendance at Lima’s top private universities is so disruptive that, since the introduction of Beca 18, student well-being offices have had to introduce integration support programs for those arriving from other regions.

For the past two months, this country — which showcases its diversity for tourism but fails to recognize it — has not only been facing protests led by Andean inhabitants in their own localities but also in caravans heading for Lima. Quechua-speaking men and women, including those with traditional skirts, ponchos, hats, and distinctive provincial flags, have spearheaded demonstrations calling for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the dissolution of Congress. However, just like in university classrooms, centralized power in the capital fails to treat them as equals.

Regional delegations and residents of the North Lima district marched for over four hours on the Panamericana highway, in one of the biggest anti-government protests. Photo by Juan Zapata/Connectas

In December 2022, former president Pedro Castillo, who many felt represented Peru’s Indigenous and rural populations, tried to dissolve Congress after legislators blocked several of his policies. This ultimately led to his impeachment. His Vice-president, Dina Boluarte, assumed power thereafter through constitutional succession, but was widely criticized for her handling of the anti-government protests. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 1,200 injured in confrontations with state forces.

These protesters, who predominantly come from the Andean regions and are economically excluded, are confronted with a discriminative urban sector that treats them in a stigmatizing and oppressive manner. In a country with around 50 Indigenous communities, classism and racism have determined who can vote and who deserves to live.

Racial prejudice also extends into other socioeconomic and geographic strata and is not exclusive to those of mostly European ancestry. The mestizos*, cholos**, and Andinos*** who wish to distance themselves from their roots to avoid being included in marginalized groups, are also feeling the pressure. Their resistance has become so prevalent that even Boluarte, who was born in the southern region of Apurimac, has tried to muster a sense of fellowship. During her address in Cusco, she highlighted the difference between her physical appearance and that of the protesters: “Here, we are neither European nor blue-blooded, nor am I any different to you because of my light-colored eyes.”

In the past century, Peru began to disregard an individual's race in phenotypic terms, instead distinguishing them by their cultural level and class hierarchy. However, rather than achieving greater equality, this movement ultimately created a situation where those moving up the social ladder, irrespective of their ethnic background, begin looking down on their inferiors. This is what anthropologist, Marisol de la Cadena, calls “silent racism.”

“The new generation of intellectuals endorsed a vague notion of race. A notion that explicitly rejected definitive biological differences, but accepted the ‘intellectual’ and ‘moral’ differences found in groups of individuals as racial hierarchies. The standards for measuring these differences were indeed arbitrary and established by the elite,” the author noted in one of her texts.

Photo by Juan Zapata/Connectas

To read more, see the full article on Connectas.

Written by Connectas Translated by Laura · View original post [es]

Amid persecution, violence, or judgement, many queer folks turn online

Originally published on Global Voices

A screenshot of Google maps (Jakarta). Composed by Sydney Allen via Canva

Global Voices has extensively cataloged the pressures, violence, hate speech, and oppression queer people face all over the world. Whether it is violence against trans sex workers in Azerbaijan, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Kazakhstan, opposition to the Gay Games in Hong Kong, or crackdowns on LGBTQ+ education in Brazillian schools, it is well documented that queer people often face a litany of abuse and discrimination that their cis-straight counterparts do not. 

The threat of persecution, violence, or judgement is why many queer people turn to anonymous online spaces to build community and relationships, seek support, and share their experiences. Sometimes when the communities around us are hostile and harsh, the internet can become a place of refuge and comfort — this is particularly true for LGBTQ+ people in rural communities or societies that see queer people unfavorably.

One such sanctuary is Reddit. Reddit, calling itself “the front page of the internet,” is a US-based platform that allows users to anonymously post, share content, and start discussions via “subreddits” — groups focused on a particular theme or issue. Because of its broad usecase, Reddit, in many ways, seems like a microcosm of the internet — there are abhorrent sexist and biggoted subreddits, creepy spaces built for objectification, but also spaces for positivity, humor, activism, and identity-based gathering. That is where the r/Queer and r/LQBT subreddits come in. 

r/Queer’s tagline is “We are here, we are Queer. Get used to it!” It describes itself as “An open forum to discuss/share things of interest to the LGBTQIA+ community. Lightly moderated, this is meant to be an open forum foremost, but no bigotry will be tolerated.”

Both subreddits cover a range of topics: posts where users ask advice about changing their name after gender transition, webinars for queer family support groups, celebration posts of queer couples after aniversaries or marriage, posts from Pride celebrations, and of course, an abundance of jokes and memes.

Users often anonymously share jokes and uplifting images related to the queer community, such as this rainbow blackboard where a business shows support for its queer customers.

Do not enter if…
byu/66cev66 inqueer

People also frequently share memes mocking homophobic or intolerant viewpoints, such as the following, where a user points out the hypocrisy of “protecting the children” by shielding them from LGBTQ+ identities.

Oh wow, it's almost like it was never about the children and was just about shitting on queer people
byu/mevastrashcorner inlgbt

While the majority of reddit users are based out of the US, Canada, and Europe, according to data analytics platform Semrush, it is a global platform that attracts people from all over the world, as seen in these posts from East Africa, Warsaw, and Cuba.

Our aim is create a free LGBTIQ zone in East Africa and Africa at large, we have rights to love and enjoy all the beauty of our countries with our Gender identity
byu/wrightie2021 inqueer

This year Warsaw Pride is hosting Kyiv Pride and Poland and Ukraine are going together
by inlgbt

Yay Cuba!
byu/66cev66 inqueer

Unfortunately, in some countries, such as Indonesia, China, North Korea, and Turkey, Reddit is banned for hosting what Turkey and Jakarta officials called “pornographic content,” or, in the case of China, for hosting material deemed offensive to the state.

Queering the map

A screenshot from the site Queering the Map.

Another example of an anonymous online queer space is Queering the Map (QTM). Queering the map is a community-driven online mapping project where users anonymously share their experience as a queer person, physically marking their location with a pin on Google’s world map. The database has over 86,000 submissions from nearly every country, including posts in 23 languages. It was started in 2017 by Canadian artist and trans activist Lucas LaRochelle. 

In an interview with Sissy Screens, an online queer media platform, LaRocehelle discussed the impersonal nature of many social media platforms today, and how the platform’s anonymity, allows for creator intimacy and vulnerability.

I think intimacy is one of the things that’s so special about Queering The Map, which in many ways is lacking from dominant social media platforms. … QTM allows you to publish and write outside the confines of the user profile, which often asks that we ‘perform’ by creating and curating a version of ourselves that is marketable. Users leave behind an intimate trace of their life that is not tied in perpetuity to their other digital selves. … the act of contributing to QTM is an act of sharing one’s story for the collective. It becomes an act of giving, one that is decidedly different to the kind of self-promotion that we’re often asked to do in other digital spaces.

The space has a wide range of entries. There are poems, love stories, and proposals, such as this story from Peru:

Te vi por primera vez aquella noche en la reunión que hice en mi casa. No creí que vendrías, pero lo hiciste y cuando te vi sentí esa sensación en el estómago del que todos hablan. No preciso entrar en detalles porque sabes lo hermosa que fue esa noche. Sólo quiero que sepas que aunqu pasen muchos más años, nada podrá borrar aquel recuerdo. Te extraño.

I saw you for the first time that night at the gathering at my house. I didn't think you would come, but you did and when I saw you I felt that feeling in my stomach that everyone talks about. I don't need to go into details because you know how beautiful that night was. I just want you to know that even if many more years pass, nothing will ever be able to erase that memory. Miss you.

And this poem from Beijing, China:

甜蜜和勇敢的秘密都藏在了那些与语句里, 印在了日夜穿梭的胡同的沥青地面上, 是水蒸气, 在那片院落的空气中轻轻飘荡. 墙和窗还有树叶, 它们都知道, 知道所有的事.

The secrets of sweetness and bravery are hidden in those words, printed on the asphalt floor of the alley that we traveled day and night. They are water steam that floats gently in the air of that courtyard. The leaves, the walls, the windows, they know everything.

There are also stories of funny dates and jokes: “this town is gayer than it seems, you just need to look closely. ;) -your ex-local lesbian,” reads one post from in Livno in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Some users post serious stories of violence, coming out, and the challenges of being queer. 

One user in  Naru Island, Japan, wrote: “Called my parents on Facetime and came out to them at a party. I was 22. It was terrifying.” Another in Nagasaki, Japan, said, “In 2014, a beautiful girl I was dating told me that [we] could never be because she was looking for the person she wanted to spend her life with and that would ‘never be you because you're a girl’. Broke my little lesbian heart for the first time, but it was an important experience for me to have.”

Another person in Java, Indonesia, wrote: “Hometown, comforting yet suffocating. Peaceful but i feel out of place. Im queer im indonesian and i exist.”

The map is a visual representation of community: proof that queer people are not alone, but also offering them the security and protection only available through anonymity. One Queering the Map user in Abidian, Coté d Ivoire, summed it up perfectly: “We are everywhere.”

Unfortunately, these anonymous spaces are coming under threat. As people come to rely more on digital technology, online anonymity is disappearing. Some state governments have mechanisms to monitor citizens and track their online activity, and some private companies are seeking to retract users’ right to anonymity, forcing them to tie their accounts to their identity. However, as it stands, there still remain a few beacons of internet anonymity — spaces that are worth fighting for.

Written by Sydney Allen

Family alleged that the activist was tortured

Originally published on Global Voices

Rodrigo Venticilla Ventisilla passed away while in police custody in Bali. Picture courtesy of Diversidades Trans Masculinas. Used with permission.

A prominent Peruvian activist died in a hospital in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali, Indonesia, while in Indonesian police custody. The death of Rodrigo Ventosilla was announced by The Crimson, Harvard university's newspaper of record, where he was enrolled as a graduate student of Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Rodrigo Ventocilla Ventosilla, 32, founded “Diversidades Trans Masculinas,” a Peruvian transgender collective. While traveling on his honeymoon, Ventosilla was arrested in Bali for drug trafficking on August 8. Local authorities found him in possession of an herb grinder and other items that allegedly contained marijuana and pills.

In 2020, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs officially declassified cannabis as a “hard drug” and began to recognize its medicinal with therapeutic potential. However, many countries continue to consider it harmful and carry harsh punishments for those in possession of the plant. Indonesia is one of the few countries where cannabis possession and trafficking may lead to capital punishment, even a death sentence.

The state news agency reported that after days of detention, Ventocilla was rushed to Bhayangkara Hospital, a medical facility managed by the National Police, for a stomachache and vomiting after allegedly consuming some of his personal medicine that was not confiscated by the police. With no improvement in his condition, he was then transferred to Sanglah General Hospital, where he was placed under intensive care and was pronounced dead on August 11.

The Crimson relayed Ventocilla Ventosilla’s family announcement alleging that gross misconduct and police violence may have caused his death.  The Bali police have firmly denied these allegations.

Through an official statement obtained by the press, the Denpasar District Police Public Communication Director Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto said that the victim died after suffering liver and kidney malfunctions and rejected accusations that he was tortured while in custody and denied access to a legal counselor. Furthermore, the police claimed it has followed procedures and that Ventosilla's family refused an autopsy.

The Peruvian government initially called for an independent investigation into the tourist's death but has also made moves to defend itself against the family's accusations that the Peruvian Embassy in Bali hindered the family's attempts at getting answers. The Peruvian Foreign Ministry released a statement Wednesday, August 24, asserting its officials had “acted with due diligence,” adding:

The Consular Section of the Peruvian Embassy in Indonesia has been providing consular assistance and following up on the case, within the framework of its competencies and with respect for local laws, while maintaining uninterrupted communication with their families.

In response, Ventocilla’s family member, Luzmo Henríquez, said the ministry’s statement was “biased, insufficient and not very empathetic,” according to the Harvard Crimson.

In a Twitter thread, Australian queer activist and cofounder of the Queer Indonesia Archive, Beau Newham, highlighted the abuse suffered by Ventocilla.

Buat km2 yg ngingetin aku trs kl drugs ilegal di Indo – ngingetin aj: nglanggar hkm itu bkn alesan seseorg hrs mati di tahanan:diperas, diisolasi dari org2 trdkt, kena transphobia & perawatan medis ditahan. Cuma krn sesuatu itu umum, bkn berarti hrs dmaklumi.

— Beau (@BeauNewham) August 24, 2022

For those who reminded me that drugs are illegal in Indonesia, I just want to remind you that violating the law doesn't mean that that person deserves to die in detention: extorted, isolated from loved ones, getting transphobic treatments, and banned from getting medical help. Just because it's a norm doesn't mean that this should be accepted.

For those saying it was JUST ABOUT DRUGS – Think about what happens to a trans person when they are arrested
How is a strip search done and who does it?
What gender jail are they placed in?
These globally these institutions are transphobic – and arrest makes you highly vulnerable

— Beau (@BeauNewham) August 26, 2022

Indonesia's legal framework

The Indonesian Constitution Chapter 28I on civil rights states that the government guarantees the freedom to live, free of fear from discrimination, but the application of this law is far from perfect. Transgender people are frequently subjected to prejudice, discrimination, and violent persecution. Despite the fact that numerous Indigenous communities in Indonesia embraced gender fluidity, such as the Bugis people, who acknowledge five unique genders, Indonesian officials are reluctant to acknowledge gender fluidity beyond the heteronormative binary.

Global Voices reached out to Andreas Harsono, an Indonesian human rights defender and researcher with Human Rights Watch, about the mistreatment of LGBTQ+ individuals in the country.

In general, the LGBTIQ persons in Indonesia are frequently mistreated by law enforcers such as the municipal police (Satpol PP). The most common cases happened among trans individuals.

Harsono also quoted the 2019 findings by Arus Pelangi, an Indonesian LGBTQ+ rights group, which showed that there are at least 45 anti-LGBTQ+ local and national regulations in Indonesia.

At the national level, these include the Anti-Pornography Act 2008 and the Marriage Act 1974. The Anti-Pornography Act declares same-sex relationships as deviant sexual activities. The Marriage Act only allows heterosexual marriage.

In recent years, there has been an uptick in crackdowns and mistreatment of the LGBTQ+ community in Indonesia under the pretext of protecting public order, according to Harsono.

In 2014, only Aceh, the only province that applied Sharia law, considers homosexuality a crime punishable by up to 200 public lashings, today, other provinces like West Sumatra, West Java and South Sulawesi are also criminalizing LGBTIQ community and individuals.

Through their Facebook page, Diversidades Trans Masculinas are calling for online and in-person protests in Lima to demand justice for Ventocilla.

A poster demanding the return of Rodrigo Venticilla Ventisilla's remains be brought home and to open an investigation surrounding his death. Posted on Diversidades Trans Masculinas Facebook Page, used with permission.

Written by Juke Carolina

‘As a biologist, I grabbed a camera to photograph the biodiversity around me’

Originally published on Global Voices

Photos courtesy of Daniel Núñez.

To celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity, I am sharing with you my favorite wildlife photos from Guatemala and Peru. As a biologist, wildlife photography has become my right arm, as photos can complement science and conservation. An image can help visualize what is being done in research, make known species that are not highly valued, and record new species and behaviors, for example.

Five years ago I picked up a camera and began to photograph the biodiversity that I observed over time. My true passion for photography began when I was studying biology at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. I was constantly going on field trips when I decided to dedicate myself to photography because of all the animals I observed.

My primary interest was always in reptiles and amphibians, probably animals that are stigmatized by many, but little by little I started to get into photographing other wildlife such as birds and mammals. Here are some of my favorite photos with a brief description.

The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), a bird found mainly in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica, is, in my opinion, one of the most incredible birds in the world. For this photo, I spent several days waiting and observing the behavior of the quetzals in their nest. After waiting more than six hours in the forest of the Atitlán volcano, Sololá, in Guatemala, I saw the male carrying food for his chicks, and captured the moment.

A rainy afternoon on the Tambopata River in the Tambopata National Reserve, Peru. We were searching for felines on the river, mainly jaguars and pumas. Unfortunately, we did not see them, but we did manage to observe one of the species consumed by the jaguar … the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). A family of capybaras on the river; between raindrops, we saw this mother with her young.

This photo depicts the mating of the Guatemalan black-eyed frog (Agalychnis moreletii). During the night we were able to observe the behavior of several male and female individuals near a pool of water. This pool was a small basin built by humans, in which species like this one take advantage of water sources to mate and lay their eggs. The species is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.

This may be a common species, but when I observed it for the first time, it was a very nice feeling. There are several species of glass frogs in the family Centrolenidae, but Hyalinobatrachium viridissimum is the only species from Guatemala. It is impressive to be able to see its organs in such detail.

One of my favorite photos of all, where I was able to capture three species of macaws feeding on clay at the Collpa de Chunco in Tambopata Reserve, Peru. On the first day of observation the rain didn't let me see a single bird on the wall, but the next day it was a show of more than 30-40 individuals flying around, feeding themselves in the trees. In the photo, you can see the species Ara macao (scarlet macaw), Ara ararauna (blue-and-yellow macaw), and Ara chloropterus (red-and-green macaw). 

One of the most beautiful snakes in Guatemala is the incredible Guatemalan Palm Viper (Bothriechis bicolor). This was one of the first snakes that I managed to photograph and for this reason, it has become one of my favorite photos.

One of the most unexpected and difficult encounters I have ever had. It all started with a hike up the mountain at 10 in the morning to observe other species. After carrying the equipment for the whole day and not being able to observe almost anything, an encounter at about 10:00 p.m. brightened our night. The eyelash viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) is probably common in countries like Costa Rica, but in Guatemala, it is only found in a few places on the Caribbean slope.

Finally, one of the most incredible animals I have been able to observe. Ranitomeya fantastica is a species endemic to the San Martin and Loreto region of Peru, meaning that it is only found in that region. Being species with a very specific habitat, the loss of habitat and human activity has put them in danger. Here we can see a male with its tadpoles on its back, which is a behavior of these species.

Visit my Instagram and Twitter accounts to see more of my work.

Written by Daniel Núñez Translated by Melissa Vida · View original post [es]

The song remains controversial to this day in Peru

Originally published on Global Voices

Rage against the machine. Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

This article is part of our special coverage of controversial and banned music around the world.

In the 1990s, the song “Bombtrack” by Rage Against the Machine was being played on global networks such as MTV and was gaining popularity among English-speaking rock fans. Like most of Rage Against the Machine's material, the song's lyrics are about social protest, with a music video supporting the Peruvian Maoist revolutionary organization Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso in Spanish) and its leader Abimael Guzmán. However, many Peruvians question the story the U.S. band wanted to tell about the armed conflict in Peru. Polls show that today most citizens consider the organization to be a terrorist group. The song remains controversial.

The video clip for “Bombtrack” (1993), featured on Rage Against the Machine‘s first album, shows the band members inside a cage similar to the one that was used during the public appearances of Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path organization, declared a terrorist organization by the Peruvian government, the United States, Japan, Canada, and the European Union. As the video plays, words and images appear to tell the story of what, according to the band, was the confrontation between the “bad guys and the good guys:” the Peruvian government and the terrorist movements. Only four years had passed since the end of the Cold War.

In the 1960s, Latin America was going through military dictatorships and the rise of guerrilla insurgencies. Peru was no exception. In the 1980s, the country suffered political instability, inequality, and a severe economic crisis. In those years, a war broke out between the State and a guerrilla group led by the Shining Path, based on Marxist-Leninist-Maoist principles enforced with violence. “Guzman believed communism required the waging of a ‘popular war’ and criticized members of the [Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path (PCP-SL)] who merely wanted to organize the workers,” Insight Crime writes.

Rage Against the Machine is an alternative metal band from California, United States. The group is known for its political messages of leftist political ideology. It is led by Zack de la Rocha, an activist and poet of Mexican descent, and guitarist Tom Morello, considered one of the 100 best guitarists in history, according to Rolling Stone magazine. Morello still plays during performances on a Fender Telecaster with a sticker with the words “Sendero Luminoso” on it.

They romanticized the actions classified as terrorist in Peru, as well as the personality cult of Guzman, leader of the Shining Path, who died in September 2021. Guzman was captured and sentenced on terrorism charges in 1992.

However, many Peruvians do not share the view that the group spread. During the Internal Armed Conflict, the Shining Path committed attacks and assassinations that generated instability and anxiety in the country, causing the death of 30,000 people. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, of the 46 percent of the total deaths of the conflict, 30 percent are attributed to agents of the Peruvian State, and 24 percent were caused by other agents or circumstances.

Néstor Ríos Peralta writes in the specialized magazine El Club del Rock:

Sendero Luminoso is not a terrorist group because they rose up against the “Yankee capitalist system”, but because they were the protagonists of the darkest history of a country where people woke up every day afraid of not returning home.

Their actions began in 1980 in Ayacucho, in south-central Peru. Despite the human rights violations against vulnerable populations, the centralized government did not show much concern. However, this changed a short time later when Guzmán, who was also called “Presidente Gonzalo,” and his followers arrived in Lima. There, they assassinated military and police chiefs, congressmen, political and popular leaders, as well as mayors, and they exploded car bombs in the main streets of the capital, leaving wounded and dead in their wake. For all these reasons, Guzman is remembered as a perpetrator of genocide and a terrorist by 80 percent of Peruvians, according to one of the country's main pollsters.

A user named Jose Antonio Saldivar Carrasco wrote a comment under the official Rage Against the Machine video on YouTube:

I am a fan of Rage against the machine, since I first knew them…. But I don't share this idea… Sendero luminoso killed too many innocent people in a horrible way… My uncle lost his 8 brothers and sisters and [they killed] a lady, all tied up in a square, my uncle was saved because he was a child and only worked in the municipality carrying letters…

The Shining Path is still active to this day, as it has created an alliance with drug traffickers in central Peru (VRAEM), but it is on the decline. On May 23, 2021, 16 people were allegedly killed by the Shining Path before the second round of the presidential elections scheduled for June 6.

Written by Zoila Antonio Translated by Anthony Sutterman · View original post [es]

Indigenous and Afro-Latino authors reported on what matters to them.

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Isela Xospa, under copyright and used by Global Voices with permission.

In 2021, Global Voices’ Latin American contributors focused on first-hand coverage and essays on Indigenous and Black identity, journalism, and human rights. Other contributors have also reported on Indigenous representation in the media and their concern for the environment.

About 50 million people belonging to 500 different ethnic groups identify as Indigenous in Latin America. According to UNESCO, 8 percent of the region's population is Indigenous, although estimates vary. In 2009, U.S. Congress research estimated that 27.7 percent of Latin America's population was of African descent.

Along with Indigenous people, Afro-Latinos have been historically marginalized in society and the media. See these 10 stories from Spanish-speaking Latin America.

The legacy of Bolivia's El Mallku: ‘Self-governance is fundamental’ for Indigenous peoples

Bolivian Aymara writer Ruben Hilari told the story of Felipe Quispe Huanca, known as “El Mallku”, and his legacy for the Indigenous peoples in Bolivia as he passed in January 2021.

A screenshot of the video tribute to Felipe Quispe from the ‘Videos Bolivia‘ on YouTube, remixed by Global Voices. The original photographer is unknown.

‘Recovering a Central American Native identity is key to stopping our erasure’

Black and Maya artist from Honduras, Samaria Polet Carias Ayala, wrote about how to overcome the erasure of Indigenous peoples in Central America. “It starts with loving our Brown skin,” she wrote.

Painting by Samaria Polet Carias Ayala, used with permission.

From Mexico to Australia, Indigenous youth reimagine the internet for their languages

There are some 7,000 languages in the world, but only 10 dominate the internet. That is why Indigenous language activists from Mexico and Australia gathered online in July 2021 to talk about how to increase the representation of their languages and worldviews on the internet. This story sums up the key conclusions of that discussion.

Illustration by Isela Xospa, under copyright and used by Global Voices with permission.

I was invited to celebrate ‘Columbus Day.’ This is what I answered

Afro-Salvadoran writer Carlos Lara had been invited by El Salvador's Ministry of Culture to celebrate the National Day of Spain on October 12, a day also known as “Colombus Day.” He replied that “The ‘National Day of Spain’ is a mockery and offense to our Indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples.” He explained why in an essay for Global Voices.

‘Day of the Indigenous, Black and Popular Resistance.’ Illustration by Carlos Lara

Germinda Casupá, a Chiquitania native fighting fire and machismo

Global Voices’ Bolivian media partner Muy Waso reported on Germinda Casupá's story, an Indigenous woman who fights for the endangered environment of the Chiquitania, the largest tropical dry forest in the world.

Germinda Casupá during an interview for Muy Waso. Photo: Esther Mamani

Indigenous-led telecommunications organization wins historic legal battle in Mexico

Mexican author Jacobo Nájera reported on how an Indigenous-led telecommunications organization won a legal battle to continue to provide affordable cell phone access to local communities in Oaxaca.

TIC design. Used with permission.

Indigenous reporters risk death telling stories of community liberation in Colombia

Colombian reporter Fernanda Sánchez Jaramillo reported on the importance for the Kokonuco people in Colombia to have their own communication channels, namely non-profit community radios, as Indigenous reporters are often discriminated against in journalism circles.

“Micrófono en mano”: A painting on the wall of the indigenous radio station in Corinto, Cauca. Photo by Willian Mavisoy Muchavisoy.

Indigenous peoples join the national struggle in Colombia's strike

Fernanda Sánchez Jaramillo also reported on the Misak, Awá, Kokonuco, and other Indigenous peoples who joined the historic protests for more equality and healthcare in Colombia. They drew on their historical experience of resisting discrimination and unfair treatment.

Claudia Pai and other Awá women participating in Colombia's Minga and demonstrations. Photo courtesy of Clever Bolaños, used with permission.

Indigenous people denounce Chinese oil giant's extractions in Peru's Amazon Forest

Using the analytical methodology of Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory, researcher Isolda Morillo delved into the controversial investments of China's largest oil company in Peru's Amazon Forest. Indigenous and advocacy groups developed strategies to ensure that Chinese investment in their communities includes them in the decision-making process.

Photo from DAR activists showing maps of Block 58, used with permission.

How a Salvadoran artist teaches Nawat to empower transgender people

Salvadoran author Eddie Galdamez interviewed Petrona Xemi Tapepechul, whose work vows to unite two marginalized communities: the Nawat language speakers of El Salvador and transgender people.

Petrona Xemi Tapepechul. Photo published with permission.

Thank you for reading Global Voices this year as we continued to highlight underrepresented voices from Latin America and around the world.

Written by Melissa Vida