In August of this year, the CDC declared a health emergency alert for Puerto Rico regarding the spread of the Zika virus. Shortly thereafter, our “Isla del Encanto” would come to know its first cases of infection-related births; the month of September, brought with it the first group of babies in Puerto Rico exposed to the zika virus during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Hundreds of women sit behind bars in El Salvador punished for defying the ban on abortion. Many, such as María Teresa Rivera are pleading they are wrongly jailed for having suffered miscarriages or stillbirths. Three years ago Rivera miscarried and awoke handcuffed to her hospital bed surrounded by seven policemen who proceeded to charge her with murder.1 After an eight-month trial, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated murder.
Brazil has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. So, it comes as no surprise that even in the context of pregnancies affected by the Zika virus, Brazil is faced with theological and political challenges.
March 20 marked the international day of happiness.
Since the 1970s, luxurious enclosed housing developments have proliferated throughout Brazil and have become one of the preferred housing options for the elites. What is the allure of gated communities for middle and upper-class Brazilians? Why is this important?
El vínculo entre el hambre, la enfermedad y la muerte es referido desde tiempos pretéritos.1 Vega-Franco (1999: 329) menciona que cinco siglos AC Hipócrates ya afirmaba que “el vigor del hambre puede influir violentamente en la constitución del hombre debilitándolo, haciéndolo enfermar e incluso sucumbir”. Sostiene el autor, por lo tanto, que es lícito inferir y reiterar que la desnutrición ha sido un cercano compañero del hombre en su tránsito por la historia.
