El Salvador’s contemporary death squads do not engage in political liquidation. Their targets have largely been criminal suspects or innocent bystanders caught up in the violence.
Latin America
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Could Indigenous demonstrations against corruption lead to lasting change in Guatemala?
Guatemala’s historical social inequality has only worsened because of economic deterioration intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic and a political crisis created by President Giammattei’s increasing authoritarian tendencies.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Brazil once depended on Europe for vocations. Now it sends women religious missionaries all over the world.
Besides taking up the challenge of exploring new frontiers of evangelization in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Brazilian women religious have also become evangelizers of the “old continent,” Europe, where female vocations have radically declined in recent decades.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Amid Ortega’s crackdown on opponents, is the Catholic Church in Nicaragua next?
As Nicaragua prepares for a general election in November, Mr. Ortega has ramped up a broad repression of dissenting voices. Could the Catholic Church be his next target?
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis and bishops appear in new vaccine PSA: Getting vaccinated is ‘an act of love’
The video insists that vaccines are safe, effective and an “act of love.” It features Pope Francis as well six cardinals and archbishops from North, Central and South America.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Covid-19 is not an excuse to keep out refugees. Biden must restore the asylum process.
Continuing the Trump administration’s restrictions on asylum seekers is not necessary for public health, and it undermines our long history as a place of refuge.
Posted inFaith, News
Defrocked priest at the center of Chile’s sex abuse crisis dies
A Chilean priest defrocked by the pope in 2018 for having sexually abused minors has died at 90.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: In Patricia Engel’s ‘Infinite Country,’ a family grapples with borders and belonging
The American dream exerts a magnetic pull in Patricia Engel’s new novel.
Posted inFaith, Politics & Society
I’ve lived under Donald Trump and Fidel Castro. Both taught me the importance of defending truth.
My childhood in Cuba made me prize critical thought. It also made me aware that extremism for the sake of power results in the erosion of truth and agency.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Catholic ministries step up efforts to reach homeless children on Brazil streets
“In every large city in Brazil, you can now see a greater number of kids begging for money or selling candy on the streets than before the pandemic.”