Pope slams ‘femicides’
Honduras battles protesters
TRUJILLO, Peru, Jan 21, (Agencies): Pope Francis denounced femicides and other gender-based crimes that have turned Latin America into the most violent place on Earth for women, calling Saturday for legislation to protect them and a new cultural mindset as he visited one of Peru’s most dangerous parts.
At a Marian prayer in the northern seaside city of Trujillo, Francis called women, mothers and grandmothers the guiding force for families. And yet, he said, in the Americas they are too often victims of murder and “many situations of violence that are kept quiet behind so many walls.”
The first Latin American pope called for lawmakers to protect women and for a new culture “that repudiates every form of violence.” His remarks came the same day large crowds marched throughout the United States and other countries in support of female empowerment.
Francis’ use of the term femicide — the killing of women where the motive is directly related to gender— marked the second time in as many days that he has spoken out against “machismo” culture in Latin America. The region has the dubious honor of having the world’s highest rates of violence against women occurring outside romantic partnerships, and the second-highest within.
Meanwhile, a key US cardinal distanced himself on Saturday from comments by Pope Francis on sexual abuse, saying they had caused “great pain,” a remarkable move pointing to divisions in the Roman Catholic Church over how to treat accusers.
The implicit public rebuke of the pope by one of his top advisers came after two days of pointed attacks from victims and their advocates, and was another setback for Francis’ attempts to come to grips with sexual abuse in the Church.
Pope Francis
2017 Mexico’s
deadliest
Mexico saw a total of 25,339 murders last year, official data has shown, after 2017 was already established as a recordbreaking year based on killings carried out until November.
The interior ministry on Saturday said 2,219 people were murdered in December 2017.
Authorities began collecting data in 1997, and the previous record high of 22,409 occurred in 2011.
The homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants meanwhile climbed to 20.51, against 16.80 in 2016, when 20,545 were murdered.
Mexico is convulsing from a wave of violence linked to drug trafficking that has left almost 200,000 dead since December 2006, when former president Felipe Calderon’s government launched a controversial military anti-drug operation that, according to its critics, has only led to more murders and attacks.
6.3 quake hits N. Chile:
year:
The US Geological Survey says a magnitude 6.3 earthquake has struck northern Chile.
The quake, which was deep at 110 kilometers (68 miles), struck at 10:06 p.m. local time Saturday. The epicenter in Tarapaca was 76 kms (47 miles) east of the city of Putre, and 118 kms (73 miles) southeast of the Peruvian city of Tacna.
Local media in Chile said there were no immediate reports of damage and that the navy’s oceanographic service had discarded the possibility of a tsunami.
Honduras election chaos lingers:
Honduran soldiers and police clashed with protesters blocking roads across the Central American country on Saturday, as discontent continues to fester nearly two months after a disputed presidential election.
At least one person died as security forces launched tear gas against rockthrowing supporters of the center-left Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship and tried to clear impromptu roadblocks of burning tires they had set across the capital Tegucigalpa and around the country, according to police sources and TV images.