by Harumi Suzuki
ACI Press
On Dec. 1, the “To Life I Say Yes” march took place in San José, capital of Costa Rica, where thousands of people went out to ask President Carlos Alvarado not to sign the technical norm that would legalize the unpunished abortion in the country, but open a dialogue table on the subject.
The representative of the Awake Costa Rica (DCR) movement, one of the groups that make up the National Front for Life, Mariano Murillo Cedeño, said to ACI Prensa that this march was carried out thanks to “the union of civil groups, churches and the congress people or politicians, all together for the defense of life in all its stages”.
“They filled at least 10 blocks full of people marching, we are talking about more than a kilometer,” he said.
During the march, Karla Chaves, representative of Doctors for Life, Deputy Shirley Díaz of the Christian Social Unity Party (PUSC), Elsa Naranjo of 40 days for life, Gerald Bogantes de Juristas por la Vida, Fr. Ronny Solano and Pastor Cynthia Bermúdez of the Abundant Life Church.
Mariano informed that the objective of the march was “to request the Government to open a dialogue table to have a voice and vote in everything that concerns the technical Standard”, because to date “it has been handled with a lot of secrecy, there is no access to the medical records of women who were allegedly violated by denying them abortion, nor the agreement reached between the country and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. ”
“The regulation has not been exposed to the public and different government authorities have said it should be opened to allow abortions in social or psychological cases,” he added.
Through a manifest manifesto at the start of the day, the National Front for Life highlighted the president’s duty to respect the Constitution and laws, especially those that protect unborn children.
In addition, it indicates that the Executive Power “does not have the power to regulate or the regular exercise of the rights and freedoms of individuals. The regulation of the exercise of fundamental rights is a matter reserved” to the Legislative Power.
“Costa Rica has been recognized worldwide for its social peace, based mainly on solidarity assistance to those who need it most and the defense of the most vulnerable,” they said. “The efforts of the Executive Power should focus on promoting public policies in favor of the life of the unborn and the protection of the mother in the state of risk, instead of telling woman that the only option granted by the State is the destruction of the baby in her womb, ”they added.
Finally, I will emphasize the technical norm “not only is it unnecessary, but its issuance would be completely unconstitutional, it would violate international human rights treaties.”
Panama will host the China-Latin America and the Caribbean Summit
According to the organizers, almost 2,000 businessmen and leaders from China, Latin America and the Caribbean will meet for the first time in Panama as part of the 13th China-LAC Summit 2019.
Speaking to the press, the president of the Organizing Committee of the event, Gabriel Barletta, highlighted the role of this mechanism in the last 13 years, mainly in those nations of the region with which the Asian giant maintains a formal relationship.
He noted that the political and economic stability of the Central American nation, which favors the business environment between entrepreneurs and investors, the geographical position and the multimodal logistics platform, influenced the decision to hold the event in this country.
Barletta said that, as a positive balance, the summit could facilitate access to new markets and consolidate Panama as the gateway for entrepreneurs from other latitudes to the Americas.
The China-LAC Summit, the most important commercial event that brings together Chinese, Latin American and Caribbean companies, will be held from December 9 to 12 in the capital of the Atlapa Convention Center.
