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BRAZIL
Hillary to promote abortion
US First Lady promises to push legalization if elected
The Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo has quoted US First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton as offering support to legalize abortion in Brazil if she is elected US Senator.
In an interview granted to the newspaper, Clinton said she is willing to join forces with feminist organizations in Brazil to legalize abortion, which, with few exceptions, is illegal in the country.
Clinton said that if she beats her Republican contender Rick Lazio in the race for a Senate seat representing New York state, “I can help Brazil to find its way to legalize abortion.”
Asked about her potential role as senator regarding US-Brazil relations, the First Lady said that “four years ago, when I visited Brazil, the Secretary of Health told me that wealthy women and teenagers always had abortions in good clinics, with the best doctors who were risking losing their licenses. But poor women do not have that same opportunity.”
Social programs over debt
Bishops challenge international debt payment plan
Brazil’s bishops’ conference has challenged the government to convince voters in a Church-organized referendum that the government’s plan to repay international debt and restructure state-controlled industries under an International Monetary Fund plan is a higher priority than funding social programs.
The bishops unveiled the slogan “Life Over Debt,” pointing out that 50 percent of the country’s 165 million people live in poverty. “If the finance minister and the president think differently, let them convince the population to say ‘yes’ to the IMF deal, to the payment of external debts without an audit of the payments and the bleeding of the country’s wealth to enrich speculators,” they said.
Supporters of the IMF plan said changing course now could upset the country’s economic stability built up through years of free-market economic reforms and spending cuts. A spokesman for President Fernando Cardoso said worrying about Brazil’s foreign debt is no longer relevant because debts have fallen sharply. “The government sees no validity in this idea,” the spokesman said. Cardoso “had the impression that the long explanations (on the debts) given by the government could have had a convincing effect.”
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