Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 10 March 2020
Mexico: Thousands stay in to protest violence against women

Associated Press violence against women "is
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Untold conservatism disguised as
thousands of women across feminism."
Mexico stayed home from A Facebook group called
work and school Monday "A Day Without Women"
as part of a strike billed as has more than 320,000
"A Day Without Women," Mexican members who
hours after an unprec- have been debating and
edented number of them informing each other about
filled the streets to protest the possible consequences
rampant and rising gender of not going to the office,
violence on International hospital or school for one
Women's Day. day.
Central streets in the capi- Officials estimated that
tal were eerily empty of 80,000 women marched
women and girls in the Sunday in Mexico City,
morning, as mostly men many wearing laven-
could be seen walking to der. Some remarked that
offices, getting off buses it seemed symbolically
or lining up to buy coffee. meaningful that the color
At least some metro ticket matched the jacarandas
stations were closed, and blooming overhead for
President Andrés Manuel springtime. Some protesters
López Obrador's morning spray painted messages
press conference was dot- like "Mexico kills women"
ted with empty seats as fe- Demonstrators attack a vehicle belonging to the fire department during an International Women's onto monuments, smashed
male journalists joined the Day march in Mexico City's main square, the Zocalo, Sunday, March 8, 2020. windows and set fires. The
strike as well. Associated Press great majority marched
López Obrador said his peacefully. There were
government was function- are many of us. What are 3,825 women met violent women and impunity for smaller demonstrations
ing during the strike and they going to do without us deaths last year, 7% more such crimes, López Obra- elsewhere in the country
that it wasn't yet clear how if they are killing us?" said than in 2018. That works dor said Monday that his Activists then stenciled the
many federal employees Viviana Mendez, a lawyer out to about 10 women administration is working on names of victims on Mex-
were observing it. The presi- and mother supporting slain each day in Mexico. the issue every day. Echo- ico City's central Zocalo
dent said it was up to each the strike. The idea was to Thousands more have ing his policy for address- square. The names came
worker to decide what to become invisible for a day gone missing without a ing broader violence, the from public records of
do, in accordance with so that coworkers, bosses, trace in recent years. Au- president stressed the im- deaths that appear to fall
their personal beliefs and boyfriends, husbands and thorities seem incapable portance of tackling social into the category of femi-
levels of responsibility. in some cases children re- of preventing or properly ills such as poverty and in- cide, meaning those wom-
The back-to-back protests flect on the absence of investigating the crimes, equality. en's killings showed marks
mark an intensification of each participating wom- very few of which result in "I maintain that the main of hatred for the female
the struggle by Mexican an. Some also swore off so- convictions. "In Mexico it's thing is to guarantee the gender.
women against violence cial media until Tuesday. like we're in a state of war; well-being of the people," The call to protest grew in
and impunity in one of the Some women could be we're in a humanitarian cri- López Obrador said. February after two murders
most dangerous countries seen Monday jogging or sis because of the quantity Tougher criminal penal- rocked Mexico City: that
in the world for females. working at taco stands, of women that have disap- ties and more aggressive of a young woman horribly
Women in Argentina and coffee shops or other jobs. peared or been killed," said prosecutions can help, he disfigured, apparently by
Chile have staged strikes At a central intersection, María de la Luz Estrada, added, but "the main thing a boyfriend, and that of a
in previous years and were a female transit officer coordinator of the Nation- is that we live in a better so- 7-year-old girl abducted
also to do so again Mon- waved cars through. But al Citizen's Observatory of ciety in all senses." from her school. Murders of
day. "What we want to pro- overall, the relative ab- Femicide. He also repeated previ- women in Mexico are often
voke is that they see that sence of women in public Asked about his govern- ous assertions that some accompanied by sexual
if we're not there, the city spaces was striking. ment's strategy for com- of the anger directed at violence and stunning bru-
won't circulate. That there Government data say batting violence against his administration over the tality. q

Brazil's president says he will undergo fifth surgery

By DAVID BILLER without providing further and serious internal bleed-
Associated Press details. It would be his fifth ing, and required emer-
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Bra- procedure since the as- gency surgery.
zil's President Jair Bolsonaro sassination attempt. His He has since had a series
says that he will undergo spokesperson did not pro- of other operations, to un-
yet another surgery as a vide additional information. block his intestine, remove
result of his near-fatal stab- Bolsonaro was stabbed in a colostomy bag, and cor-
bing on the campaign trail the abdomen in Septem- rect a hernia related to his
in 2018. ber 2018 during a cam- recovery.
Bolsonaro, speaking in an paign rally while being The interview was conduct-
interview broadcast Sun- carried on the shoulders of ed by a comedian imper-
In this Jan. 7, 2020 file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro
speaks to journalists after meeting with military commanders at day on television network supporters. sonating Bolsonaro, and
the Defense Ministry in Brasilia, Brazil. Record, said the surgery The attempt on his life who wore a mock presi-
Associated Press "should be the last one," caused intestinal damage dential sash.q