Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 27 december 2018
Wave of sexual abuse allegations shakes Argentina

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA hear them, because legal-
DEBORA REY ly nothing can be done,”
Associated Press she said. In recent days,
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina alumnae of the ORT Jewish
(AP) — For months, Claudia community school, includ-
Guebel could only tell fam- ing the daughter of Argen-
ily and friends about a trau- tine politician Daniel Filmus,
matizing encounter with a have also publicly accused
colleague in Argentina’s a school doctor of sexually
Senate. abusing them when they
At the beginning of this were between 13 and 14
year, she said, Pedro Fior- years old. School authori-
da, a senator’s chief of ties announced that they
staff, grabbed her violently are willing to cooperate
by the arms like a “hunter with an investigation.
who catches prey.” The, But the reverberations
she felt his tongue inside of the larger movement
her mouth. The terror that have spread much further.
seized her made those min- Women from political par-
utes seem eternal, she said. ties and youth groups like
“I didn’t know how to re- La Campora have started
act, I was paralyzed,” reporting sexual aggression
said Guebel, a congres- to blogs, social media and
sional aide who previously press outlets. The main con-
worked for the same sena- In this Dec. 19, 2018 photo, congressional aide Claudia Guebel speaks during an interview, in tent producer of Argentine
tor. In December, she was Buenos Aires, Argentina. television, Pol-Ka, has com-
finally moved to file a for- Associated Press mitted itself to incorporat-
mal complaint with judicial entertainment and politics of the National Institute for tional registry of victims of ing a protocol for giving
authorities after actress have been roiled by alle- Women in Argentina, who sexual abuse. But a survey assistance in cases of sex-
Thelma Fardin publicly ac- gations against powerful said the accusations by found that 45 percent of ual harassment and abuse.
cused actor Juan Darthes men. Fardin lent the movement the 2,750 students polled And the Senate passed a
of raping her in 2009 when Women say they are also more visibility. at public and private uni- law that requires the state
she was 16 and he was 45. taking a cue from “Ni On Dec. 11, the actress an- versities in Buenos Aires re- to provide training to pub-
Writers, politicians and jour- Una Menos,” an Argen- nounced she had filed a ported suffering physical or lic employees about gen-
nalists expressed support tine grassroots movement criminal complaint in Nica- psychological abuse and 9 der-related topics.
for Fardin on social media. that emerged in 2015 and ragua, where she says she percent had suffered sex- “Argentina is leading the
“With Thelma’s statements, spread globally. The move- was raped by Darthes in a ual abuse. The survey was social mobilization of thou-
everything was awakened ment has drawn thousands hotel during a promotional published in a 2018 report sands and thousands of
in me,” said Guebel, 52. into massive demonstra- tour for “Ugly Duckling,” a by UNICEF Argentina. women like never before
Fiorda could not be tions against feminicide children’s television series. In recent weeks, telephone seen in Latin America,
reached for comment by and violence against wom- Darthes, who has since lines that receive reports which is having an impact
The Associated Press, and en in Argentina, where a moved to his native Brazil, of gender violence have on sister countries,” said
Darthes says he is innocent. bill attempting to legalize has denied the allegation. seen sharp increases — the Maria Elena Naddeo, who
But Guebel is now part of a abortion was defeated in Three other women also largest coming on Dec. 12, works at the ombudsman’s
wave of women who have August. “For a while in Ar- have accused him of ha- the day after Fardin’s news office in the city of Buenos
come forward in the South gentina we have been wit- rassment or abuse. conference. Aires, referring to similar
American country with nessing a paradigm shift ... “We are all very shocked,” Tunez, who has helped movements in Uruguay, Bo-
sexual misconduct accu- where the voices of women said Sabrina Cartabia, Far- manage the phone lines, livia, Ecuador and Chile.
sations in what has inevita- are beginning to be heard, din’s lawyer. “It is opening said she was surprised by For her part, Guebel, the
bly been compared to the understood and, most im- up the possibility of talk- calls from women 70 to assistant to lawmakers, says
#MeToo movement in the portantly, accompanied ing about something very 80 years old with stories of she will continue working to
United States, where the by others,” said Fabiana painful.” childhood abuse. “They eradicate a culture of pa-
worlds of media, business, Tunez, executive director In Argentina there is no na- just wanted someone to triarchy. q

Mexico’s AMLO refutes blame for

chopper crash

Associated Press perts said no explosive were the work of “neofas-
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexi- devices were found in the cist groups who are angry
can President Andres Man- wreckage. Mexico asked about our victory and are
uel Lopez Obrador says the U.S. National Transpor- trying to slander us.”
“neofascists” and conser- tation Safety Board for help The Monday crash killed
vatives are blaming the with a probe, but the U.S. opposition Gov. Martha
government for a helicop- government shutdown has Erika Alonso of the central
ter crash that killed two op- delayed the request. state of Puebla and her

Relatives and friends surround the urn with ashes of opposition position politicians. Lopez Obrador said husband, ex-Gov. Rafael
Puebla state Gov. Martha Erika Alonso during a farewell cer- Lopez Obrador refused to Wednesday that social me- Moreno Valle. Two pilots
emony in Puebla City, southeast of Mexico, Tuesday, Dec. 25, speculate on what caused dia videos that suggest the and a third passenger also
2018. Associated Press the crash, but military ex- helicopter was shot down died.q