COLOMBIA: 220,000 DEATHS IN 54 YEARS OF CONFLICT
The National Centre of Historical Memory presented a paper called “Enough! Colombia: Memories of War and Dignity,” which reveals that between 1958 and 2012 the Colombian internal armed conflict left at least 220,000 people killed, 25,000 missing, and 4,744,046 displaced from their original homes.

Of the 220,000 documented killings, it is estimated that 177,307 were civilians and 40,787 combatants on either side.
According to the report’s director, Martha Nubia Bello, this data could be higher considering that both parties resorted to hiding figures related to casualties.

Following this report, the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, recognized for the first time the State’s responsibility for crimes committed during half a century of armed conflict, in front of the Constitutional Court governing the demobilization of the guerrillas.

“The Colombian government has been responsible, in some cases by default, in other cases by direct action coming from some State agents, of serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law that occurred during these 50 years of conflict,” he admitted.

This document is part of the peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) which started last September. As stated by Iván Marquez, a member of the negotiating team of FARC—the objective is to “seek peace with social justice through dialogue.”

URUGUAY: LEGALIZED ABORTION REDUCES MATERNAL DEATHS
Public Health Minister Susana Muñiz said that after Law 18.897 was approved on July 17, 2012—which decriminalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy—of the 2,550 abortions conducted throughoutthe country, there weren’t any maternal deaths or even complications caused by the interruption of pregnancies.

To compare this data, the Uruguayan government mentioned some statistics previous to the legalization: According to the Organization of American States (OAS), between 1995 and 2002, 33,000 abortions were performed annually in Uruguay. During these abortions, 25 out of every 100,000 women died—35 percent of those deaths were due to precarious conditions, mainly of people living in poverty.

The first ideas about legalizing abortion popped up during former President Jorge Batlle’s term in office. Although abortion was still illegal in 2002, some sanitary initiatives were developed, such as before-and-after abortion consultations, information about the procedure, clinical studies, prevention of infection and contraception measures.

It was with José “Pepe” Mujica’s arrival to the government that those policies were emphasized, starting by universalizing the access to contraceptive methods, until reaching an absolute decriminalization of abortion was approved in 2012.

Even though this data isn’t fully consolidated yet, Deputy Health Minister Leonel Briozzo said that he is waiting for the global trend toward abortion to confirm in Uruguay, that countries with highly restrictive laws have more abortions than countries where the legislation is more liberal.

MÉXICO: OAXACAN SCULPTOR ALEJANDRO SANTIAGO DIES
The Mexican artist died of a heart attack at the age of 49, after three days of suffering from breathing difficulties in an Oaxacan clinic. His remains were transported to the cultural space he founded, La Telaraña, where a wake was held in his honor.

Born in 1964 in a small village called Teococuilco in the Zapotec northern mountains, Alejandro Santiago migrated eternally since then, as did his sculptures. As a child, he studied in Mexico City and then he moved to the United States and Europe for ten years.

Always sensitive to his social environment, his masterpiece was “2501 Migrantes,” life-sized terracotta figures exhibited originally in Guanajuato in 2007 before touring several countries in Europe.

The artist said his inspiration came from being in contact with the painful situation of uprootedness and sadness that migration generates, noting “the absence of 2,500 villagers, who flew away to seek new life opportunities, because the possibilities in their homeland were exhausted.”

With his death, he left various cultural projects that he was currently heading unfinished, as was the building of an arts center in the town of Suchilquitongo, Etla, where Santiago was organizing workshops for Oaxacan youth artists with the help of some guest creators.