EU sanctions Venezuelan VP, 10 others over election abuses

Yahoo – AFP, June 25, 2018

Venezuela's new vice-president Delcy Rodriguez speaks during a meeting with
members of the new cabinet at the Foreign Ministry in Caracas on June 15,
2018 (AFP Photo/Federico PARRA)

Luxembourg (AFP) - The EU on Monday hit the Venezuelan vice-president and 10 other officials with sanctions over rights abuses and irregularities in the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro, which the bloc condemned as "neither free nor fair".

Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez is the most senior member of Maduro's government targeted by the travel bans and asset freezes, while other top cadres are sanctioned for grave human rights transgressions including torture.

The 28 EU states pledged last month to "swiftly" punish Caracas with sanctions over the May reelection of Maduro, which returned him to office until 2025. The poll was boycotted by the main opposition and denounced as a sham by the United States and many of Venezuela's Latin American neighbours.

"The persons listed are responsible for human rights violations and for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela," the European Union said after its 28 foreign ministers backed the move at a meeting in Luxembourg.

"The elections held in Venezuela on 20 May 2018 were neither free nor fair and their outcome lacked any credibility as the electoral process did not ensure the necessary guarantees for them to be inclusive and democratic."

The EU also called for fresh presidential elections in Venezuela in line with international standards and for the release of political prisoners.

Venezuela reacted angrily, condemning the EU for "meddling".

The foreign ministry in Caracas said it "categorically rejects the continued aggression and meddling of the European Union, which constitutes clear interference in the sovereign affairs of our country."

In January, Europe added seven senior Venezuelan officials including the interior minister to its sanctions blacklist, after earlier enforcing an embargo on weapons and equipment that could be used for political repression.

Alongside Rodriguez, former vice-president Tareck El Aissami is also sanctioned for his role overseeing the Venezuelan intelligence service, where the EU said he was responsible for "serious human rights violations... including arbitrary detention, politically motivated investigations, inhumane and degrading treatment and torture".

The UN rights chief on Friday called for an international investigation of atrocities in Venezuela, condemning the government's refusal to investigate security officers over the killing of civilians.

Venezuela's economy has collapsed into chaos under Maduro since 2013, with falling oil prices leading to chronic shortages of food and medicine and hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the country.

Cuba to get ready for same sex marriage: Castro daughter

Yahoo – AFP, Moises AVILA, 22 June 2018

Mariela Castro Espin, daughter of former president Raul Castro, runs Cuba's
National Sex Education Center

In Cuba, where homosexuals once suffered harsh repression, a new reform-oriented constitution being drafted could pave the way for same sex marriage, Raul Castro's daughter Mariela Castro Espin says.

She is the director of the National Center for Sex Education, or Cenesex, and promotes policies to help women and the LGBT community.

The National Assembly is drafting a new constitution that will maintain the one-party system but aims to adapt the country to new social and economic times. The current one dates from 1976.

"In the constitution there is a section on rights in which LGBT people must be involved," Castro told AFP in an interview.

"Constitutions do not necessarily get down to specifics. They open doors so later we can talk about changing the legislative system."

Support of current president

After the Cuban revolution of 1959, homosexuals suffered repression and punishment. Fidel Castro eventually apologized for this and insisted it was not a systematic policy of the state.

As a member of the Cuban Communist Party, Mariela Castro works to teach leaders as well as everyday citizens about tolerance.

As a member of the Cuban Communist Party, Mariela Castro works to teach

leaders and everyday people about tolerance

One of them was Miguel Diaz-Canel, who took over as president in April, ending decades of rule by the Castro brothers -- first Fidel and then his brother Raul. Diaz-Canel got tolerance education as a member of the party's youth wing.

"At one time he would go to Cenesex and attend our meeting, and we had a very productive dialogue," Castro said.

She said Cuban society has made progress on issues involving LGBT rights.

"Before, there was prejudice against talking about these things. Eleven years ago we started holding seminars about homophobia and trans-phobia. And that helped to pave the way for dialogue among the population," she said.

For the past decade Havana has hosted a gay rights parade called the Conga.

"There are people who are bothered by seeing LGBT people dressed up and having fun, and there are those who enjoy it," said Castro.

"We do not want to cause unease but rather instill interest in dialogue," she added.

And it is not just a matter of passing laws: in countries with same sex marriage there can still be high levels of violence against LGBT people, such as in Mexico.

"With marriages, did they stop that violence attitude? No. Bring on laws, of course, but we must work from a policy standpoint and in that we have not made enough progress," said Castro.

From June 25-29 Cenesex is holding a convention on sex education, orientation and therapy.

Erode the patricarchal state

Castro has recalled that since 1965 abortion has been legal in Cuba and is carried out for free.

"The goal was to save the lives of women and ensure their right to decide what they do with their body," she said.

Gays once suffered severe repression in Cuba but now a gay rights parade 

is held every year in Havana

But in Latin America, a misogynous mindset dating way back still predominates, according to Castro.

Even with women as president in some countries it has been hard to work for gender equality.

"They did not manage to bring about change. Not because the women did not want to but rather they faced very strong political opposition," Castro said.

Cuba also went through periods of resistance to women's rights -- "but we were lucky to have the leadership of Fidel Castro" who in 1960 created the Federation of Cuban Women, she said.

Cuba's national assembly has the highest proportion of women in the world, after that of Rwanda, she argued.

The work that began 60 years ago has helped erode the patriarchal state as the paradigm of power.

"We have not managed to overcome all the symbolic elements of the patriarchal state but we have weakened it."

Chile authorities raid sites linked to church sex abuse

Yahoo – AFP, June 14, 2018

Students demonstrate against the sexual abuse scandal within the church in Chile
as the Vatican's top abuse investigator Maltese archbishop Charles Scicluna (R)
visits Catholic University in Santiago on June 13, 2018 (AFP Photo/CLAUDIO REYES)

Santiago (AFP) - Police on Wednesday seized church files in raids in Santiago and Rancagua, as the Catholic Church scrambled to try to put a better face on a sex abuse scandal that has rocked Chile.

The surprise operations came as Maltese archbishop Charles Scicluna and fellow papal envoy Jordi Bertomeu are visiting for a second time to take witness statements from victims of sexual abuse in the church and provide instruction to Chilean dioceses to respond adequately to any new complaints.

Prosecutor Emiliano Arias confirmed two "landmark" raids and said he was pleased with how they went. Precisely because church officials long were not subject to civilian authority in Chile, this marked a dramatic shift.

"This is not an investigation against the Catholic church," Arias said, but rather an investigation of reports of sex abuse by members of the church who abused minors.

Several members of the church hierarchy, including former bishop Juan Barros, are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up years of child abuse by Chilean pedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s.

Pope Francis appointed 61-year-old Barros as bishop of Osorno in 2015, when victims' allegations against him were already widely known.

The pontiff himself became mired in the scandal when, during a trip to Chile in January, he defended Barros, who was accused of covering up Karadima's wrongdoing.

Karadima was suspended for life by the Vatican over the allegations of child molestation, and Barros was one of three bishops whose resignations Francis accepted on Monday.

Scicluna and Bertomeu visited Chile in February to investigate the allegations and meet with victims. Their report to Rome noted the existence of a "culture of abuse" within the Chilean Church.

In a letter to Chileans released at the end of last month, the pontiff voiced "shame" that the Catholic Church failed "to listen and react in time" to the allegations of sexual abuse by Chilean clergy.

He has since received two groups of Karadima's victims at the Vatican.

Since 2000, about 80 Catholic priests have been reported to authorities in Chile for alleged sexual abuse.

Earlier Sciclina told reporters "it is so important to show a sign of willingness to cooperate."

Pope accepts resignation of 3 Chilean bishops in sex abuse scandal

Digital Journal – AFP, By CATHERINE MARCIANO, 11 June 2018

Pope Francis accepted Monday the resignation of three Chilean bishops, including the controversial Juan Barros, following a child sex abuse scandal in Chile which has come to haunt his papacy.

The entire Chilean delegation of bishops tendered its resignation to the pope last month after a series of meetings at the Vatican.

The mass resignation of bishops is almost unheard of, having last happened two centuries ago.

Several members of the Chile's Catholic Church hierarchy are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up child abuse by Chilean paedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s.

The scandal is the latest to rock the Roman Catholic Church, and Argentine-born Francis has said it must not happen again on his watch.

But the pontiff himself became mired in the scandal when, during a trip to Chile in January, he defended the 61-year-old Barros who was accused of covering up Karadima's wrongdoing.

Karadima was suspended for life by the Vatican over the allegations of child molestation.

'New day for the Church'

"It's a new day for the Catholic Church of Chile! Three corrupt bishops are out," said Juan Carlos Cruz, one of Karadima's victims who was received by the pope in May along with two other men the priest had abused.

The announcement of Pope Francis's decision to accept the resignation was made in a Vatican statement which named the other two bishops as Cristian Caro Cordero and Gonzalo Duarte Garcia de Cortazar. Both men are 75, the age when bishops normally retire.

Francis has apologised to the victims and admitted he had made "grave mistakes" after reading a 2,300-page report on abuses in Chile.

In a letter to Chileans released at the end of last month, the pontiff voiced "shame" that the Catholic Church failed "to listen and react in time" to the allegations of sexual abuse by Chilean clergy.

He has since received two groups of Karadima's victims at the Vatican. The second group comprises five Chilean priests who met Francis at the start of June.

Since 2000, about 80 Catholic priests have been reported to authorities in Chile for alleged sexual abuse.

In 2015, Francis appointed Barros as the head of the southern diocese of Osorno despite accusations he had covered up for Karadima.

'I was part of the problem'

Last month Francis promised "changes" to the Chilean church to "restore justice" in a short declaration to the bishops that was made public.

Chilean sexual abuse victims Jose Andres Murillo (R), James Hamilton (C) and
Juan Carlos Cruz (L) met the pope individually/Tiziana FABI, AFP/File

The letter -- handed to the bishops at the start of their meetings with Francis -- evokes "crimes" and "painful and shameful sexual abuse of minors, abuses of power and conscience by ministers of the Church".

It qualifies the removal of certain prelates from their roles as necessary but "insufficient," calling for "the roots" that allowed for such abuse within an "elitist and authoritarian" Chilean church to be examined.

Cruz, whom the pope hosted at his Vatican residence and met individually along with two other victims, said the pontiff was "contrite" and said he had been "part of the problem".

"I told him that Barros was watching us when we were abused, I think that's clear to him now," Juan Carlos Cruz said.

"He (the pope) said, 'I was part of the problem, I caused this'," Cruz added.

Some of the victims have accused Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, a key advisor to Francis, of ignoring and helping to cover up Karadima's abuses.

Despite a strong Catholic tradition, Chile is witnessing a growing rift between the people and the Church, deepened by the string of sexual abuse scandals.

President Sebastian Pinera, a practising Catholic, recently said he was saddened by the fact that the Church "is increasingly remote, not only from worshippers but from people in general."