Costa Rica legalises same-sex marriage in first for Central America

Yahoo – AFP, Marco SIBAJA, May 26, 2020

Costa Rica is the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage
(AFP Photo/Ezequiel BECERRA)

San José (AFP) - Costa Rica legalised same-sex marriage on Tuesday, becoming the first Central American country to do so and sparking an emotional response from rights campaigners as the first weddings were held overnight.

Celebrations were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a special program about LGBT rights was broadcast on public television and online after a court ruling came into force at midnight.

"This change will bring about a significant social and cultural transformation, allowing thousands of people to marry," said President Carlos Alvarado in the program.

Costa Rica is the eighth country in the Americas to recognise same-sex marriage -- a group that includes Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina, as well as Canada and the US.

The Supreme Court in August 2018 ruled that a ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional and gave parliament 18 months to amend the laws. It failed to do that, so the provision was automatically annulled.

"Costa Rica is celebrating today: marriage equality has become a reality in the country -- the first one in Central America," tweeted the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)..

"We rejoice with you: congratulations to all those who worked so hard to make it happen!"

Gay rights activists have long campaigned for the right to
marry in Costa Rica (AFP Photo/Ezequiel BECERRA)

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN's Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, called the change "an extraordinary moment of celebration" in a tweet posted on Monday.

Strong Catholic tradition

He expressed "gratitude to the work of so many activists, and of quiet reflection of the lives of those who lived without seeing this moment".

Moments after midnight, Dunia Araya and Alexandra Quiros tied the knot in a town northwest of the capital, San Jose. The young women, both dressed in white, took their vows before a notary wearing a face mask as part of measures to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Costa Rica has a strong Catholic tradition and has also seen a proliferation of evangelical churches in recent decades. Many followers of those denominations are opposed to gay marriage.

Alvarado, a centrist, was elected to the presidency in April 2018 by comfortably seeing off a challenge from evangelical preacher Fabricio Alvarado, who campaigned against same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court decision complied with an opinion given by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, declaring that homosexual couples have the same rights to marry as heterosexual ones.

Sao Paulo mayor: cancer survivor, COVID fighter

Yahoo – AFP, Paula RAMON,, May 23, 2020

Sao Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas has barely left city hall, where he has a bed in his
office, since he implemented the most aggressive stay-at-home policies in Brazil
(AFP Photo/NELSON ALMEIDA)

Sao Paulo (AFP) - Isolated in his office at city hall, Sao Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas is waging a war on two fronts: the cancer survivor is also leading the fight against coronavirus at its epicenter in Latin America.

It's safe to say February 26, 2020 is a day the 40-year-old mayor won't forget anytime soon: just as he was starting immunotherapy for lymphoma -- his third cancer in as many months -- he got the news that Latin America's first case of the new coronavirus had been confirmed in his city.

Covas had already beaten his two previous tumors into remission with chemotherapy -- one in his upper stomach, one in his liver -- and he reacted to the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic with the same grit.

"I never considered stepping down," he told AFP in an interview at his offices, wearing a tight-fitting face mask that matched his black outfit.

"The doctors never said I needed to."

Bald and gaunt from his chemo, Covas bears the physical signs of the battles he has waged. But he is working virtually around the clock to run the pandemic response in the hardest-hit city in Latin America, with 40,000 infections and more than 3,000 deaths so far.

Together with Sao Paulo state Governor Joao Doria, Covas implemented the most aggressive stay-at-home policies in Brazil, ordering the closure of schools and non-essential businesses on March 24.

That flew in the face of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who condemned the "hysteria" around the virus and accused state and local authorities of needlessly hurting the economy.

Covas says his biggest battle is getting citizens in Brazil's biggest city to respect the stay-at-home.

Sao Paulo is Brazil's economic capital, and the bustle of business and the street is what the city is all about.

Monitoring based on cell phone location data indicates that only about half its 12 million residents are respecting the stay-at-home -- a source of frustration for Covas.

"But at the same time, it's rewarding to see that six million people are respecting it," he said.

"We've been in quarantine for almost two months, so each day that passes we're asking people to make an extra sacrifice."

The mayor, who took office in April 2018, is leading by example.

Since the stay-at-home started, he has barely left city hall, where he has installed a bed in his office.

Aside from occasional hospital visits or meetings with officials, Covas remains inside his 15-storey headquarters.

A divorced father of one, he receives visits a few times a week from his 14-year-old son.

Other than that, he mainly spends his time working. He says he wants to be available 24 hours a day for the people of Sao Paulo.

With Brazil emerging as the latest flashpoint in the pandemic, with more than 21,000 deaths, and the situation not expected to peak here until June, Covas' stay at city hall probably won't be over soon.

Not about ideology

Covas, who hails from the center-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), is the grandson of a longtime Sao Paulo political bigwig, Mario Covas.

A lawyer by training, he was elected a state lawmaker at 26, then became deputy mayor under Doria. When his mentor stepped down to run for governor, Covas took over at city hall.

Covas acknowledged the challenges his administration has faced handling the pandemic, but defended its response.

"We're getting through the crisis in better shape than other major capitals," he said.

Local hospitals are near the breaking point, with 88 percent of intensive care beds full, but Covas said he was proud they had not been forced to turn anyone away.

He and his team are racing to reinforce the health care system. They have opened field hospitals that are caring for 2,500 COVID-19 patients and added hundreds of additional beds to existing hospitals.

He openly discusses the frustrations of watching Bolsonaro downplay the pandemic even as his city is being ravaged.

"The president doesn't care about medical protocols. That is doing a lot of damage," he said.

"This isn't a left-wing virus or a right-wing virus," he added.

"It's a scientific reality, and we have to confront it."

Brazil tops 10,000 deaths from COVID-19

Yahoo – AFP, Pascale TROUILLAUD, May 10, 2020

A funeral worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the
coronavirus walks through Caju Cemetary in Rio de Janeiro on May 9 (AFP Photo/
Carl DE SOUZA)

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazil, the hardest-hit Latin American country in the coronavirus pandemic, has surpassed 10,000 deaths, according to figures released Saturday by the Ministry of Health.

While Brazil's numbers are high -- 10,627 deaths and 155,939 confirmed cases -- scientists think the real figures could be 15 or even 20 times worse, given the country's inability to carry out widespread testing.

Congress and the Supreme Court decreed an official mourning period of three days and lawmakers asked Brazilians to follow health authorities' recommendations to reduce infection rates while the country prepares for "a safe and definitive return back to normal."

Meanwhile President Jair Bolsonaro, who opposes stay-at-home measures due to their impact on the country's economy, was seen jet skiing on Lake Paranoa in Brasilia, according to the Metropoles news website.

Cemetary workers place the coffin of a coronavirus victim in a grave cubicle at Caju
Cemetary in Rio de Janeiro on May 9 (AFP Photo/Carl DE SOUZA)

Officials told AFP he did not plan to make a statement on the country reaching 10,000 deaths.

In the last 24 hours alone, the nation saw 10,611 new cases and 730 fatalities, Brazil's second-highest daily death toll, after a record set on Friday (751 deaths).

'Situation is dire'

Resisting pressure from Bolsonaro, the governors of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states have said they will extend the partial quarantine measures in force since March until the end of May.

The pandemic has given rise to ongoing governmental clashes, pitting the president against governors and mayors who have implemented social distancing and confinement measures to contain the virus' spread -- efforts supported by the country's Supreme Court.

Satere-mawe indigenous men navigate the Ariau River during the coronavirus 

pandemic at the Sahu-Ape community located some 80 kilometers from Manaus 

in Amazonas State on May 5 (AFP Photo/RICARDO OLIVEIRA)

In announcing that his state's lockdown would be prolonged, Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria said Friday: "We are at the height of this pandemic. The situation is dire."

His southeastern state of almost 46 million inhabitants has seen more than 3,600 deaths and over 44,400 cases.

Neighboring Rio de Janeiro state, home to more than 16 million people, follows with 1,653 deaths and 16,929 infections. Less populated states such as Ceara, Pernambuco and Amazonas already have around a thousand dead each.

Amazonas, home to a number of indigenous tribes that are extremely vulnerable to the virus, has recorded 232 deaths per million inhabitants, almost three times the rate in Sao Paulo state.

Workers dig graves at Nossa Senhora Cemetery in Manaus, Brazil on May 8 

amid the coronavirus pandemic (AFP Photo/MICHAEL DANTAS)

While Brazil's coronavirus peak is not expected for several more weeks, seven states have already seen their intensive care units fill to 90 percent capacity.

Bolsonaro, who has compared the coronavirus to a "little flu," tweeted Saturday that the country's "army of unemployed continues to grow" in reference to a factory closure in the northeast, before asking "is chaos coming?"

On Thursday the country's economy minister, Paulo Guedes, said Brazil could face "economic collapse" in a month's time due to stay-at-home measures.

According to the IMF, Brazil risks a 5.3 percent contraction in GDP this year.

Worldwide the virus has claimed more than 277,000 lives and the number of coronavirus cases has surpassed four million, according to an AFP tally.

Torment in Ecuador: virus dead piled up in bathrooms

Yahoo – AFP, AFP reporters with Paola LOPEZ in Quito, April 29, 2020

Health ministry personnel test a woman for the novel coronavirus in northern
Guayaquil, Ecuador, on April 19, 2020 (AFP Photo/Jose SANCHEZ)

Guayaquil (Ecuador) (AFP) - Front line medics in one of Latin America's coronavirus epicenters are lifting the lid on the daily horrors they face in an Ecuadoran city whose health system has collapsed.

In one hospital in Guayaquil overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, staff have had to pile up bodies in bathrooms because the morgues are full, health workers say.

In another, a medic told AFP that doctors have been forced to wrap up and store corpses to be able to reuse the beds they died on.

Ecuador has recorded close to 23,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 600 deaths, with Guayaquil by far its worst affected city. But the real toll is thought to be far higher.

A 35-year-old nurse at the first hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the trauma of what he saw had affected him professionally and personally.

When the health emergency broke out in March, every nurse went from caring for 15 patients to 30 in the space of just 24 hours, he added.

"So many people arrived that... they were practically dying in our hands," said the nurse.

Patients were discharged or referred to other facilities "to free up all these beds" for coronavirus patients, he told AFP.

"They took out anesthesia machines from operating rooms to replace them with ventilators.

"People are alone, sad, the treatment wreaks havoc on the gastrointestinal tract, some defecate; they feel bad and think they will always feel that way, and they see that the person next to them starts to suffocate and scream that they need oxygen."

It isn't just hospitals that have been overwhelmed, but morgues too.

"The morgue staff wouldn't take any more, so many times we had to wrap up bodies and store them in the bathrooms," the nurse said.

Only when the bodies were "stacked up six or seven high did they come to collect them."

A 26-year-old colleague, also a nurse, confirmed the chaotic scenes.

"There were many dead in the bathrooms, many lying on the floors, many dead in armchairs," she told AFP.

Workers make coffins at the Angel Maria Canals cemetery in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 

on April 9, 2020 (AFP Photo/Jose Sánchez)

'Sanitary disaster'

Guayaquil's health system has collapsed under the pressure of the coronavirus, and it seems to be having catastrophic knock-on effects.

In the first half of April, the province of Guayas, whose capital is Guayaquil, recorded 6,700 deaths, more than three times the monthly average.

The disparity suggests that the real COVID-19 death toll is far greater than the official nationwide tally of fewer than 600.

President Lenin Moreno has acknowledged that Ecuador's official coronavirus tallies "are short" of the true figures.

A 28-year-old doctor at a second Guayaquil hospital, who also insisted on anonymity, conjured a similarly grim picture of health services in crisis.

"Bodies were in the corridors of the emergency ward because the morgue was full," the medic told AFP, describing "20 to 25 corpses" waiting to be taken away.

"It was up to us to collect and wrap the corpse and store it so we could disinfect the bed for the next patient," he added.

At the first hospital, refrigerated containers were brought in to store bodies, some of which remained for up to 10 days.

Some family members "break the covers... so the fluids come out. It's a sanitary disaster," said the 35-year-old male nurse.

A paramedic enters the disinfection booth outside the emergency room of the IESS 

Sur Hospital in Quito on April 18, 2020 (AFP Photo/RODRIGO BUENDIA)

'It kills you psychologically'

The number of daily deaths fell last week but that was scant consolation for this nurse, who says he is tormented by what he has experienced.

When he goes home, after a 24-hour shift, his feet hurting, he tries to rest but then the "nightmare" strikes.

He dreams of running until he falls and knocks "open the bathroom door with the number of bodies... and you can't go back to sleep."

His home life has also changed. He is following strict isolation so cannot see his parents or brother.

When he goes home he begins his ritual of disinfecting his car and shoes, hosing himself down on the patio before washing his clothes in hot water.

"I eat on a plastic table away from everyone. I leave my home with a mask, I can't hug anyone, not even the pets," he said.

Every now and then he thinks about the psychological mark left on him every time he has to make do with hooking them up to cannula tubes when what they really need is a ventilator.

"They tell you, 'It's okay -- give them oxygen and a slow drip serum and leave them,'" he told AFP.

"But what if that was my mom? What if it was my dad? That kills you. It kills you psychologically."

AFP sought comment from health authorities in Guayaquil but did not get a reply.

A national public health authority official said he had been in an emergency unit in Guayaquil where bodies were piled up.

"A morgue for eight deceased persons and you have to manage 150 bodies, what can you do? You have to put them anywhere nearby that you have space," he told AFP.

The official said the number of cases in Guayaquil rose dramatically and rapidly in a matter of days, overwhelming an inadequate emergency healthcare system.

"There was such a speed of contagion that it reflected a large number of seriously ill and a large number of deaths at a specific time," he said.

Peru police arrest Chinese man for illegal COVID-19 testing

Yahoo – AFP, April 13, 2020

A Peruvian police photo showing Chinese citizen Zhang Tianxing (R) after his arrest
for the unauthorized use of stolen COVID-19 tests in a street in Lima, on April 12,
2020 (AFP Photo)

Police in Lima on Sunday arrested a Chinese citizen for illegally conducting rapid COVID-19 tests on the public with newly-delivered kits stolen from Peru's health ministry.

Tianxing Zhang, 36, was arrested in the Brena district of Lima as he was about to take samples from two women at the door of their house, police said.

He "was proceeding to carry out rapid tests for COVID-19 that he had stolen" from the Lima Sur health authority where he worked, according to a police statement.

Zhang was wearing a mask and a light blue medical apron at the time of his arrest by the state security police.

Both women had paid him to carry out a rapid home test, without health ministry approval.

"When questioned, he acknowledged he was not authorized to carry out this rapid test and that the Rapid Diagnostic Tests had been stolen from the Directorate of Integrated Health Network of Lima Sur where he had worked," the police said.

According to the police, the bespectacled Zhang confessed to stealing two batches of the test to use, for monetary gain, on people who suspected they were ill with the coronavirus.

Police found a backpack with 25 COVID-19 tests and other medical supplies at his home.

President Martin Vizcarra said on Wednesday that 330,000 rapid tests kits had arrived in Peru and were distributed to all parts of the country.

The health ministry reported it has carried out 45,272 rapid tests to April 12.

The South American country has so far registered 7,519 infections, with 193 deaths.

Spanish king distances himself from scandal-hit father

Yahoo – AFP, March 15, 2020

Juan Carlos handed over power to his son, Felipe in 2014 (AFP Photo/Juanjo Martín)

Madrid (AFP) - King Felipe VI of Spain moved Sunday to distance himself from his scandal-hit father, stripping him of his palace allowance and renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

A statement from the palace announced that he had stripped the former king Juan Carlos, of his allowance and was himself renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

The announcement came after media reports that Juan Carlos had received 100 million dollars (90 million euros) from Saudi Arabia via an offshore account -- and that King Felipe himself was also a beneficiary.

The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account in the name of a Panamanian foundation.

In the palace statement, the reigning king said that in April he had made it clear to a notary that he would accept no money from the foundation in question.

He also that he had absolutely no knowledge of having been named as a beneficiary to another foundation, which according to press reports paid millions of euros towards his father's flights in private jets.

On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament decided against launching an investigation into suspected money laundering by the former king Juan Carlos.

Reported Saudi payments to ex-king

Spain's hard-left Podemos party had called for it after reports earlier this month that in 2008 Juan Carlos received $100 million from Saudi king Abdallah via the Swiss account of an entity listed in Panama.

The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve added that in 2012, $65 million of that sum was given by the king to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Then a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph said that 52-year-old King Felipe was also a beneficiary of the fund, which it said had been set up when Juan Carlos was still on the throne.

Juan Carlos, now 82, came to the throne after the death of the military dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and is widely respected for having favoured a transition to democracy.

But he lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, in June 2014 following a 39-year reign.

He resigned from public life last year after a series of scandals about his private life.

In 2012, he outraged Spaniards by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

Spanish reports say Juan Carlos has until now received an annual allowance from the state of more than 194,000 euros.

Pope urges Amazon 'outrage' but stays silent on married priests

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine MARCIANO, Alexandria SAGE,  February 12, 2020

Pope Francis failed to recommend the controversial idea of married priests
(AFP Photo/Filippo MONTEFORTE)

Rome (AFP) - Pope Francis on Wednesday pleaded for social justice and environmental respect for the Amazon basin, but did not recommend the controversial idea of married priests.

In a highly anticipated text, Francis urged Catholics to "feel outrage" over the exploitation of indigenous people and destruction of land devastated by illegal mining and deforestation.

But there was no mention of priestly marriage, a controversial suggestion made by Amazon bishops last October as a way to increase the number of priests who could perform Mass in remote areas.

Instead, the pope argued for more missionaries and for women and lay people to take larger roles in the region. He also urged more training for priests to better interact with Amazonian cultures.

Francis has weighed in before on the hotly debated question of whether to allow "viri probati" -- married "men of proven virtue" -- to join the priesthood in remote locations.

In January last year, he said he did not believe that optional celibacy should be allowed but conceded "some possibilities for far-flung places", a statement that opened the door to speculation that he might make an exception for the Amazon.

In 2017, Francis convened 184 bishops -- over 60 percent of whom hailed from the Amazon region -- to reflect on the Amazon.

Among other proposals in a final document, the bishops suggested ordaining "suitable and esteemed men of the community" who had "a legitimately constituted and stable family".

But the suggestion aroused fierce opposition from traditionalists within the Church, concerned that exceptions could pave the way to the abolition of priest celibacy globally.

Francis' text released on Wednesday was a so-called apostolic exhortation in response to the bishops' document.

'Injustice and crime'

Francis has made his name as a defender of the marginalised -- whether the poor, migrants or prisoners -- and his Amazon text focused on the local people's "history of suffering".

Saying the Amazon's ecological problems should not be separated from social ones, he highlighted how marginalised indigenous people were forced out of their homes by illegal deforestation and mining.

Those people were now living on the outskirts of cities marked by "an increase of xenophobia, sexual exploitation and human trafficking," he wrote.

"We need to feel outrage, as Moses did, as Jesus did, as God does in the face of injustice. It is not good for us to become inured to evil," wrote the pope.

"The businesses, national or international, which harm the Amazon and fail to respect the right of the original peoples to the land and its boundaries, and to self-determination and prior consent, should be called for what they are: injustice and crime."

However, Francis acknowledged the challenges faced by the Church in remote areas of the Amazon, urging bishops to send out more young missionaries, in keeping with his status as the first pope from the Jesuit order -- famous for its missionary work.

The pope stressed the need for ministers who could "understand Amazonian sensibilities and cultures from within" and highlighted the potential role for nuns as well as lay women and men.

"It is not simply a question of facilitating a greater presence of ordained ministers who can celebrate the Eucharist," he wrote.

Among those he hinted could take a bigger role in the Amazon were "permanent deacons" -- men who serve as ministers in the Church but are not priests and so can be married.

Related Articles:

Bishops urge Pope to open priesthood to married men in Amazon

Representatives of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups attended the 

synod with Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

Pope blames Amazon fires on destructive 'interests'

Pope 'opens door' to female deacons with new panel

Pope Francis' No. 2: Clerical celibacy is open to discussion
Pope Francis visits John Paul II's shrine

Church of England creates second female bishop

Church of England’s first female bishop named as Libby Lane

Church of England General Synod approves female bishops

Jubilation as Church of England's synod votes to allow female bishops

Clerics at the Church of England synod in York take a 'selfie' as they celebrate

after the vote to allow female bishops. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

In El Salvador, government effort against gangs bears fruit

Yahoo – AFP, Carlos Mario MARQUEZ, February 8, 2020

Suspected members of the Barrio 18 gang are pictured at Isidro Menendez
Justice Court in San Salvador on February 6 (AFP Photo/MARVIN RECINOS)

San Salvador (AFP) - Since his arrival in office in June, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has stepped up the country's war on criminal gangs, an effort that is bearing fruit according to experts who point to a falling murder rate.

The country of 6.5 million is one of the most violent in the world and its citizens also face chronic poverty which has prompted many to flee northward towards the United States, including in infamous migrant caravans.

In January El Salvador recorded 119 murders, its lowest monthly tally since the end of its civil war in 1992, the president said recently.

Its murder rate, meanwhile, has dropped massively between 2018 and 2019, from 51 to 35.6 inhabitants per 100,000.

When Bukele assumed office, criminal gangs intensified their activity in an apparent attempt to force the new government to make concessions such as easing jail conditions, analysts said.

A guard wathes over suspected Barrio 18 gang members at Isidro Menendez 

Justice Court in San Salvador on February 6 (AFP Photo/MARVIN RECINOS)

Far from buckling, the government toughened its stance on jailed gang members.

"The message was clear: The gangs know that if they challenge the president, the jailed leaders will pay the consequences," said analyst Juan Ramon Medrano, a professor at Francisco Gavidia University.

Gangs holding back 

Justice and Security Minister Rogelio Rivas has repeated several times: "Now the government is in control of the country's prisons."

El Salvador's criminal gangs, which are involved in extortion, drug-trafficking and other crime, boast around 70,000 members, including 17,000 who are incarcerated.

According to Janette Aguilar, a researcher at the Central American University (UCA) of El Salvador, pressure from authorities has led to the gangs reigning in their activities.

Suspected members of the Barrio 18 gang are pictured at the Isidro Menendez 

Justice Court in San Salvador on February 6 (AFP Photo/MARVIN RECINOS)

She suggested that "an agreement has been reached between the main rival gangs" Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, more commonly known as MS-13, to reign in their violent activities against each other.

Carlos Carcach, a researcher from the Higher School of Economics and Business said that "something is happening inside the gangs that explains them reducing their violence levels."

Bukele, 38, enjoys sky-high popularity ratings and his security policies have been well-received among weary Salvadorans.

Medrano says the public believes that under Bukele the police, with help from the military, are "trying harder" to combat criminal gangs while working "more intelligently."

Extortion still rampant

While there are fewer murders not all of the gangs' activities are on the decline.

Suspected members of the Barrio 18 gang are pictured in custody at Isidro 

Menendez Justice Court in San Salvador on February 6 (AFP Photo/MARVIN RECINOS)

"There's been no decrease in extortion, which is the gangs' oxygen," said Medrano.

The president's biggest challenge is "to stop extortion and get to the root of the problem," which means preventing the gangs from recruiting new young members, he added.

But to do that, "youngsters need to have the opportunity to work and study to better themselves," he said.

Greater reduction of gang violence would open the way for more investment in El Salvador's poorest communities therefore helping the youngsters, he added.