What I said is that the total bans on abortion make Nicaragua's and El Salvador's abortion laws more repressive than Iran's and other Middle Eastern countries'. If you and Tariq Ali* don't think that disqualifies FMLN, the Nicaraguan government, and FSLN from being "left social democratic," isn't that because they aren't Islamic and that the Catholic Ortega** is better than the Muslim Ahmadinejad in your eye, once again Islam making an automatic difference in your judgment?
* <http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1942828,00.html> A beacon of hope for the rebirth of Bolívar's dream A shadow of his former self, Ortega's victory is still an expression of the wider demand for change sweeping Latin America
Tariq Ali Thursday November 9, 2006 The Guardian
Daniel Ortega, blessed by the church, flanked by a former Contra as his vice-president and still loathed by the US ambassador, may be a sickly shadow of his former self, but his victory undoubtedly reflects the desire of Nicaraguans for change. Will Managua follow the radically redistributive policies of anti-imperialist Caracas or confine itself to rhetoric and remain a client of the International Monetary Fund?
** As I mentioned on PEN-l (was <http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/pen-l/2006w42/msg00042.htm>), there was a better candidate than Ortega:
Apparently, Nicaragua is heading into the direction of El Salvador on abortion, the Total Ban (for which the FMLN voted in El Salvador in the end), and Ortega supports total criminalization, while Jarquín has come out in favor of therapeutic abortion.
<blockquote>In the proposed reform bill, the doctors that carried out that operation would have been liable for 30 years imprisonment. The bill has support from powerful church groups, both Catholic and evangelical, as well as from prominent political parties. Notably, Daniel Ortega, former President and upcoming candidate for the leftist Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), has backed the reform, calling for the political process to be sped up. The president of the National Assembly, Sandinista René Núñez, told church leaders, "We join with you, with the bishops of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua and with the pastors of the evangelical churches, to seek the quickest path so that the current Penal Code will be reformed." ("Nicaragua to Ban Abortion," 13 October 2006, <http://libcom.org/news/nicaragua-to-ban-abortion-13102006>)</blockquote>
<blockquote>Topic 4: Abortion Becomes a Campaign Issue
Four of the five presidential candidates declared themselves against abortion this week in reaction to a statement by Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) candidate Edmundo Jarquín who last week said he supported therapeutic abortion. [Under Nicaraguan law, a woman whose life or health is at risk can obtain a therapeutic abortion with the signatures of three doctors.] While the candidates stated in general that they opposed abortion and were "pro-life" they carefully avoided committing themselves on therapeutic abortion. Jarquín was accused by both Alternative for Change (AC) candidate Edén Pastora and the FSLN Alliance vice presidential candidate Jaime Morales of having converted to European morals after having lived several years in Spain.
Representatives of the Catholic Church also took the opportunity to reiterate their position against abortion under any circumstances. "Those who promote the death of a person, of a baby, are murderers," said Aberlardo Mata, Bishop of Estelí.
Juana Jiménez, representative of the Women against Violence Network, defended Jarquín's controversial statement saying that on this issue the Catholic Church's position should not be followed "because they will always make their beliefs prevail over women's rights." Jiménez went on to say that two MRS deputy candidates, Violeta Delgado and Azahalia Solís, are members of the Autonomous Women's Movement which is a pro choice organization. ("Nicaragua Network Hotlines for August 23, 2006," <http://www.nicanet.org/hotline.php?id=230#topic4>)</blockquote>
<blockquote><http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6046502.stm> Friday, 13 October 2006, 01:09 GMT 02:09 UK Nicaragua eyes new abortion curbs By Will Grant BBC Americas editor
Pro-choice demonstrators were snubbed by MPs at a march this week Nicaragua's parliament has moved closer to reforming the penal code to extend the ban on abortions to include cases where the mother's life is at risk.
The reform has been put before its judicial commission, which has 10 days to decide on whether it should be voted on by a full session of the assembly.
There is grave concern among pro-choice groups that the reform will become law in the near future.
Chile and Colombia have by contrast been relaxing their own abortion laws.
In 2003, the public prosecutor's office in Nicaragua ruled that an abortion carried out on a nine-year-old girl who had been raped was legal, as it had been done in order to save her life.
However, if a proposal put before the parliament's judicial committee becomes law, the doctors that carried out that abortion could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
Pro-choice and women's rights groups fear it will indeed become law, and soon.
A march led by key figures from the Catholic and evangelical churches in Nicaragua supporting reform of the abortion law attracted thousands of participants while protesters on the counter-march were snubbed by members of parliament when they arrived at the National Assembly building.
'Total ban looms'
The anti-abortion lobby can also count on some powerful allies.
Anti-abortion demonstrator in Managua this week - message reads "Mother, I want to meet you" One pregnant demonstrator used her stomach to spread her message
The front-runner in the presidential election, Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega, has expressed his support for the anti-abortion groups and is in favour of speeding up the process by which this reform is debated.
The president of the judicial committee, Liberal MP Noel Pereira Majano, has voiced his opposition to the proposal, calling Nicaraguan society "mad".
He said they were trying to do something as sensitive as reforming the abortion law at a time when political passions were running high, during an election campaign.
However, although Mr Pereira's committee has the power to throw out the reform, there is no indication that enough of his fellow committee members share his view to stop it moving forward.
As such, many Nicaraguans fear that the momentum is now behind a complete ban on abortion.</blockquote> -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>