Colombia's unethical development

 

Alvaro Uribe Vélez, Colombia's president between 2002 and 2010, is as divisive a figure as his neighbor and long-time phoney-war sparring partner, Hugo Chávez. Lauded by the right for saving the country from the brink of despair (Farc guerrillas had famously arrived at the outskirts of the capital Bogotá) and loathed on the left for his dismal record on human rights, his world lecture tour has followed a predictable pattern – he speaks at business school receptions while protesters scream at him from the pavements.

 

For most of the decade, Uribe led the only country in South America, with the possible exception of Peru, that followed an orthodox neoliberal approach to economics and wanted no part of the anti-imperialist sentiment that swept most of the new left to power, maintaining exceptionally tight political links with the US.

 

Zika presents ethical quandary for Catholics

 

The rapid spread of the Zika virus isn’t just causing fear among pregnant women who worry that their babies might be born with damaged brains. It’s also causing an ethical dilemma for people of faith.

The Roman Catholic Church forbids all birth control but natural family planning, teaching that married couples should always be open to new life from God. But Latin American health officials are warning women not to get pregnant until Zika is under control, leaving married Catholics unsure what to do.

The church has not officially commented, but one priest and bioethicist at Boston College told CNN that it’s a conundrum the Vatican has not previously faced. I’ve never seen“ this advice before, and when you hear it, you think, ‘What are the bishops going to do?’” the Rev. John Paris told Elizabeth Cohen, CNN’s senior medical correspondent.