Latin America in Short: Protests in Ecuador | Colombian suceeds at NASA

This week the protests continued in Ecuador, putting its president, Guillermo Lasso, in a difficult situation. In global news, an earthquake shakes Afghanistan and Austrian scientists warn of a new strain of gonorrhea. As for positive news, a Colombian is selected by NASA among its group of flight directors. Finally, in sports, FIFA publishes an alarming report on cyber harassment of players. Find the most relevant of the week summarized here.

National strike in Ecuador continues and the negotiated exit stalls

The demonstrations that began as a protest by indigenous movements demanding a drop in fuel prices have been going on for more than 10 days and do not seem to have an end in sight. Leonidas Iza, the leader of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador and who is the visible head of the protests, assured that he will not meet with President Guillermo Lasso until he lifts the state of emergency and withdraws the military and police from critical points where the protest has developed. This, despite the fact that President Lasso has announced 10 proposals that would closely meet the 10 requests of the protesters. The Minister of Government, Francisco Jiménez, assured that "To dialogue, two parties are needed and we are willing (…) But it cannot be with impositions or with the kidnapping of an entire country or an entire Government."

While the dialogue stalls, the violence escalates and the confrontations that have reached Quito, leave at least 2 dead and several wounded.

Read also: Guillermo Lasso in Crisis: Protests in Ecuador Exceed the Week

Afghanistan recovers from deadliest earthquake in decades

Last Wednesday at dawn, a strong earthquake measuring 5.9 degrees on the Richter scale shook southeastern Afghanistan and has so far left more than 1,000 people dead and 1,500 injured. The area bordering Pakistan is one of the poorest in the already impoverished country, to whom the arrival of power by the Taliban and international isolation has made foreign support difficult. Despite the work of rescuers, Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, head of the Information and Culture Department of Paktika, told the AFP agency that "all the houses are destroyed. People are still trapped under the rubble."

Additionally, weather conditions have made work difficult and the chances of finding survivors are diminishing, so the number of fatalities could increase.

One of NASA's new flight directors is Colombian

NASA selected seven new flight directors. Diana Trujillo, a Colombian engineer, is the only Latina who will be part of this group. This is a team of experts that will oversee the operations of the International Space Station missions, the commercial crew and the Artemis program. “These highly qualified individuals will be responsible for keeping astronauts safe and executing human spaceflight missions,” NASA Director of Flight Operations Norm Knight said in an official statement.

A new strain of gonorrhea ultra-resistant to antibiotics puts scientists on alert

Austrian scientists have published a study in the scientific journal Eurosurveillance warning of a case of a strain of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea that has shown to be extremely resistant to drugs. The research warns that this strain was not eliminated with antibiotics such as azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime and tetracycline, commonly used in treatment. The various strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the scientific name for gonorrhea, which are multidrug-resistant and resistant, are becoming a major concern for public health in the world. Experts point out that efforts must be made so that there is no sustained spread of said strain.

La FIFA published a report on discrimination and harassment in football

FIFA published a report stating that more than half of all players in the European Championship and African Cup of Nations finals were subjected to some form of online discrimination. The study analyzed more than 514 online posts that were abusive against gamers. Among other things, it was also found that 40% of the attacks were of a homophobic nature and 38% of a racist nature.

In addition to this report, FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated that: "This form of discrimination, like any form of discrimination, has no place in football."