Debra Gittler

An Army soldier frisks a motorcyclist at a checkpoint outside Comasagua, El Salvador, on Oct. 6, 2022. In the controversial fight against crime by the conservative President Nayib Bukele, the military plays an important role in the Central American country. (Moises Castillo/AP)

Debra Gittler: What El Salvador teaches us about safety without democracy

September 5, 2025 at 3:25 p.m.

As troops are threatened for deployment in cities such as Chicago, we must ask: What is the value of security without democracy?

A Health Ministry worker fumigates for the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus at the Oriental Market in Managua, Nicaragua. Worries about the rapid spread of Zika through the hemisphere has prompted officials several Latin American countries to suggest women stop getting pregnant until the crisis has passed.

Being Pregnant Patient No. 1 for Zika in Chicago

May 11, 2019 at 8:06 a.m.

Last week, I reached the halfway point of my pregnancy. And officially became the first high-risk pregnancy for Zika exposure in Chicago. There are five confirmed cases of Zika in...

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