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INTERNATIONAL EDITION | THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2021

SUBTLY ICONICPRINCE PHILIP’SFASHION SENSEPAGE 11 | STYLE

SINGING BY SIGNFROM HEART,THROUGH HANDSPAGE 13 | CULTURE

MUSTANG MARKETINGLURING JOB RECRUITSWITH ‘GREEN’ PERKSPAGE 6 | BUSINESS

they lock him up,” the girl told The NewYork Times.

In Venezuela, the case, made public inlocal and international press earlier thisyear, has become a point of outrage forwomen’s rights activists, who say it

She wore a ponytail and a red T-shirt,the words “Glitter Girl” sketched acrossthe front.

Gripping her mother’s hand, shespoke softly, describing how she hadbeen forced out of school by Venezuela’seconomic crisis, and then had beenraped at least six times by a neighbor-hood predator who threatened to harmher family if she spoke out. At just 13, shebecame pregnant.

With her mother, she sought out a doc-tor, who told her the pregnancy endan-gered her life, and then a former teacher,who provided pills that induced an abor-tion.

But ending a pregnancy is illegal in al-most all circumstances in Venezuela.And now the girl was speaking up, shesaid, because her teacher, VannesaRosales, was in jail, facing more than adecade in prison for helping her end apregnancy — while the accused rapistremained free.

“Every day I pray to God that she isreleased, that there is justice and that

demonstrates the way the country’s eco-nomic and humanitarian crisis hasstripped away protections for youngwomen and girls. (The Times is notidentifying the girl because she is a mi-nor.)

The country’s decline, presided overby President Nicolás Maduro and exac-erbated by U.S. sanctions, has crippledschools, closed community programs,sent millions of parents abroad and evis-cerated the justice system, leavingmany vulnerable to violent actors whoflourish with impunity.

But the girl’s assault and Ms. Rosa-les’s arrest have also become a rallyingcry for activists who say it is time forVenezuela to have a serious discussionabout legalizing abortion, an issue, theyargue, that is more important than ever.

The crisis has curtailed access to birthcontrol, gutted maternity wards andcreated widespread hunger, often trap-ping women between the functioning oftheir bodies and the cruelties of a crum-bling state, denying millions the abilityto control their lives.

In January, the president of Venezue-la’s Maduro-controlled National Assem-bly, Jorge Rodríguez, surprised many bysaying he was at least open to a discus-sion on the issue.

The country’s penal code, which datesto the 1800s, criminalizes abortion innearly all cases, with punishments forpregnant women lasting six months totwo years and for abortion providers VENEZUELA, PAGE 2

A mother embracing her 13-year-old daughter, who was repeatedly raped. The girl had an abortion that has started a debate about legalizing the procedure in Venezuela.PHOTOGRAPHS BY MERIDITH KOHUT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A rape becomes a rallying cryFor helping a 13-year-old get an abortion, 2 women in Venezuela were arrested

MÉRIDA, VENEZUELA

BY JULIE TURKEWITZAND ISAYEN HERRERA

Waiting for contraceptives in Caracas, Venezuela. The country criminalizes abortion innearly all cases, with punishments for women lasting six months to two years.

It was midafternoon on a Monday andthe Pritzker Prize-winning architectFrank Gehry — despite having justturned 92 in a pandemic, completed thetop floor of his building in the Grand Av-enue development in Los Angeles andprepared for a show of new sculpture atthe Gagosian Gallery — had little inter-est in sitting back to reflect on this po-tentially meaningful moment in his lifeand career.

Instead, he was on the move — givinghis first studio tour since the Covid-19outbreak and far more eager to discuss

the myriad designs he has underway,most of which have been proceeding.(Only a high-rise in Manhattan’s Hud-son Yards has stalled, and his office haslaid off eight of 170 employees as a re-sult.)

Projects include Los Angeles’s ver-sion of New York’s High Line, along theLos Angeles River; new office buildingsfor Warner Bros. in Burbank, Calif., andthe scenic design he’s doing for the jazzopera “Iphigenia,” by Wayne Shorterand Esperanza Spalding, which is head-ing to the Kennedy Center in Washing-ton in December. Nearly 3,000 milesaway, the Philadelphia Museum of Art isset to unveil its Gehry-designed renova-tion and interior expansion in May (anevent the architect plans to attend).

Asked whether, given his age and ac-complishments, he has considered tak-ing a break or scaling back, Gehry dis-missed the idea. “What would I do?” hesaid. “I enjoy this stuff.”FRANK GEHRY, PAGE 2

Frank Gehry said he has reached a point in his career where he has the luxury of focus-ing on what matters to him most: projects that promote social justice.

ERIK CARTER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

At 92, an architectwho is too busy to retireLOS ANGELES

Frank Gehry says he hastoo many projects on tapto take a break now

BY ROBIN POGREBIN

The New York Times publishes opinionfrom a wide range of perspectives inhopes of promoting constructive debateabout consequential questions.

He attends international conferences,meets with diplomats, recently inaugu-rated a dam and delivers patrioticspeeches vowing to defend his countryagainst the Taliban.

But how much control PresidentAshraf Ghani of Afghanistan has overhis imperiled country’s future and hisown has become a matter of debateamong politicians, analysts and citizens.Or rather, the question has been largelyresolved: not much.

From most vantage points, Mr. Ghani— well qualified for his job and deeplycredentialed, with Johns Hopkins,Berkeley, Columbia, the World Bank andthe United Nations in his background —is thoroughly isolated. A serious authorwith a first-class intellect, he is depend-ent on the counsel of a handful and is un-willing to even watch television news,those who know him say. And he is los-ing allies fast.

That spells trouble for a countrywhere a hard-line Islamist insurgencyhas the upper hand militarily; wherenearly half the population faces hungerat crisis levels, according to the UnitedNations; where the overwhelming bal-ance of government money comes fromabroad; and where weak governanceand widespread corruption are en-demic.

Meanwhile, the Americans are pre-paring to pull out their last remainingtroops, a prospect expected to lead tothe medium-term collapse of the Afghanforces they now support. President Bi-den’s decision to withdraw U.S. combattroops by Sept. 11 signals an end to hisnation’s longest war and overruleswarnings from his military advisers thatthe departure could prompt a re-surgence of the same terrorist threatsthat sent hundreds of thousands oftroops into combat over the past 20years.

Of Mr. Ghani, Rahmatullah Nabil, aformer head of the country’s intelli-gence services, said, “He is in a desper-ate situation.”

“We’re getting weaker,” Mr. Nabilsaid. “Security is weak, everything isgetting weaker, and the Taliban are tak-ing advantage.”

The United States has distanced itselffrom Mr. Ghani, 71, and has workedaround him to deal with the Taliban andregional power brokers. Afghan war-lords, potent centers of alternative

Situation‘desperate’for leader ofAfghanistanKABUL, AFGHANISTAN

Security concerns mountas Ghani’s power withersand U.S. prepares to leave

BY ADAM NOSSITER

AFGHANISTAN, PAGE 4

After reading as much as I can about thelatest surge in illegal immigration alongour southern border, I’m still not clearhow much is seasonal, how much istriggered by President Biden’s an-nouncement that he was halting con-struction of Donald Trump’s border walland reviewing Trump’s asylum policies,and how much is just the lure of jobs in arapidly vaccinating United States.

But this latest flood of illegal immi-grants and asylum-seekers — morethan 170,000 apprehended in Marchalone, including thousands of children,mostly fleeing chaos in Central America

— only reinforcesmy view that theright border policyis a high wall with abig gate.

I wish we couldtake in everyonesuffering in theworld and give eacha shot at the Ameri-can dream, but wecan’t while main-taining our own

social cohesion, which is already frayingbadly enough. So, making immigrationpolicy today requires a tough-mindedbalance between hardheartedness andcompassion.

If we just emphasize the high wall,and wear cruelty as a badge of honor, asTrump did, we lose out on the hugebenefits of immigration. But if all we dois focus, as many on the left do, on theevils of a wall and ignore the principlesof a big gate — that would-be immi-grants and asylum-seekers need to getin line, ring our doorbell and enterlegally, and those who don’t should bequickly evicted — we will also lose outon the huge benefits of immigration.

Why? Because so many Americanswill think that the border is open and outof control that they will elect leaderswho will choke off all immigration,which is the lifeblood of the UnitedStates. Have no doubt, a seeminglyout-of-control border would be a god-send for the Trump G.O.P. — an emo-tional club even more evocative than themantra “Defund the police” with whichto beat Democratic candidates in themidterms.

Already, a recent ABC News/Ipsospoll found that 57 percent of Americansdisapprove of Biden’s handling of theborder.

U.S. needsa high wall,with a gate

OPINION

America couldend up with aCongress thatchokes off allimmigration,which is thecountry’slifeblood.

FRIEDMAN, PAGE 10

Thomas L. Friedman

BIDEN’S AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL PLANThough President Biden would neveruse the term, departure is part of hisown version of “America First.” PAGE 4

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