Reproductive Rights and Population Policies in Latin-America

Este artículo analiza el contexto en el que surgieron las primeras experiencias de planificación familiar en América Latina en los años sesenta. Los debates por el control de la natalidad reunieron a diferentes actores en una discusión de consecuencias perdurables. Dichos debates incluían la explosión demográfica, la implementación de programas de desarrollo promocionados por organismos internacionales, la creciente movilización social y política de su población, y las transformaciones en la sexualidad y los roles de género.This article examines the context in which early experiences of family planning appeared in Latin America in the sixties. The debates about birth control brought together different actors in a discussion of lasting consequences. These discussions included topics such as the demographic explosion, the implementation of development programs promoted by international agencies, the growing social and political mobilization of the population, and changes in sexuality and gender roles. The fundamental tension between population policies and individual decisions regarding birth is situated in a given scenario which provides some historical elements in order that we might reflect on the problems that reproductive rights have had in getting a foothold in the region