Letters to the Editor: South American women need a lot more than a visit by Ivanka Trump

To the editor: Ivanka Trump’s visits to South American countries meant to empower local women are pointless.

South American women do not need Trump to make them feel empowered. Instead they need education, good jobs, equal treatment, respect and reproductive rights, among other things.

I can only wonder about how much U.S. taxpayer money was spent on Trump’s jaunt and how much the host countries spent on arranging the banquets and other ceremonies. Trump and a delegation of senior U.S. officials were transported on a U.S. Air Force jet, rode in a protective vehicle convoy and spent money on other items.

Now that the first daughter has returned to the United States, let’s go and ask some of the South American women how much more empowered they feel after Trump’s trip.

Hugo Pastore, Lomita

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To the editor: At the time when her father is cutting Planned Parenthood funding in the United States and negatively affecting reproductive health programs across the globe, it is rather hypocritical for Trump to travel in South America to talk about empowering women.

To truly empower women, we need to provide young girls with education and provide teenage girls in parts of the world with sanitary products. All over the world, women must have information on and affordable access to family planning.

Hillary Clinton famously said, “Women’s rights are human rights.” Give women our rights, and we will empower ourselves.

Donna Handy, Santa Barbara