How Trump’s policies could reverse decades of progress in Latin America’s HIV response

It was nearly 30 years ago when Rosember Lopez received a life-altering diagnosis: he was HIV positive.

It was nearly 30 years ago when Rosember Lopez received a life-altering diagnosis: He was HIV positive. With scant government resources for HIV support at the time in Mexico, Lopez joined advocacy groups to secure the funding he needed for medication to help him survive. “In the first years after my diagnosis, it was very difficult for me,” he told CNN. “We had to fight for access to medications,” he added of himself and others with the disease. The experience inspired him to start his own organization in Tapachula, in southern Mexico, to help destigmatize HIV with the help of funding from the United States. Today, his is one of dozens of aid groups across Latin America in jeopardy due to the Trump administration’s freeze on almost all international aid and the gutting of the US’ global development network. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a George W. Bush-era program that has enjoyed bipartisan support, was among those hit by US President Donald Trump’s actions. Relief groups have warned that halting programs such as PEPFAR could pose a risk to the lives of millions of people who will have to stop their HIV treatment, potentially opening the door to a HIV resurgence.