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Oscar El Blue
Oscar “Blue” Ramirez
Journalist and international correspondent
Oscar Ramírez is a Mexican journalist from Tijuana, Baja California, graduated in Communication and radio announcer.
Recognized for his experience in international migration issues, he has traveled and documented all the borders of northern Mexico with the United States. In the south of the country, he has walked and registered more than 12 migrant caravans, in addition to documenting the route of the Central American Triangle and crossing the dangerous Darién jungle on four occasions, between Panama and Colombia - one of the deadliest routes in the world for migrants.
As a war correspondent, he has covered international conflicts in Ukraine (border with Russia) and in the Middle East, reporting from Israel with the borders of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
Currently, Oscar Ramírez works as a bilingual correspondent for various media and is part of the international team of Real America's Voice News, a recognized media in the United States.
In 2023, he was awarded at the Congress of Colombia with the Diana Turbay Award, one of the most important journalistic recognitions in the country, for its coverage and documentation of the migratory route through the Darién jungle.
Beyond his informative work, Oscar Ramírez has distinguished himself for his humanitarian journalism, focused on giving voice and face to the stories of migrants and communities affected by violence and international conflicts.
By Sabrina Padrón. Lisbon — October 2025
The Parliament of Portugal approved a historic law that bans the use of the burqa and the niqab, the Islamic full-face veils, in most public spaces. The measure, promoted by the Chega party, marks an unprecedented turn in the country’s social policy and sparks an intense debate about the limits between religious freedom and public security.
With 137 votes in favor and 85 against, the legislation was approved on October 17, 2025, establishing fines of 200 to 4,000 euros for those who cover their faces in public places without medical, work or cultural justification.
A measure that divides Europe
The Portuguese government argues that the law seeks to guarantee citizen security and gender equality, noting that the full veil “prevents personal identification and perpetuates inequality between men and women.”
However, various human rights sectors and religious leaders have denounced the measure as a violation of freedom of religion, protected by article 41 of the Portuguese Constitution.
According to estimates by the Pew Research Center, the Muslim community in Portugal represents only 0.4% of the population, that is, around 45,000 people, in a country of more than 10.3 million inhabitants.Despite the decline proportion, the law has generated a wave of international criticism, especially from organizations that warn that the law fuels Islamophobia in Europe.
Europe and the “domino effect” of religious prohibitions
Portugal joins the seven European countries that have already implemented similar restrictions: France, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Bulgaria, Norway and Switzerland.
France, which pioneered the burqa ban in 2010, has imposed more than 2,000 sanctions since then, although the French Interior Ministry itself admitted that the law had a “symbolic rather than practical” impact, affecting less than 0.02% of women Muslims.
According to a report by the Council of Europe (2024), more than 65 million Muslims currently live in Europe, and 27% claim to have suffered discrimination or rejection due to their religious dress.
A study by the University of Copenhagen (2023) on European integration policies revealed that 54% of European citizens support restrictions on the use of religious clothing that covers the face, while 38% consider them a violation of rights individual.
Between religion and identity
Islam has had a historical presence in Portugal since the 8th century, and today it has more than 60 mosques and cultural centers distributed mainly in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve. The Lisbon Islamic Commission described the measure as “a blow to coexistence.” peaceful” and warned that it could increase the marginalization of Muslim women who decide to cover themselves out of their own conviction.
“No one should be forced to cover themselves, nor to uncover themselves. True freedom consists in choosing,” declared Fátima Amrani, spokesperson for the Islamic community in the Portuguese capital.
For his part, the leader of the Chega party, André Ventura, celebrated the approval of the law as “a victory of national identity and Western values against religious radicalism,” adding that Portugal “cannot repeat the integration errors that Central Europe is experiencing.”
International Reactions
The measure has provoked mixed reactions throughout Europe. The European Commission recalled that Member States are free to legislate on public security, but stressed that they must respect the principles of religious freedom and non-discrimination.
In Spain, the issue revived the political debate. Some sectors of the Spanish Congress have already proposed reviewing the legislation on religious symbols in public spaces. Meanwhile, in Morocco and Türkiye—Muslim-majority countries—the news has been received with indignation and labels of “cultural regression.”
The Political Background
The rise of the Chega party, which won 16.7% of the vote in the last national election, has changed the political tone of traditionally moderate Portugal. Experts from the Portuguese Institute of Social Studies (IPES) warn that this law “is part of a narrative that seeks to reinforce national identity in the face of European multiculturalism.”
“We are facing a Europe that is more ideologically divided than ever,” explained Rui Almeida, political analyst. “The discourse on security and traditional values has become the new tool of power for the continent’s populist parties.”
A border between freedom and control
Although the number of women who wear the burqa or niqab in Portugal does not exceed a hundred, the symbolic impact of the law is enormous. Defenders maintain that it is a step towards the “visibility and protection” of women; Detractors warn that the door is opening to a new form of state control over personal expression.
Editor and human rights analystSabrina Padrón, this type of decision “represents the permanent tension between the right to cultural identity and the duty of States to protect security and social cohesion.”
Sabrina Padrón – International Analysis Editor @sabrinavisualmedia / x @sabripadron
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