The end of 1990 brought us at least two motives for dedicating this issue to women: the tenth anniversary of the kidnapping and death of Guatemalan feminist Alaíde Foppa, and the fifth feminist encounter, held in Argentina last November, where Latin American and Caribean women defined outlines for future work. The loss of Alaíde was a painful one, for she was muclh more than a feminist or a social fighter against repression and all kinds of opression; she was a poet, a writer, a journalist, an extraordinary human being and, aboye all, a fighter for human dignity. And precisely because of that Alaíde is still present, thanks to what she gave to all of us and to the world. This small homage is completed with articles about the presence of women in other walks of life: the way they face work conditions in the in-bond industries of Tijuana; their presence as indigenous peasants, in Oaxaca, and outside their habitat: Mazahua women in Mexico City trying to survive in an urban jungle by creating a crafts cooperative. We present articles on how women deal with elections, economic crises, and political participation in a wide variety of social organizations. lssues such as rape are still difficult to discuss and the, society finds it hard to accept the growing and stronger femenine participation in important political decisions on something that seems to be permanent throughout history: sexual abuse. Perhaps this is so because discussion on this subject has always been silenced. We also present an interview with an interviewer herself: Elena Poniatowska, whose joyful commentaries on life give a touch of sympathy and warmth, and three essays on prose and poetry books written by women who dare to give free expression to their erotic imagination.