Biodun.BBC: Guatemala

Showing posts with label Guatemala. Show all posts

Sunday, March 15, 2020

ANALYSIS: As Latin America takes steps to counter coronavirus, Brazil's Bolsonaro snubs warnings

Issued on: 16/03/2020 - 03:44Modified: 16/03/2020 - 06:44 GMT/ZULU

People cover their faces while leaving Hospital Cosme Argerich, after the first fatality from coronavirus in Latin America was confirmed, in Buenos Aires, Argentina March 7, 2020. © REUTERS/ Mariana Greif

by Renee Celeste and Biodun Iginla, France24 News Analysts, Lima, Peru

Guatemala logged its first fatality from coronavirus on Sunday as nations in South and Central America ramped up measures to contain the infection, with Panama banning entry of non-resident foreigners and Honduras closing its borders to passenger traffic for a week.

ADVERTISING

The leaders of Argentina and Peru also announced border closures on Sunday to curb coronavirus. Argentina will close its borders for 15 days to non-residents, President Alberto Fernandez said in a televised press conference.

Public and private school classes would also be suspended until March 31, Fernandez said. National parks would be closed.

Argentina tightens travel restrictions

A day earlier, Argentina published a decree establishing a 30-day ban on entry to non-residents who have traveled to a country highly affected by coronavirus in the last 14 days.

The country has also temporarily stopped issuing visas to travellers from the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Britain and many European countries.

Peru suspends air and sea transport

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra said later on Sunday that Peru would also close its borders, suspending air and sea transport. He called on citizens to self-quarantine for 15 days to help slow the infection.

In Guatemala, Health Minister Hugo Monroy told a news conference the dead man was a 85-year-old who had recently returned from Madrid without showing signs of illness.

Doctors confirmed he had the virus early on Sunday, Monroy added. He later died in a private hospital.

Venezuela imposes "collective quarantine"

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday ordered a "collective quarantine" in seven states, including the capital Caracas to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic

Food distribution, health services, transport and security are exempted, Maduro said in a television address to his crisis-devastated nation where the economy had already collapsed long before the pandemic struck.

"The only way to contain the channels of transmission is to enter in a... drastic phase of collective quarantine throughout the country," said Maduro, adding the measures "deserves great social discipline, great self-control" and people should stay at home.

Caracas alone is home to six million people.

This latest measure to combat the pandemic comes after Maduro previously banned flights to and from Europe, Colombia, Panama and the Dominican Republic. He also suspended school and university classes, and sports events.

Venezuela reported seven new cases of the COVID-19 illness on Sunday, taking its total to 17.

Panama worst affected country in Central America

Panama, which has been the hardest hit in Central America, reported its first coronavirus death earlier this week. Panama's health minister Rosario Turner said the number of confirmed cases in the nation rose to 55 from 43 on Saturday.

From 11.59 p.m on Monday night, only Panamanians and foreign residents would be allowed to enter Panama, security minister Juan Pino said alongside Turner at a news conference.

Panama has ordered communal areas in hotels, discos, bars, and casinos and elsewhere closed, Turner said.

The government has also ordered shops in the country to be shut except supermarkets, pharmacies and medical centers. In addition, Panama has suspended elective surgical procedures and limited hospital visits by outpatients, Turner said.

Honduras imposes strict measures

On Sunday, Honduran police moved people off beaches and out of shops and cafes to enforce an order issued by the government on Saturday to prohibit gatherings of more than 50 people.

President Juan Orlando Hernandez said in a televised address that from one minute before midnight on Sunday, the country's borders would be closed for a week to all traffic, aside from the movement of goods.

All businesses in Honduras with a few exceptions including supermarkets, pharmacies, medical centers, hotels, gas stations and banks would be closed for the time being, Hernandez added.

Costa Rica's government has ordered the closure of all bars and discos as the tally of coronavirus infections in the country rose to 35, the health ministry said on Sunday.

Colombia restricts entry for foreigners

Colombia will block entry to travellers who are not residents or citizens and will close schools and universities from Monday in a bid to control the outbreak of coronavirus, President Ivan Duque said on Sunday.

Colombian citizens and foreign residents who arrive from March 16 will be required to perform an obligatory 14-day period of self isolation, Duque said on Twitter, while educators will start planning for students to study at home.

The Andean country reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 6, and its tally had risen to 34 cases by Sunday.

The government said it would close its border with Venezuela starting Saturday morning, following its earlier declaration of a health emergency, which suspended public gatherings of more than 500 people and blocked cruise ships from docking at its ports.

Brazil's Bolsonaro shrugs off advice

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took selfies with supporters and celebrated the thousands of protestors gathering in major cities on Sunday, just days after he had called for a suspension of the demonstrations due to the spreading coronavirus.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro meets supporters during a protest against Brazil's Congress and Brazilian Supreme Court in front the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil March 15, 2020. © REUTERS/Adriano Machado

Bolsonaro appeared to shrug off the advice of medical experts suggesting he remain isolated after several members of his delegation to Florida recently tested positive for the virus.

The president tested negative for the virus, as did U.S. President Donald Trump following their meeting, but newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo reported that Bolsonaro's medical team has suggested he remain isolated until early next week.

He will also take another test to rule out all chances that he has the virus, the paper reported on Friday.

Monday, January 20, 2020

BREAKING: U.S.-bound migrant caravan in tense standoff at border between Mexico and Guatemala

January 20, 2020 16H:36 GMT/ZULU

by Renee Celeste and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, TECUN UMAN, Guatemala

TECUN UMAN, Guatemala - A large caravan of Central Americans was preparing to cross the Guatemalan border into Mexico on Monday, posing a potential challenge to the Mexican government’s pledge to help the United States contain mass movements of migrants.

Migrants, part of a caravan travelling to the U.S., gather near the border between Guatemala and Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, January 20, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

The migrants were massed on a bridge connecting the two countries early on Monday morning in what appeared to be a tense standoff with Mexican migration officials and soldiers.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to punish Mexico and Central American countries economically if they fail to curb migrant flows, resulting in a series of agreements aimed at taking pressure off the United States in absorbing the numbers.

Migrants crossed into Mexico in small groups during the weekend after Mexican security officials blocked an effort by some Central Americans to force their way through the border.

The bulk of at least 2,000 migrants remained in the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman, opposite the Mexican town of Ciudad Hidalgo, with some saying they planned to set off for Mexico en masse early on Monday, believing that they stood a better chance of making progress in a large caravan.

Mexico has offered migrants work in the south, but those who do not accept it or seek asylum will not be issued safe conduct passes to the United States, the interior ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement on Sunday afternoon that Mexican authorities had received nearly 1,100 migrants in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco and set out various options to them in accordance with their migration status.

“However, in the majority of cases, once the particular migration situation has been reviewed, assisted returns will be carried out to their countries of origin, assuming that their situation warrants it,” the ministry said.

According to Guatemala, at least 4,000 people have entered from Honduras since Wednesday, making for one of the biggest surges since three Central American governments signed agreements with the Trump administration obliging them to assume more of the responsibility for dealing with migrants.

Mexico has so far controlled the border at Tecun Uman more successfully than in late 2018, when a large caravan of migrants sought to break through there. Many later crossed into Mexico via the Suchiate River dividing the two countries.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Mexico to help Honduras create 20,000 jobs

July 28, 2019 07H24 GMT/ZULU

by Renee Celeste and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, MEXICO CITY

MEXICO CITY - Mexico’s government said on Saturday it would help Honduras create 20,000 jobs this year and support its coffee farmers as the two countries seek to curb migration to the United States that has created tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump.

FILE PHOTO: People belonging to a caravan of migrants from Honduras en route to the United States walk by an immigration checkpoint in Huehuetan, Mexico April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his Honduran counterpart, Juan Orlando Hernandez, pledged to work together to lift prosperity in Central America, where poverty and violence have fueled an exodus of people north.

That migration has angered Trump, who has made border security a priority, and issued economic threats against Mexico and Central America if more is not done to contain the flows.

Speaking after the Honduran and Mexican leaders met in the eastern state of Veracruz, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Lopez Obrador had given instructions to help Honduras create 20,000 jobs between now and December.

He did not provide further details, but afterwards the two presidents offered more insights into their plans in speeches in the eastern city of Minatitlan.

Hernandez said he was hoping a “great international coalition for mass job creation” in Central America could be forged, while Lopez Obrador stressed that Mexico would support the region with funds and employment schemes.

In particular, Lopez Obrador said, Mexico would assist Honduran coffee farmers, whose businesses have suffered this year from a drop in international prices.

“We’ll help improve coffee production in whatever is needed,” he said, “so you have no problem selling coffee.”

Lopez Obrador did not offer more details, but also said schemes he has championed in Mexico to create jobs via youth apprenticeships and tree planting would come to Honduras too.

There has been a surge this year in migrant apprehensions on the U.S. southern border with Mexico. Most of the people caught trying to enter the United States illegally come from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

On Friday, Trump said he had reached a deal with Guatemala to curb migration, though that plan was called into question on Saturday by the two politicians vying to become Guatemala’s next president in an election next month.