topic: | Health and Sanitation |
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located: | Paraguay, China, Taiwan |
editor: | Ellen Nemitz |
The animosity between China and Taiwan has been driving the two states into military and diplomatic incursions over the sovereignty dispute, with China trying to take the control over Taiwan, which claims independence on its part.
The quarrel has reached South America, where one of Taiwan's last 15 allies is.
Authorities from Paraguay affirm that they were offered supplies of Covid-19 vaccines in exchange of cutting ties with Taiwan, as reported by the Guardian, although the brokers were not proved to officially represent China.
"The deals offered in Paraguay appear to represent one of the most heavy-handed attempts to weaponise protection against Covid-19 since the first batches of vaccine began rolling off production lines," reads the text. While the government of China has denied it, Paraguayan Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo stated that the country will not yield to the conditions.
On the other hand, Taiwan is also trying to maintain Paraguay as an ally by offering them supplies to handle the pandemic.
In a press briefing, the director-general of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Yui, condemned the use of vaccines as a trump card, and an official release from the government affirms that "a distressing humanitarian scenario such as that caused by the pandemic affecting us should not be used to satisfy petty sectoral interests, nor to manipulate or force specific actions on the part of the States, taking advantage of their efforts to protect the health of their populations, for the sole purpose of pursuing a political or economic aim.”
Meanwhile, the Latin American country is facing a "terrifying scenario" on the edge of a collapse, as defined by the director of a health division, Roque Silva.
Home to 7 million people, Paraguay started the pandemic, back in March 2020, showing off a successful strategy to protect the population, but the fragile health system is no longer able to tackle the increasing number of infections: nearly 208,000 cases were reported since the beginning of the outbreak, and the death toll surpassed 4,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University's statistics.
Considering the past seven days, Paraguay has also the second highest per million death rate in the Latin America and keeps breaking records of daily death toll.
Vaccination, a vital tool needed to overcome this serious health crisis, is just being introduced there - as of 25 March, just over 28,000 doses have been administered.
In this chaotic scenario, the opposition and part of the population tried to remove President Mario Abdo Benítez from office due to his mishandling of the pandemic.
At a press conference, Kattya González, a legislator from the opposition, summarised the reasons for the so far unsuccessful bid to remove the president: “It was time for Abdo Benítez and his entire government to leave office because they did nothing to confront the coronavirus. There are no vaccines, there are no drugs in hospitals, and the hospital infrastructure is deficient.”
Image: Manatee County Government.