Featured: first case of coronavirus in Latin America

Text by: Marie Normand Follow

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In Brazil, the Ministry of Health has confirmed a first case of coronavirus, writes O Globo . He is a 61-year-old Brazilian recently returned from Italy and treated in a hospital in Sao Paulo. This first case of coronavirus in Latin America is abundantly commented in the newspapers of the subcontinent this Wednesday, from Honduras to Bolivia. El Salvador, a Central American country, has now banned Italians and South Koreans from entering its territory, says El Mundo . This was already the case for the Chinese. " Salvadoran nationals and diplomats from these countries " will have to spend 30 days in solitary confinement, said President Bukele.

If El Salvador is so worried, it is because the largest Salvadoran community in Europe is located in Milan. About 40,000 expatriates live in the big city in northern Italy, informs El Mundo . And for them " everyday life has taken a 180 degree turn ": empty supermarkets, cancellation of sporting events, suspended courses. The concern is also great for those who work without papers in Milan, explains the newspaper. With the drop in economic activity, they fear losing their jobs.

Fighting in San Francisco

The mayor of the city of California has declared a state of emergency to prepare for the arrival of the coronavirus, says The Hill . The United States, where a first vaccine against COVID-19 will be tested from April. This vaccine is offered by the Moderna laboratory. " The results of this study will then arrive in July or August of this year, " said The Hill . Only 4 months to develop and test a vaccine: " unprecedented speed ", comments the director of the American National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases. According to him, it is even " a world record ".

6-year-old child arrested and handcuffed at school

The video circulates on the websites of several American media, including the New York Post . It shows a young girl crying and begging an Orlando police officer not to arrest her. The child is handcuffed, in his school, and boarded a police vehicle ... because she had had a crisis, a big anger. She allegedly, says the Orlando Sentinel , " attacked three school employees ". The story dates back to September 2019 and the police officer has since been fired, the newspaper said. If the grandmother of the little girl is broadcasting this video today, it is, she says, to change Florida law. No text specifies, to date, the minimum age from which a minor can be arrested.

Nicaragua: creation of a new anti-Ortega coalition

In Nicaragua, " seven opposition political organizations, including the Civic Alliance and the Blue and White National Unity ", signed an agreement on Tuesday to form a " national coalition ". This platform, explains Confidencial , intends to " force the Ortega regime to restore democratic freedoms, free political prisoners and achieve electoral reform that leads to free elections ".

Yesterday afternoon, an opposition march was planned. " Pickets have been installed in different points in Managua, " the capital, the newspaper said, but the police suppressed the demonstrations. According to the editorial writer for La Prensa , " the orteguist police have implemented a mode of repression common in Cuba, but which has never been seen in Nicaragua ". The homes of leaders of opposition organizations were surrounded by police to prevent them from joining the demonstration. La Prensa adds that at least six journalists from national media were physically assaulted by members of the riot forces and two of their vehicles damaged, while the demonstration was already over.

Argentina: Death of American diplomat Allen "Tex" Harris

Allen "Tex" Harris, " famous American diplomat, who had been sent to Buenos Aires in 1977 ", died Monday at the age of 79 years, reports this Wednesday the Buenos Aires Times. At the time, former president Jimmy Carter had sent him to monitor Argentina's " nuclear ambitions ". But very quickly, explains the Buenos Aires Times , by discovering the human rights violations committed on the spot, the priorities of Allen Tex Harris changed. He is known, recalls the Argentinian newspaper, for having " opened the doors of the American embassy to the families of the disappeared people under the dictatorship ". He " created a detailed catalog of human rights violations committed by the military regime from 1976 to 1983 ".

" Not everyone in the State Department appreciated it, " said the newspaper. " Harris finally returned to Washington in August 1979, where - on his own terms - he was punished and" almost expelled [from the State Department] for insubordination. " It was only " two decades later that the United States Department of State awarded him (...) the highest possible honor from the agency, for his work in Argentina ".

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• Brazil
• Salvador
• United States
• Nicaragua
• Argentina
• coronavirus

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