In the spotlight: many Haitians stranded in Necoclí, Colombia
Haitian migrants during a meeting on the beach in Necocli, Colombia, January 28, 2021. AFP - PRENSA MAYOR NECOCLI
Text by: Marie Normand Follow
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A humanitarian crisis is currently playing out in Necoclí, a small town in northwestern Colombia.
"The exodus continues"
, headlines
El Espectador
in One.
"About ten thousand people, mainly Haitians and Cubans"
are currently stuck "in Necoclí, which is normally only one stop on
their long way to the United States
, explains the columnist of
El Tiempo
. At issue: the bad weather and the scarcity of ferry tickets that prevent them from crossing the Gulf of Urabá.
Result: while waiting to take a boat, these migrants gather
"in the streets, parks and beaches"
of the city.
The municipality is overwhelmed, writes
El Tiempo
, by the sudden need to house so many people in the context of a pandemic.
"The price of food has gone up"
and residents fear shortages.
Eight hundred migrants pass through Necoclí every day
The columnist of the Colombian right-wing newspaper asks to listen to the mayor of Necoclí.
The latter requires from Bogota safe conducts for these migrants so that they leave the country quickly.
El Tiempo
also calls for substantive decisions for the city, which is the transit point for 800 migrants per day, on average.
Once the Gulf of Urabá has been crossed, it is the beginning of several days of walking in "
one of the densest jungles in the world"
in Panama, underlines
El Espectador
for his part
.
This year alone,
"33,000
people from Haiti, Cuba, Chile, Senegal, Ghana, among others, have crossed it
."
A road that
Semana
soberly describes as
"hell"
.
And that's also just a step, before crossing the rest of Central America and Mexico to reach the border with the United States.
Peru: still no cabinet for President Castillo
In Peru, President Pedro Castillo was sworn in on Wednesday July 28. In his speech, he said he wanted to put an end to corruption. He also announces a constitutional reform project. No information, however, on the composition of his cabinet, which is quite unusual, notes
El Comercio
en Une. According to the newspaper, the Prime Minister must nevertheless be sworn in on Thursday in Ayacucho, and his ministers on Friday in Lima. For a political scientist interviewed by the Peruvian daily, this is a sign that negotiations have not yet been concluded within his party, Perú Libre. He hopes this does not presage
"slow and tense"
discussions
before each decision is made.
El Comercio
also gives this Thursday the reaction of Keiko Fujimori, the unfortunate opponent of Pedro Castillo in the second round.
The leader of the opposition promises that her Fuerza Popular party will support in Congress
"any initiative of the new government aimed at improving the quality of life of the population"
.
Keiko Fujimori, on the other hand, promises to fiercely oppose the proposed new Constitution.
She even speaks of a
"wall" in the
face of this
"threat of a new Communist Constitution"
.
Hunting for critical voices in Nicaragua
In Nicaragua, Parliament on Wednesday removed their legal status from 24 civil society organizations, including 15 in the medical field.
They are accused of breaking the regulations.
However, many of these organizations had been in existence for half a century.
But they had had the bad taste to criticize the management of the Covid-19 crisis.
The opposition media
La Prensa
notes that in all 34 organizations have lost their legal status since 2018. The most emblematic is Cenidh, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights.
For
La Prensa
, it is a
“demolition enterprise”
carried out by an Assembly won over to President Ortega.
The latter must announce that he is running for a 4th consecutive term in the November 7 elections.
New York: $ 100 for those who get vaccinated
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced it.
The city will offer, from Friday, $ 100 to anyone who will be injected with a dose of vaccine to protect themselves against the coronavirus in one of the centers deployed by the town hall.
The city is worried about an increase in hospitalizations, mostly of unvaccinated people, the
New York Times
explains
.
The authorities had reopened all businesses and the masks had slipped under the chin barely a month ago.
But on Tuesday, health authorities recommended that vaccinated people resume wearing masks in closed public spaces in areas where more than 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants are recorded.
This is the case, underlines the newspaper,
"in all the boroughs of the city of New York".
Texas: death of Dusty Hill, bearded bassist of ZZ Top
We end this press review with the death of a legend.
Dusty Hill, bearded bassist for Texan band ZZ Top, died in his sleep at the age of 72, writes the
Houston Chronicle
.
The governor of Texas greeted in
a tweet
, a
"great friend and a remarkable Texan"
.
ZZ Top is
"known for its hard rock tinged with blues, was one of the greatest groups of the 1980s,"
recalls the
New York Times
.
He has sold
“over 50 million albums”.
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