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  • America.The coronavirus raises the white flag of poverty and hunger in Guatemala

Three women in elegant dresses stand waiting for the jury's verdict. Brian Adams 'Please Forgive Me' plays from a speaker on the floor , while two children play oblivious to what is about to happen. In the middle of what appears to be a patio of a house, a 'speaker' announces that the "Miss' Miss Pandemic is the number one participant", which arouses the applause of the limited public that has attended the event. "Congratulations to the new Miss Covid 19", says the man who speaks into the microphone while asking "loud applause", while a young man places the band on the neck of the young winner of this original beauty contest held in Santa Catarina Mita Jutiapa, a municipality in Guatemala, located 150 kilometers from the capital. The video, of just 30 seconds, was published by a local journalist on his Twitter account in which he assured that "they celebrate in a big way the pandemic in Santa Catarina Mita Jutiapa by choosing Miss Covid-19".

In the video, it can be seen that, despite being mandatory, none of the three participants in the contest wore a mask , nor was the minimum social distancing was safeguarded, thus violating the provisions of the President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei , to stop the Coronavirus, whose first case was detected on March 13, and since then, 531 people have already died, while 13,145 cases have been detected, of which 9,901 remain active.

It was not the only prohibited event that has been held in the Central American country, where since March no social, sports or cultural event has been allowed. Two weeks ago, a party took place in a furniture store in the capital, attended by dozens of young people who posted the videos of the celebration on their social accounts in which they showed how several people drank from the same bottle of alcohol or how they hugged or danced without masks and without the slightest social detachment. Despite the fact that the police came to the place, they simply limited themselves to evict her without proceeding to any arrest, which generated great controversy in Guatemala,.

where the president was accused of applying the law with different standards.

On the one hand, these young people with high purchasing power who attended an illegal party were not arrested, while in previous days four indigenous women were arrested for selling vegetables in the market during curfew hours, decreed between 6:00 p.m. and 05.00. The citizen outrage was such that, days later, several Twitter accounts were identifying one by one the people who attended the party , although the police still do not arrest any of them, despite the fact that the Government announced an investigation that extended to agents who did not act.

On the contrary, last Saturday the police and Prosecutor's staff broke into another illegal party held at a nightclub in Retalhuleu, 350 kilometers from Guatemala City, and handcuffed the 15 people who were inside, which again aroused criticism of Giammattei for his double measuring stick. Precisely, an event was being held in which it was intended to choose, as happens every year, the beauty representatives of the 'Queen of Joy' contest with the paradoxical slogan 'Stay at home' . Before the police officers arrived, he had time to choose the winner, while three other recognitions were awarded: Reina Boom Boom, Godmother of Encerrados (in thanks to the Facebook program that broadcast the event) and Godmother of Social Works . The joy did not last long, since a few minutes later the police entered, after receiving complaints from the neighbors, and the two queens and the two godmothers were arrested , as well as the relatives who accompanied them, the jury and the contest presenters.

'THE GENERATION OF THE COVIDIANS'

For his part, in his traditional message to the nation on Sundays to announce the new presidential provisions, Giammattei especially addressed the young people to whom he said that "we are not 'millennials', nor 'centennials', nor 'generation X' , nor the 'generation Y'. Now we are the generation of the covidianos " , which generated numerous critics in the social networks, before what for many people supposes a" mockery "to the population in full escalation of cases and people deceased by coronavirus in the country.

The Guatemalan president assured that "it is not a question of age, economic class, or ideology, but it is about getting ahead and creating a new normality", while saying that he understands the "frustration felt by young people and hopelessness and that feeling of helplessness to have to live something that we did not know we had to live ". Thus, he recognized that, as president, he has made decisions that have led young people "to feel annoyed, but I do not apologize, but rather understanding and appealing to their sense of responsibility so that they help me from their social networks to generate awareness and we all act responsibly in one way to stop this disease. "

"That desire has to be greater than our immediate need to go out and have fun and socialize," said Giammattei, who considered that "it is not long before this nightmare passes and the worst we are already experiencing." Precisely, on June 19, the highest numbers of deceased people were recorded, with 34 and positive cases, with 641 in a single day. The increase in cases in the past forced weeks to the government to tighten measures decreeing a curfew 24 hours for two Sundays and restricting movement in four of the 22 departments of the country, including affecting the capital, allowing the Monday, Wednesday and Friday only vehicles with even number plates circulate and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the odd ones .

Also, last week, the president dismissed Health Minister Hugo Monroy , who was accused of hiding data on deceased people and keeping hospitals in a collapse, while health personnel did not receive their wages. The new minister, Amelia Flores , has the challenge of redirecting the situation and also increasing the number of tests for coronavirus, taking into account that the goal is to reach 5,000 daily and now just over 1,000 are carried out.

Meanwhile, the Health Ombudsman of the Human Rights Ombudsman, Zulma Calderón , is visiting the different hospitals, where he has confirmed the collapse. Thus, she has even published photos and videos in which patients receiving oxygen are seen sitting in chairs next to each other and even people lying on the floor in national hospitals. Thus, warned of the "alarming scenario" in which the national hospitals are, since "there is no availability of hospital spaces for the projection of cases that would require care, despite the historical budget assigned to the Ministry of Health for the emergency care. " For this reason, Calderón warns that, if "immediate actions are not taken, it can have a high cost in lives", while he denounces that the Temporary Hospital of the Parque de la Industria, located in the capital and whose objective was to be able to attend to 300 Covid-19 patients, "do not have the capabilities installed to care for complex cases at this time."

The president announced on Sunday that the World Bank will start the competition for the construction of two hospitals, while with funds from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration he intends to build another five in a year to rebuild an "obsolete and archaic that had been forgotten for decades. "

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