Irene Hartmann
02/19/2020 - 13:43
- Clarín.com
- Society
Finally, the devil stuck his tail. It was not the coronavirus in this case, but the dense network of power that surrounds the president of the United States, Donald Trump. Of course, the victims are not Latin trying to climb the unshakable symbolic wall of entry to the country of the north but a group of 14 people (11 Argentines and 3 spouses of Chinese nationality) who until this Wednesday were in Wuhan , epicenter of Coronavirus infection, waiting to get on a Ukrainian plane that would put them in shelter in Kiev. However, only eight were able to travel: two couples had to separate and one family had to stay . Before going to why, a review of this story, which does not lack trims.
From Monday the version circulated with force that the diplomatic negotiations were complicated; They probably couldn't travel all. No one really explained why. It should be clarified that, although it was spread that it was a group of 14 native Argentines, three of these people are spouses of Chinese nationality , a minor, irrelevant fact if the conditions of the evacuation had run through a lane merely focused on humanitarian aid It is not the case.
In the last 48 hours, the group of "the 14" kept the hope that the negotiations between China, Argentina and Ukraine would come to fruition: that is, that they would evacuate them, together, all, without distinction of nationality . But the version that could separate families gained strength: Ukraine would not accept the entry of Chinese citizens .
First he circulated the confirmation that one of the three Chinese citizens would not be evacuated (Clarín called him "passenger number 14"), since he did not have his passport on top.
This is the case of a Chinese native from the city of Shenzhen, in the southeast of the country, who lives there with his wife, of Argentine nationality. According to reserved sources, the couple visited relatives in Wuhan (where the coronavirus epidemic strikes harder) when the city was closed - literally - and they could no longer leave.
Since the man had moved through China without his passport , at first it transpired that he could not fly to Ukraine. But could they not process an express passport or any transitory document? The negative version did not close ...
Actually, the conflict escalated to a larger sphere, something that could be confirmed on Wednesday, when it was learned that the other two Chinese spouses will not be able to enter Ukraine either.
In this regard, Néstor Bustamante, vice president of the Association of Argentines in China, was clear in dialogue with Clarín : “We consider that a Chinese, Japanese or Uruguayan married to an Argentine and especially in an evacuation situation, is considered an Argentine more on the account We live it that way. "
While on Wednesday morning the evacuees were in flight to Ukraine (where, about 200 km from Kiev, they will be kept in quarantine for about 15 days), the question arises as to why only 8 of the 11 passengers were rescued Argentines (not counting, of course, the 3 Chinese nationals who were denied entry to Ukraine).
The Argentine consul in Beijing, Juan Ortín, explained to the TN news channel that the Government of Ukraine did not authorize the trip of the two Chinese citizens (a woman and a man spouses of Argentines) who did have a passport. From these sayings - and although Clarín still could not confirm the information - it is understood that, therefore, two couples had to separate (the Argentines traveled without their Chinese partners) and that a complete family (a Chinese-Argentine marriage and their two children) was stranded in Wuhan.
Outside the unfortunate implications of the coronavirus, these scenes reveal other facets of this medical drama harsh: decide to stay in the risk zone with the boys not to divide the family.
World map
Undoubtedly, the evacuation operation could have been simpler. What complicated it? The response that different sources - official and unofficial - outlined in this regard is understood in the face of the global geopolitical board .
Recall that this is a "kind" moment in the delicate Chinese-American relations. Trump has just offered China $ 100 million to fight the coronavirus crisis, one of those gestures that later give rise to hyperbolic phrases such as “the United States is and will continue to be the most generous donor in the world, ” in the words of the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
But, anecdotes aside, everything is framed in a high commercial war that has viscerally faced Trump with his Chinese pair, Xi Jinping, since 2018. In the middle emerges Ukraine, star of the magnetic “ Ukraine-gate ”, scandal that had Trump on the bench of the defendants of the US Congress recently, although no one ever doubted that the impeachment (political trial) would not even tickle the Republican tycoon.
US President Donald Trump and his Chinese couple, Xi Jinping, at a G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan. / AFP
However, the basics of that chapter should be reviewed to see why Ukraine could be denying entry to Chinese citizens.
There are allegations against the US president that he would have manipulated international relations , to the point that Ukraine (due to various pressures, such as bringing into play millions of dollars that the United States sends to Ukraine for security) will provide confidential information on some of its political opponents of the Democratic party.
Democratic candidate Joe Biden in Las Vegas. / AP Photo / Patrick Semansky
One of them is the former vice president (of Barack Obama's management) Joe Biden, whose son worked for a Ukrainian energy company. Biden is one of the candidates most likely to face Trump in the November 3 presidential elections .
Seen with this prism, it may not sound so far-fetched that, in order to maintain a fluid relationship with the controversial Republican leader, Ukraine prefers to maintain certain reservations as to its right of admission .
Different is the case of Argentines. In fact, on November 21, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Vadym Prystaiko, and the Argentine ambassador to that country, Elena Leticia Mikusinski, signed a protocol that abolished the mutual visa requirement for citizens of these countries. That is, politics flows or, as you like, slows down. In the middle, the people.
LGP
