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If we don't fight together for our country, there will be no country to fight for

2020-04-02T19:16:07.747Z


We still have time to avoid such high contagion rates if the measures taken are really implemented, if social distancing is met, if mobilization is avoided


Living the pandemic in Venezuela is radically different from living the pandemic in other parts of the world. The status of hospitals, the use of security forces as the executing arm of persecution and repression, the collapse of the economy, or the Complex Humanitarian Emergency that we are experiencing is a secret for any Venezuelan, whatever their ideological tendency. Nor is it for the international community.

According to the latest report of the World Food Program (WFP), one in three Venezuelans lives in food insecurity and needs assistance, a figure that translates to 9.3 million people who today cannot meet their basic food needs. And this, added to the numbers of Venezuelan refugees and migrants that, according to UNHCR and IOM, reaches almost five million, means that approximately half of our country is a victim of the Complex Humanitarian Emergency.

The situation in the interior of the country is even more critical: the states have taken the worst share of cuts and rationing of electricity, water, and even the internet and mobile signal. Some areas of Maracay, for example, have spent up to 40 hours without electricity and 26 days without water. The transportation service has also been interrupted because they prevent you from filling your gasoline vehicles; consequently, medical, administrative, and nursing staff experience even more difficulties in getting to work. And to this is added that the prices of certain foods have begun to increase rapidly, making them unaffordable for the population.

In addition, the health situation in Venezuela has declined in such a way that eradicated diseases have reappeared, the highest rates of measles, diphtheria and malaria cases have been reported, and even so the regime has deliberately not published epidemiological reports since 2016.

Today more than ever, the lies and omissions of the usurpers put the lives of millions of compatriots at risk. Lying about the pandemic can condemn many Venezuelans to death.

The regime has tried to maintain an image of stability, speaking of a "prepared and sufficient" health system, which is very far from reality. Hospitals in our country could have 15,000 hospital beds to care for those infected, if the regime had been in charge of recovering the available facilities. On the contrary, corruption, indolence and mismanagement have led to the collapse of the system and our hospitals are in the worst condition to face this crisis.

Of the hospitals in Venezuela, 62% do not have water or have intermittent water once a week. Additionally, 52% of our hospitals have a shortage of emergency medications. The intensive care beds of the CDI (Comprehensive Diagnosis Centers) of which the regime speaks do not have specialized personnel to attend to this type of pathology; beds in hotel centers do not have patient care protocols or personal protective equipment. They do not explain the scenarios that we could face if this virus does not stop, nor the severity of what we face.

How we got here has only one person responsible, the inefficiency, corruption and indolence of a political model that has privileged military spending and repression over social spending and investment in health. How we will overcome it and how the destiny of our country will be, instead, depends on the measures and the way in which we all approach this emergency. For those of us who dedicate ourselves to politics as a form of service, we understand that this profession is due to the people and that, if we do not all fight together for our country today, then there will be no country to fight for. Politics serves to provide solutions, not only to hold or defend power.

A pandemic like the one we are going through today reveals how vulnerable the world is and above all how vulnerable we Venezuelans are. Within the global emergency we are "the emergency in the emergency". That is why we have only two options: let lying once again guide the discourse and the pettiness of the actions, or really understand the gravity and urgency that today demands that we do everything possible to try to save lives. In other words, allow authoritarianism and inequality to increase, or give way to solidarity and cooperation.

From the Interim Government, President Juan Guaidó and all his representatives have made available teams of experts, health specialists, resources and all diplomatic efforts to coordinate mechanisms with the international community to contain, attend to and mitigate the effects of the pandemic. can and will leave in the country. The willingness and need to form a National Emergency Government with all the political and social sectors of Venezuela has also been demonstrated, in order to implement a national plan to avoid catastrophe in the face of the Covid-19 emergency, as we understand that the The lives of millions of citizens are above political calculation.

Europe is today as China was two weeks ago, and the countries to which the virus has arrived later, such as Venezuela, are two weeks from where Europe is. However, we still have time to avoid such high contagion rates if the measures taken are really implemented. If social distancing is met, hygiene measures, if mobilization is avoided. We are in time to act to prevent.

We also recognize the seriousness that such measures mean for an important sector of the population that has to work every day in order to survive, whose greatest fear and condemnation is that they will be forced to have to decide between their health, their life and their salary. . We ask them to take extreme measures of prevention and precaution.

Today, it is our duty to echo the effort that multilateral organizations have made in recent months. There are 180 countries that are fighting this virus and, in the midst of this, international agencies are looking for mechanisms to deal with the emergency in Venezuela. Each of these efforts must be accompanied by political will, responsibility and the conviction that these mechanisms can only be effective if humanitarian principles are respected. Saving a life, in no country, under any circumstances, and in no emergency, must be conditioned by ideology or partisanship.

Today more than ever our solidarity, our recognition and words of encouragement, strength and support to the health union, who work with their nails, exposing their lives to carry out their work. You heroes, are the reflection of this Venezuela that does not give up, of the Venezuela where the good ones are more. Likewise, my appreciation to all the workers in the food area, to the journalists and the media and those who still continue to serve the public in the midst of this difficult situation.

Overcoming this pandemic is about saving lives, and saving lives depends on conscience, political will, solidarity, empathy and humility. It depends on each of us. That is why we do not rest on the entire effort of coordination with multilaterals, with the humanitarian response system, with all the families of organizations that can mitigate this situation in Venezuela, so that together we can save the lives of millions of Venezuelans and prevent this pandemic. can acquire tragic levels in our country.

Miguel Pizarro is a deputy and commissioner before the UN of the National Assembly of Venezuela.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-04-02

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