Gonzalo herman
03/28/2021 18:24
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 03/28/2021 6:24 PM
As if reality were a macabre version of Nietzsche's eternal return (or of the more Creole expression "again soup"), once again there are
Argentines who were stranded abroad
without being able to return to the country, as happened at this time last year, when the Covid pandemic just hit the world.
After a year of pandemic experience and with growing terror of the fearsome second wave, the Argentine Government - looking askance at the thousands of deaths in Brazil - tries, once again, to anticipate the "catastrophe" with a series of new restrictions on the borders, which are in force since Monday.
Three days ago, Foreign Minister Felipe Solá had said that the national government advised against "people leaving" outside the country and argued that
"the problem is not leaving" but "re-entering"
due to the evolution of the epidemiological situation. Those words became norms and were published in the Official Gazette on Friday, starting this Monday the borders will be closed for all those who want to enter the country from neighboring countries such as Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru and Colombia.
Although, officially, the provision begins to govern this week, the truth is that on the borders with Brazil
they are no longer letting anyone pass since last Saturday.
In fact, some 45 Argentines who were returning to Argentina from São Paulo are stranded in Uruguayana without being able to enter the country since Saturday morning.
Karin Smith is one of the passengers and told
the desperate situation they are experiencing.
"Many of us who are stranded here had airfare but the flights were rescheduled, they were canceled and they were reduced. In my case, I have the ticket open because there are no more flights to return now to Argentina. I had a date for The middle of March and they canceled it. As there were no flights, I decided to take the bus and go back to Buenos Aires, "said Karin.
This merchant from Capital, a mother of two children who need to go back to school, said that they sleep in the bus, that they use the Uruguayan migrant toilets and the bus to relieve themselves, that they have already consumed all the food they brought and that The Argentine consulate sent them some food and
cans of water from two hospitals in Paso de los Libres.
When asked when they will be able to enter the country, Karin replied that they already had a meeting with the consul, who assured them that the immigration process would be ready.
"We are awaiting authorization from the Ministry of Health and the Chief of Cabinet, Santiago Cafiero."
Karin said the feeling of being stranded "is horrible."
"We feel a lot of helplessness and abandonment. It is horrible not being able to cross and go to your house and have the right to be quarantining inside your house, which is what corresponds. I am stranded here with my two children, a 14-year-old girl. and a 10-year-old boy. The truth is that we don't know how the hand is coming. We depend on the Ministry of Health.
They are the only ones who can authorize us to enter the country. "
On the same Saturday, a group of truckers who were about to return to the country from Brazil were also stranded in Uruguayana.
The provision prevents the border crossing with the neighboring country due to the increase in cases of # COVID19 in the region.
Around a thousand trucks per day make the journey that connects Argentina with Brazil.
Flor Amoruso is another Argentine who had many problems entering the country.
In a WhatsApp group of compatriots living in Florianópolis, he
told everything he had to do to return to Argentina.
"My husband is Brazilian and we have had a coexistence union for more than a year. To return, we contacted the Consul of Florianópolis for more than a month to ask for help, since we are both without work and we need to return to the country."
Flor started.
"I did not have a quick response. So we went personally to see the consul. There they told us to send an email telling my situation to the National Directorate of Migration. They responded a week later, asking for a lot of information: car papers, documentation of both, border through which we wanted to enter, travel itinerary, etc. After sending all the documentation, plus a negative covid test, we started the return trip. When we arrived, Uruguayana asked us for the PCR again. We did it and the result took more than a Finally, the request for an exception for overland crossing arrived by mail and we were both able to enter through Paso de Los Libres on the 26th at 9:00 am ".
Finally, Flor assured that all this process could take more than 20 days.
GS
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