Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced the “partial” closure of the border with Venezuela “due to the inability” of President Nicolás Maduro to contain the advance of the coronavirus, he assured.
“Considering the inability of the Venezuelan dictatorial regime to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic, the Brazilian government will adopt restrictive measures on the border with Venezuela, to guarantee the safety and health of our people, especially in the northern region of the country,” says a message posted by the president on his Twitter account.
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He clarified that the transport of merchandise will continue. According to the decree, the measure will last 15 days in which foreigners will be prevented from passing by road or on foot, but it does not apply to Brazilians, immigrants residing in Brazil and foreign professionals who are on an international mission or accredited to the Brazilian government.
529 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 4 deaths are reported in Brazil. Bolsonaro has been harshly criticized at home for not taking drastic measures to prevent the pandemic from advancing in the Amazon giant.
In response, he has assured that the governors of his country “have exceeded” the preventive measures and asked that there be no hysteria “because if not, everyone goes crazy”.
Brazil did not announce the closure of the border kilometers it has with the other South American nations but the decision at this point seems to benefit Venezuela the most, at least in the health field because in Venezuela only 36 cases have been detected with no deceased and President Maduro has been praised for taking drastic but decisive measures to contain the spreading chain of the virus by decreeing a nationwide lockdown since last Tuesday.
Source URL: La IguanaTV with OT content
Translated and edited by JRE/EF
