AMERICA/NICARAGUA - Mgr. Schmitz to politicians: "You must not play with the life of humble people"

Saturday, 9 May 2020 human rights   coronavirus   poverty   democracy   bishops  

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Bluefields (Agenzia Fides) - In Nicaragua the health emergency situation continues to be increasingly difficult and confusing. While the population, also following the advice of the Catholic Church, is spontaneously under quarantine as a self-imposed measure to deal with Covid-19, the government offers no indications or information for social behavior. As in other places in the Latin American continent, the most vulnerable population is the most at risk. Government authorities and politicians from other groups continue to discuss issues that the population does not consider urgent.
In this context, the statements of Mgr. Pablo Ervin Schmitz Simon, O.F.M. Cap., Bishop of Bluefields can be better understood: "If politicians and pseudo politicians want to play with their lives, you can do so, and may God forgive you. But you must not play with the lives of simple, humble people, and people who have no other resources", said the Bishop publicly. Words that provoked the support of other leaders of the Catholic Church, such as the message through Twitter of Mgr. Silvio José Baez, Auxiliary Bishop of Managua.
The free press of Nicaragua states that "Nicaragua has lost the opportunity to avoid further Covid-19 infections by not applying the necessary tests. Doctors say that the insistence on carrying out mass tests (which then did not take place) ) was to slow down the contagion curve and avoid what is currently happening".
According to a note sent to Fides from a local source, statistics say there are fifteen Covid-19 cases and five deaths. "The official figures do not highlight the reality we see every day. In the past two weeks, patients who have been treated as coronavirus cases and then died are registered with other causes of death", says Jose Antonio Vasquéz, a doctor who has been in Managua for 30 years.
Nicaragua is the only country in Central America where measures to curb coronavirus infection have not been taken. No quarantine, commercial activities and borders are still open, but the population is afraid because cases have started in the main cities of the country. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 9/5/2020)


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