The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, promised from Costa Rica that his country will make an equitable distribution of the vaccines that it plans to send to other nations and informed that it will invest 4,000 million dollars for cooperation in Central America.
Miami World / AP
After his bilateral meeting with Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado, Blinken assured Tuesday that the United States will detail in one or two weeks how it will dispose of the doses it plans to distribute.
“We are going to focus on equitable distribution… we are going to be science-based, we are going to work in coordination with the COVAX mechanism and we will distribute the vaccines without political requirements from the recipients,” Blinken said in response to the request made by President Alvarado, whose government sent a letter since April asking the United States for a donation or “loan” of vaccines to speed up inoculation.
Although Costa Rica has already exceeded one million first doses applied, the urgency of its government is that currently the public health system is saturated and in May it left the highest number of new cases (67,995) and deaths (810).
Blinken also recalled that the administration of President Joe Biden has planned “an unprecedented investment in the region,” with which they will seek to mitigate the causes of Central American migration. “We must provide growth with equity, that is the only way to give people hope for a better life in their communities. Otherwise, these people can fall into the hands of coyotes who take them to other countries, including the United States, “said the secretary.
Blinken highlighted the role that Costa Rica has played in caring for these migrants, since it is not only a transit country for those who go in search of the US border through the Central American isthmus, but it is also a receiving country for migrants from Nicaragua and Venezuela, among others.
Blinken was concerned about the weakening of democracy and human rights in some countries in the region where there is persecution of opposition political parties, non-governmental organizations and the press, as well as a “stifling of anti-corruption efforts.”
“Yes, we understand in the United States how fragile democracy can be, we have also experienced it in our own country a few years ago. Experience has underscored the importance of strengthening the norms and institutions that safeguard democracy. We must work in a transparent manner ”, he concluded.
