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News > El Salvador

El Salvador: White Cloths to Protest Hunger

  • White T-shirt as a protest sign in the community of Altavista, San Salvador, El Salvador. May 12, 2020.

    White T-shirt as a protest sign in the community of Altavista, San Salvador, El Salvador. May 12, 2020. | Photo: Twitter/@imminent_news

Published 13 May 2020
Opinion

93 families ask for beans, rice, oil, milk, and other necessities that they can no longer buy.

Salvadoran communities are demanding the government provide food and medical aid due to the economic problems caused by the Covid-19 impact in the Central American nation.  

RELATED: 

El Salvador: Bukele Vetoes Aid to COVID-Vulnerable Citizens

The residents of Tonacatepeque and Ilopango communities hung white cloths on the facades of their homes as a sign of protest due to food scarcity. 

El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele, decreed and emergency quarantine on March 22. The Chief of State enforced a mobility suspension, a norm that prevented workers from laboring. Tonacatepeque and Ilopango residents are street vendors and after the quarantine imposition, they haven't received any wages.

According to local news media, about 93 families rely on government food aid.. They ask for beans, rice, oil, milk, and other necessities that they can no longer buy. Locals also fear evictions because they cannot pay rent.

Bukele’s administration delivered a $300 (USD) worth of coupons as part of economic government help. Ilopango and Tonacatepeque residents affirmed they did not receive it. Among locals are underage and seniors in need. 

"Videos are circulating on social networks where citizens, in different parts of the capital, sounded the horns of vehicles and pots and pans, in protest against the measures taken by the government."

The municipality's people pointed out local administration retained aid resources. Alongside social networks users convoked a virtual protest against Bukele’s measures and a collective demonstration from their homes. 


El Salvador's Human Rights organizations pointed out quarantine measures violate the people’s rights. Cristosal, an HHRR advocate group, requests the government to respect constitutional rights during the pandemic exceptional situation. 

Against this backdrop, legal secretary of the Presidency, Conan Castro, announced on May 12 that the government would implement a two week long quarantine extension. So far, El Salvador registered 1,037 positive Covid-19 cases, 20 deaths, and 374 recoveries.

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Nayib Bukele
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