Colombia discards international flights ‘in the short term’ amid doubts about restarting economy

President Ivan Duque (Image: President's Office)

Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said Saturday that he doesn’t believe he’ll allow international air travel “in the short term” amid failures to contain the coronavirus.

In his daily Facebook live transmission, the president expressed his doubts about, among other things, reopening the country’s airports on June 1 when a current flight ban ends.

President Ivan Duque

Troubles in restarting the economy

Duque’s doubts about restarting international travel came with others as his initial attempts to reactivate the economy were met with resistance and followed by an acceleration of confirmed coronavirus infections.

The medical community, international experts and local authorities expressed their reservations ahead of these attempts on April 27 and May 11.


Active coronavirus cases

Source: National Health Institute

Duque urges patience

The president urged companies who haven’t been able to reopen to be patient, while the president and the Health Ministry are trying to define timelines, protocols and strategies that would prevent the acceleration of coronavirus cases spiralling out of control.

“The lesson learned is that some countries have accelerated the opening too much and have then had to move backwards,” said the president.

President Ivan Duque

The gradual collapse

The acceleration of infections has begun collapsing the healthcare and prison systems in parts of the country where the state historically is weak.

The same threatens to occur in key port cities like Buenaventura and Cartagena, which could result in a severe disruption of food supplies throughout the country.

Furthermore, the lockdown declared on March 25 is being increasingly ignored by citizens, many of whom are unable to stay at home because they are wanting to avoid starving or trying to keep their businesses afloat.

This puts Duque in a complicated position, as corruption has severely hampered efforts, not only to bolster the country’s hospitals but also to provide emergency aid to the poor as well as the lower and middle classes.

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