The postponement of fifteen days announced by the two governments has generated strong reactions on the part of leaders of Acceprof.
Ipiales, Colombia
The decision of the Ecuadorian National Emergency Operations Committee (COE) to postpone the opening of the border with Colombia to December 15 warms the spirits of a sector of the trade of Ipiales that tried to take over the Rumichaca international bridge this morning and block the transit of merchandise between Tulcán and Ipiales and vice versa.
The measure was prevented by an elite group of the Colombian Police that did not allow the discontents to continue obstructing the passage of tractors through the viaduct, then the protesters moved to the 20 de Julio park in Ipiales, where they broke into a binational act of COVID-19 vaccination that was taking place there.
Omar Benavides, leader of the Border Merchants Association (Acceprof), interrupted the event and reproached the representatives of the governments of Ecuador and Colombia, as well as Yaco Martínez, governor of Carchi, for not fully opening Rumichaca.
Benavides was removed from the place by the public force at the end of the event. Thus the Ipialeño leader highlighted the discomfort that exists in the union that demands the total opening of the international pipeline to receive Ecuadorian buyers, who are the sustenance of their businesses.
Carchi merchants ask to reactivate the cross-border commercial basket
The fifteen-day postponement announced by the two governments has generated strong reactions on the part of several Acceprof leaders through the media of the neighboring country.
Luis Alexander Moscoso, Vice Minister of Health of Colombia, who was present in the programming that promotes the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 at the borders, clarified that the reopening must be safe.
He argued that one of the reasons that extended the date to open Rumichaca is the presence of the omicron variant and emphasized that the process not only requires sanitary controls, but also high levels of vaccination in border populations, epidemiological surveillance and capacity of care that guarantees any contingency.
During the meeting, Moscoso said that he held a meeting with his Ecuadorian counterpart, Vice Minister José Ruales, with whom they reviewed these issues on which – he advanced – they will continue working.
“We are respectful of the decisions of the neighboring country (Ecuador), Colombia is also reviewing each of its policies to face these new and changing conditions that are being presented with the new strain,” he emphasized.
For Ruales, the purpose is to work together between the two countries so that the vaccination and coverage processes work and the risk is minimal, which is why they have installed immunization posts at strategic points in the border area.
“Vaccination coverage in the border provinces of Carchi, Sucumbíos and Esmeraldas are not the same, not reaching 85% of the total population with the complete scheme of the two vaccines, which is why we are promoting this type of campaign in the strip border, “he added.
The Communication Secretariat of the Ecuadorian Government ratified that the reopening of the border for the transport of heavy cargo of goods will be postponed until December 15. “Based on solid technical and epidemiological criteria, the necessary measures will be adjusted to contain the expansion of the omicron variant of COVID-19,” he said in a letter released this afternoon. (I)
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