/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/HYYISGNQYSMI7S4VDGLOIOL3XE.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "Chinese vaccine Sinovac arrives in El Salvador by plane of the New England Patriots and causes controversy")
Miami — The plane used by the New England Patriots flew 500,000 doses of Sinovac’s Chinese vaccine against COVID-19 to El Salvador, inadvertently engaging in a geopolitical dispute over influence in Latin America.
The “Plane of the Pats” was received upon arrival in San Salvador early Wednesday morning, just after midnight, by the highest ranking Chinese diplomat in the Central American country.
While the Boeing 767 features the red, white and blue logo of the multi-time Super Bowl winners on its exterior, huge packaging with Chinese characters was unloaded from the side hatch.
Ambassador Ou Jianhong took the opportunity to point out that China “will always be a friend and partner” of El Salvador.
Robert Kraft used the New England Patriots team plane to transport 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the country of El Salvador.
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— Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) May 20, 2021
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His comments were a not-so-subtle hint to the government of US President Joe Biden, which in recent weeks has lashed out at his Salvadoran counterpart Nayib Bukele for the removal of several justices from El Salvador’s Supreme Court of Justice and the attorney general.
“Go Pats,” Bukele tweeted Thursday with an emoji of a smiling face wearing dark glasses, even though the NFL team had little to do with the flight, which was planned by a company that rents the plane when the team failed. is using it.
Stacey James, a spokesman for the Patriots, said the team did not play a direct role in delivering the vaccines and dismissed suggestions that it was taking part in a geopolitical dispute.
“It’s great to be linked with positive vaccine delivery missions where they are needed, but this was not a political mission,” said James.
Across Latin America, China has found fertile ground to ingest with the vaccine in a region that seeks to leave behind decades of US rule.
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