EXCLUSIVE CONTENT.
In search of receiving the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine, some 7,746 Nicaraguans crossed in the last three days through one of the blind spots at the El Espino border post, in Madriz, to inoculate in the municipality of San Marcos de Colón, Honduras, because Nicaraguan customs officials keep the border checkpoint closed.
The government of that neighboring country has allocated some 20,000 Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to serve Nicaraguans who arrive from cities such as Somoto, Ocotal, Estelí, Matagalpa, Chinandega, Masaya and Managua in search of one of the vaccines.
The few people who tried to cross through the El Espino border post assured that customs officials required them to take the swab test, charging them $ 50, otherwise they could not pass to San Marcos de Colón: “They told me that if I crossed through the customs checkpoint, I had to take the test and pay $ 50, even though I told them I was going to return vaccinated from Honduras”said Elmer Enrique Balmaceda Rodríguez, 56, originally from Matagalpa.
Martha Beatriz Ordoñez, a resident of the Sector 16 neighborhood of Somoto, head of the Madriz department, who accompanied her grandchildren to get vaccinated, recognized how organized the inoculation day was in San Marcos de Colón. “Everything is well organized here. In Nicaragua it is a single molote and relax that is armed to be vaccinated”, said.
Evangelical pastor Francisco Montoya, a resident of one of the sectors of the city of Somoto, was grateful to the people and government of Honduras for the gesture of supporting Nicaraguans to get vaccinated for free. He also ruled that the government authorities facilitate transit through the El Espino border post and avoid so much sacrifice for those who wish to go to the neighboring country to get vaccinated.
Last Friday, groups of Nicaraguans could be seen arriving aboard private vans, buses and minibuses to the El Espino border post, in Madriz, and starting the walk for about 35 minutes along a path on one side of both borders to reach to the community of La Fraternidad and San Marcos de Colón, where five free vaccination posts were set up for Nicaraguans.
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For his part, the young 16-year-old Denis Báez, a resident of one of the sectors of the city of Somoto, said that the service in Honduras was excellent and was grateful to the Hondurans for the opportunity they gave him to wear first Modern vaccine dose. “They made an appointment for me on November 19 to get the second dose of the Moderna vaccine”, he asserted.
Martha Isabel Montenegro Avilés, 16, a resident of the city of Estelí, said that getting vaccinated in Honduras was a great experience, since it was her first vaccination and because everything was ordered. “That goes in Estelí, because first they do it dawn in the street and secondly they are abusive campaigning with the vaccines that other governments give away. Here they don’t even force us to thank the government of Honduras”, ended.
Mayor’s Office provides aid to hundreds of nicas
The vice mayor of the municipality of San Marcos de Colón, zone of the department of Choluteca, in Honduras, Jorge Espinales, regretted that, although they held meetings with authorities of the city of Somoto, in Nicaragua, to facilitate the conditions of access through the border post El Espino, they did not support the initiative for political reasons.
“As a local government, the inoculants for our Nicaraguan brothers have been negotiated with the president (Juan Orlando Hernández) and provide them with the necessary vaccines against the coronavirus”Espinales said.
“It is regrettable -he added- that we have made efforts to maintain coordination between the local authorities of the municipality of San Marcos, Honduras, and the municipality of Somoto, in Nicaragua, to support both peoples in their needs, since the latter did not show interest in political issues. We are going to continue making these efforts to unite our citizens for common benefit.”.
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The vice mayor said that the municipality has provided prepared food, purified water, juices and coffee to the more than 7,000 Nicaraguans who in the last three days gathered at two vaccination posts in the Honduran community of La Fraternidad, border area with Nicaragua. , and in three positions in the city of San Marcos de Colón.
“Only this (last) Friday some 3,370 Nicaraguans, the vast majority of them young, came to get vaccinated here in San Marcos de Colón. According to what they told us, they were from various departments in northern Nicaragua.”, explained Espinales, who highlighted that as of Friday, more than 7,000 Moderna and Pfizer vaccines had already been given.
Solidarity
Rosario Bustillo Balladares, an official of the municipality of San Marcos de Colón, Honduras, said that they have organized to support the Nicaraguan brothers. “We are in solidarity as Hondurans, with our Nicaraguan brothers, giving them water, coffee, food and juices with our own funds from the mayor’s office of this town.”, he pointed.
“As a Honduran, I call on the government of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo to open the border post so that the Nicaraguan brothers can get vaccinated. That they are not inhumane by forcing them to walk through uncomfortable and dangerous trails”said Saúl Rivera Tercero, a resident of San Marcos de Colón, Honduras.
Wilmer García, originally from La Ceiba, Honduras, also called on the Nicaraguan government to open the border to Nicaraguans who come to get the vaccine in San Marcos de Colón. “I call on the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo not to be insensitive to their own people from their town and to open the passage through the border post”, he expressed.
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