Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay jointly repatriate 386 people

Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay have successfully repatriated 386 citizens from the four countries in three days, thanks to a diplomatic effort.

The large group of people has been affected by the closure of respective borders and cancellations of commercial flights due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Mexican Foreign Ministry reported Monday.

"This momentous initiative is a sign of a determined will to collaborate jointly in the context of an increasingly complex situation and stricter restrictions stemming from the [coronavirus] pandemic," Mexico's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The government said that the transfer, carried out between April 11 and 13, complied with all international sanitary measures. It involved two flight routes using aircraft of the Mexican and Uruguayan Air Forces.

With the four-party initiative, 160 Mexicans, 65 Chileans who remained in Argentina, as well as 123 Argentines and 38 Uruguayans stranded in Mexico, were returned to their respective countries.

"Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay ... reaffirm their unwavering commitment to provide consular assistance and protection to their nationals in vulnerable conditions abroad, mainly in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic," the note stressed.

As of Monday, Mexico had registered 5,014 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 332 deaths. Argentina, by contrast, had 2,208 infections and 95 deaths.; Chile has 7,525 infected and 82 deaths officially recorded, while the last figure in Uruguay is 483 cases and eight deaths. 

– AFP