 For more videos on People's Juggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Hello and welcome to People's Dispatch. We are joined by Bertha Suniga, who is the general coordinator of the Civic Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras, Copín, and she will be discussing the situation of the coronavirus pandemic in Honduras. How is this affecting the people? What measures are the government taking? And what are the demands of the people in light of this crisis? And sharing what is happening in Honduras in the middle of this pandemic. I wanted to start by asking if you could give a little summary of what is happening in Honduras, let's say, in front of the cases, as you can see, the infection rate, etc. Yes, well, thank you very much for the space. To tell you that in Honduras, so far, we do not have so many cases, our numbers that have been confirmed are from 407 people until yesterday. And well, of those 26 people have died in this virus that has basically begun here. Well, to tell you that for us to face this disease is that many of the problems that we have been dragging in these 11 years of coup and dictatorial projects are being recruited. Therefore, one of the main problems is that the conduction of this emergency is not in front of the health but it is a group of emergencies in front of basically natural disasters, through a lot of the militarization, the disinformation, the distrust of the government. We know that the focus of infection is not being detected. Therefore, these numbers are not according to reality and that despite being few cases so far, well, our mortality rates are quite high with respect to the world and that has to do with the outbreak of the health system, which, well, we are going to refer to as later. Perfect. And well, in front of that crisis, what measures are the government taking from Juan Orlando Hernández? Well, the measures that were taken at the beginning of this crisis were to decree on March 14 an absolute touch of stay for the population to avoid circulation. That is something quite dangerous, since we know that a touch of stay means the loss of constitutional guarantees of our rights for people and that it is difficult because we had not prepared ourselves for a touch of stay. So people were not ready with food, they were not ready to guarantee the basic conditions for, let's say, supporting not only a quarantine, but the total total restriction of circulation. So that has generated quite an inconvenience. Also to say that as the days go by, we see how this touch of stay has been flexing and it has basically been dosing the circulation every day according to the identity cards in our country, but that has always produced people's agglomeration. So in the end, we are always exposed to several communications that have been made by the government. It has been announced that intentions of suspending quarantine due to economic expectations, as we see in other countries, also what they are printing, are the entrepreneurial interests. A touch of stay, but let's say the working sector of the maquilas, most of them were not given in quarantine. Therefore, we see that now the focus of infection, mostly in our country, are in the department of Cortez and Colón, which are areas for excellence of maquilas, and that are infected. The focus of infection is located in that place because the companies did not respect the quarantine or the basic conditions of what they call biosecurity. And today, let's say, they are an exaggerated number of people who have been infected and also who have died in those zones. Well, what other measures have they taken? Again, in the reiterated practice of removing the army from the security forces in the state, from the streets, who are in total control of the country, we always say, we are worried about the turbulent businesses that are moving behind, that we cannot be as a vigilant society of that process. Also, something that has been very scandalous in our countries is that several loans have been requested, we have destined the fund of the state budget to supposedly combat the coronavirus, an exaggerated amount of money. In Honduras we have the largest budget in Central America, adding even more to the total of the rest of the country in Central America. And here it is constant, well, yesterday they also announced that the staff does not have the basic conditions to face this pandemic at the time it arrives, let's say, at the time of the highest peaks, in the development of the same, so for us it is back to denouncing the corruption so strong that the military have a team of security forces that also have special albergues for the military and the albergues that are prepared for the majority of the population are totally inadequate, here people appear in a kind of concentration camp and it is so true, some informal conditions in which they want to, apart from mixing people who are suspicious with sick people. Well, let's say that is one of the main measures that has been taken, but to say that there is no direction in front of people capable of the health system and that shows a great efficiency in the management of the crisis, it has been using the national chains that are at least once a day to basically make a political campaign, it is said that it has also been intended in the background to give food to the population that they are not getting, that they are politicized, that they are delivered according to their political purpose. Also, well, recently a decree was issued on the management of the earth and on the use of state lands and that worries because it is understood that it will be given to the great industrialists and not for the people who are needed today without land, which is a very important amount of people who are claiming land to live, to grow and to be able to guarantee the life. Well, and well, from the copin, an organization that works a lot with the communities, which is an organization of indigenous, popular, peasant communities, what are the main requirements from these communities? What are the problems that are living now in the midst of the pandemic? What is the situation there? Yes, well, to tell you is that, well, the main problem is quite sensitive to the utilization of historical empowerment of indigenous and peasant communities, especially limiting the circulation of people has produced a very strong supply of food and therefore a lot of concern about how to guarantee life. We have a consensus that the only way to face this pandemic in front of an incapable system, in front of a system of something that has been historically affected, well, that is why we were mobilizing two years ago on the defense platform of health and education, because it is understood that health is a fundamental right and today it is more advanced than ever. Well, our consensus has been to prevent, to prevent communities in their majority have made control of entering and leaving people autonomously out of the control of the police. However, they have made a lot of announcements that the people who are blocking the streets from entering and leaving will be out of control, in a violent way, as this government is used to, so that is truly indignant. And well, obviously it is from the solidarity, from the collectivity to be able to face that, there are many communities that are producers of basic profits in Honduras and then to be able to share with the other communities that due to the issue of water inaccessibility, well, they cannot produce food and they do not really have anything to eat. That, let's say, of the main concerns, our demand is that a rescue is approved of circulation for, well, a very restricted team of people and be able to guarantee the supply of food through humanitarian aid, but it is also that in front of this health crisis is a specialized technical team led by the Medico de Honduras College, which can give reliability to the population, which can have some technical capabilities that until now we do not see in the health personnel. Also another reiterated requirement that we have had is the auditory of the funds that have been requested, since they are exaggerated amounts, Honduras have even been owed with the FMI to be able to alleviate, obviously, the crisis, not only sanitary but also economic and political that we have in our country, but those funds are not reaching the needs of the population, so to audit the funds by a credible person who is part of the social organizations of the civil society or Honduras is another of our main demands. Well, that, let's say, obviously the non-militaryization of society, we believe that there are organizations, that there are people who can have a capacity to provide food, even locally, to generate focus and infection, but not towards the army, who will be again in the streets controlling this situation, that is to say that there have been repressions here, especially in the south of Honduras, there was even the assassination of a land leader by a private security company, of a sugar company, and well, those who can continue repeating these violations of human rights in Honduras are also of our concerns, so therefore those, let's say, are one of the most important demands, not only as a coup, but as a platform for social and popular movements, we have tried to maintain and we are going to continue this movement throughout this crisis. Well, and well, several countries in the region have suffered the same withdrawal from the public health system, but several of those countries have asked, for example, Cuba, China to help in that situation, given that they are paying services, not only of teams, but of staff and all that, and what is the posture of Honduras in front of that? Well, let's say that of course we see with a lot of admiration the participation of the Cuban doctors and doctors of their solidarity, and here particularly there had been a medical collaboration between Honduras and Cuba, which was suspended in the framework of obviously this government with Orlando Hernández, which saddens us a lot. We believe, well, and Ivan expressed in the Honduran Medical College that if there are enough doctors in our country who at this time can provide a job, however, they are in great part unemployed and unemployed. For communities, obviously, let's say the meaning of the Cuban medical brigades and obviously the confidence that they radiate is something quite strong, even communities in particular have tried to make direct solicitudes of community to the Cuban government so that doctors come, not only that, but also the purchase of the Interferon, which has been recognized by its capacity to then attend to patients with this disease at its early stage, and until the government of Honduras has not done that formal petition and, unfortunately, through a relationship between governments and, well, our government, let's say, does not see it with good eyes, even as a starting point for the attacks on, well, the countries that do not have these right-wing, dictatorial projects, even in Venezuela in particular, this crisis has already been communicating that it wants to be guaranteed by democracy, that democracy is talking about, and we have 11 years of dictatorial projects. But, I think it is a little bit different, because we know that there is a medical potential, a potential for teams, a potential for drugs, which, ideally, is hard, I am going to acquire them, and which is also part of the social demands that there are here. However, they have resisted, and not only to buy these drugs, but even to not give the equipment necessary in general to the personnel. That's all we have time for. Thank you for watching People's Dispatch.