China Sow Loans To Latin American COVID-19 Vaccine

JAKARTA - China's Foreign Ministry Wang Yi announced that it will provide a loan of 1 billion United States (US) dollars to Latin American and Caribbean countries to deal with COVID-19. One of them is for vaccines. This discourse was discussed at the video conference meeting last Wednesday.

"The Chinese Foreign Minister said that a vaccine developed in his country would be of public benefit and be universally accessible. His country will establish a loan of US $ 1 billion to support vaccine access for countries in the region (Latin America and the Caribbean)," the statement said. issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemenlu) Mexico.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador thanked China's offer. "You remember, I had the opportunity to talk to him on the phone. We asked him for medical equipment support, there were lots of relief flights coming from China," he said.

As reported by CNN today, the virtual meeting was chaired by Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Meanwhile, the countries participating included Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.

Previously, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, during the pandemic, China and Latin American and Caribbean countries had indeed worked together to fight COVID-19. They work practically and effectively for the benefit of society.

Wang Wenbin said the virtual meeting would consolidate mutual consensus on fighting the pandemic, strengthen political confidence and enforce multilateralism. The meeting is also expected to build a community with a common future for the region.

Latin America became the epicenter of a global pandemic at the end of May. According to a Johns Hopkins University analysis last week, Latin America and the Caribbean saw more deaths from COVID-19 than the US and Canada.

In Brazil, the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world after the US, with more than 2.2 million people infected. Chinese company Sinovac has started its Phase 3 vaccine trials there.

In addition, Peru, Chile and Mexico are also in the top ten countries for confirmed cases. While the virus is also spreading in Venezuela, they are also worried about the country's crippled health system.

The response of Latin American governments to the pandemic has been mixed. However, the common thread of the problem is similar. For example, the problem of informal labor and economic inequality are the factors causing the high transmission of COVID-19. COVID-19 has also exacerbated the rift between the US and China, which have repeatedly criticized China for its initial unfavorable response to the virus.