RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Several demonstrations were held this Tuesday, My 25, in Buenos Aires and other cities of Argentina against the renewed tightening of restrictions imposed by the government of Alberto Fernández to face the onslaught of the second wave of Covid-19 in the South American country.
The various mobilizations, which were carried out in defiance of the strict nine-day confinement in force since last Friday night, were called through social networks.
The demonstrators expressed varied slogans and claims, from the vindication of individual freedoms in the face of restrictions, the complaints of traders, the demand for more vaccines, and even the denial of the existence of Covid-19 on the planet.
“We are ready to tell them that we are going to die standing up and not kneeling,” exclaimed a woman at the foot of the capital’s Obelisk, shouting in favor of “freedom” and criticizing the Government for “ruining” the country.
One of the demonstrators said that she decided to go to the center of Buenos Aires to protest “against the curtailment of liberties” and against “a populist government that restricts people’s freedom.”
Another of the demonstrators complained that the authorities “had a year to reinforce the health system and they did not do it, and today they force people not to work.”
“They condemn us to starvation. People cannot have a trade open, they cannot earn their bread. This is madness, it’s practically communism, textbook totalitarianism,” said a protester.
The protest was held in defiance of the new and tougher restrictions, which prohibit public gatherings of people and movement outside the vicinity of one’s own home.
Since April, Argentina has been going through a dizzying increase in the number of cases of covid-19, with an increasing level of occupation of beds in intensive care units.
Given this scenario, Alberto Fernández’s government announced a tightening of restrictions in almost the whole country, with nine-day long confinement that will be extended until May 31 as well as the continuity of the restrictions that were in force until last Friday.
PROTESTS IN OTHER CITIES
Protests also took place in other parts of the country, such as the cities of Córdoba, Bariloche, and Rosario.
In the latter, several demonstrators, mainly people who deny the existence of the coronavirus, were arrested and had tense moments with the police when they tried to warn people not to wear masks.
On Tuesday, Argentina reported 24,601 new cases of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, bringing the total number of positive cases to 3,586,736. In addition, the number of deaths rose to 75,056 after 576 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
The country registered a daily record number of positive tests last Wednesday, with 39,652 infections, and deaths on the 18th, with 745 deaths in one day.