For a week, nearly 2,000 trucks with Bolivian cargo have been stranded in the Tambo Quemado area, on the border with Chile, due to health controls for COVID-19 imposed by the authorities of the neighboring country.
Several images from the media and users on social networks show an endless line of vehicles of more than 10 kilometers.
The problem arose because the Chilean government decided to require the PCR certificate 72 hours in advance due to the increase in positive cases of COVID-19, which reduced the number of trucks that can enter the border complex from 60 to only 25.
Drivers complain about what they perceive as a disruption to their work and the precarious conditions in the area, which are also affecting their health.
“There are no basic services, the food is lousy, but what are we transporters going to do? We absolutely have to consume it, because there is no other way to feed ourselves,” he told the voice of americaSilvio Nogales, a Bolivian international cargo carrier who has been making routes especially to Chile and Peru for 35 years.
–
–
–
On the other hand, the president of the Heavy Transport Association of the city of El Alto, Gustavo Rivadeneira, claimed that “exporters and importers hand over their documents to carriers and get rid of the conflicts that we experience on the roads.”
“The delivery of the containers has a date in the ports of Arica and Iquique, and nobody is meeting those deadlines. This problem is never ending,” he declared.
According to the Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Benjamín Blanco, the situation is greatly affecting exports and imports, and Bolivia loses 10 million dollars every day. In addition to the deterioration of the health of drivers who have to endure even sub-zero temperatures.
“A health team will be deployed to deal with the cases of respiratory infections that our transportation brothers and sisters who are in very complicated conditions have acquired,” said Blanco, who traveled to the border on Thursday bringing food to the drivers.
–
–
–
Given the requests from the sector, the minister formally requested the Chilean government to extend health care hours for carriers and to carry out joint actions to speed up the taking of anticovid tests at the border, with the support of Bolivian personnel, equipment and medical supplies. .
Also read: COVID-19 infections double in the Americas
Claims for PCR tests increase
One of the main claims of the carriers is that the PCR tests that are taken in Bolivian laboratories are not validated by the Chilean health authorities and many drivers choose to falsify the document in an attempt to advance their route.
“The analysis that they are taking from us in Chile is the same PCR that they do to us in the laboratories of Bolivia, but I do not know what it will be, from end to end they test positive for almost all of us, we do not understand,” said Silvio Nogales.
Many of these counterfeits are discovered at checkpoints, but Nogales lamented that “everyone pays the consequences.” He said that some carriers do it because the PCR is a bit expensive, “but they generalize everyone.” We need that to work.
The PCR tests have a value of between 60 and 80 dollars, a price that in many circumstances Bolivian drivers cannot afford.
The Bolivian government insists that there must be a “humanitarian” response from the Chilean authorities and has invoked the right of “free transit.”
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel YouTube and turn on notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter e Instagram.
–
– .
