The embassy clarified that the devices are not part of the lot that was stolen in Miami, Florida, on August 8, and that was later recovered by the US authorities.
The United States Ambassador to the country, Ronald Johnson, gave the Salvadoran government a donation of 158 ventilators on Thursday to care for COVID-19 patients at a critical stage.
“A genuine friendship is strengthened in difficult times. The United States is with El Salvador in the fight against the pandemic and that is why I am pleased to deliver to President Nayib Bukele this second shipment of mechanical ventilators to save lives of Salvadorans ”, said the ambassador.
✔ SEE: US Embassy confirms recovery of fans stolen in Miami and that they came to El Salvador
To date, the United States has donated 408 ventilators to El Salvador, amounting to $ 5.3 million, to care for COVID-19 patients. The first shipment was delivered on May 21 and distributed to 32 hospitals. The devices delivered on Thursday will be used at Hospital El Salvador.
Johnson announced that in the coming weeks they will deliver another 192 fans to make a total of 600 devices.
Donation of mechanical respirators by the United States to El Salvador. Photo: Presidency
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Among them, he said, will come the devices that were stolen and recovered by the authorities in Miami, Florida 12 days later.
Regarding this incident, the diplomat said that “there has been some confusion about the stolen fans, so let me clear things up. The most important point is this: the government of the United States promised to donate 600 ventilators to El Salvador and we will fulfill that commitment, ”said Ambassador Johnson. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched an investigation into the case and has not released details about it.
For his part, Nayib Bukele affirmed yesterday that his Government had not ruled on the theft because “it cannot be claimed” from whoever is giving a gift to the country.
✔ ALSO: Deputies will request a report from the FBI for stolen fans who came to El Salvador
“We do not pronounce ourselves as a Government for a simple reason: it is simple decency. If we had bought the fans from a company and for some reason they had been late, either due to a theft in the country of origin or because the factory did not remove them in time, obviously the first thing we would have done was a claim; but when a government gives us a gift, the most absurd thing would be to complain ”, said Bukele.
“I understand that the cargo company was robbed, it didn’t even go to the government. The FBI recovered them and we had no reason to speak out, it would be rude to be claiming the United States, ”said Bukele.
On Tuesday, the special commission of the Legislative Assembly that will investigate the use of economic resources by the Government to address the health crisis agreed to ask the FBI for a report on the theft of the devices. The president criticized the decision of the legislators for considering that the US authorities are being monitored and that causes a “bad image” of the country.
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