TV Azteca, the Grupo Salinas television station – owned by billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego – launched an attack last night against Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell, who is leading the strategy to combat COVID-19 in Mexico: he described the figures as “irrelevant” and public servant conferences and urged people to no longer listen to him.
Based on an accusation by Javier Bonilla, the Governor of Baja California for Morena, the driver Javier Alatorre affirmed that there is a “total loss of confidence” towards the official; He even claimed that the latter “accepted his falsehoods” in an interview published by the Wall Street Journal, which is not true.
In the framework of the social distancing policy, López Gatell promotes the cessation of non-essential economic activities and, after several days of sending messages between the lines to industrialists dissatisfied with the measures – among others the beer industry -, announced last Thursday the implementation of sanctions against companies that fail to suspend work.
Under the pretext that their companies carry out essential activities, Salinas Pliego forced his workers to go to their jobs; In public forums, the billionaire vehemently opposed measures of social distancing and suspension of activities.
Although the onslaught against López-Gatell began in the voice of Javier Alatorre in his nightly newscast, the official Azteca Noticias account on Twitter took up the driver’s words, and at 11 o’clock at night he published on that social network:
“Like every night, the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell led the conference on covid-19 in Mexico. But his numbers and lectures have already become irrelevant. What’s more, we tell him with all his words, no longer pay attention to Hugo López-Gatell ”.
The publication was accompanied by an excerpt from Alatorre’s newscast, who based his entire comment on a video published by Bonilla the same day; In it, the local president accused López-Gatell of presenting figures lower than the real ones and complained that Tijuana is part of the municipalities where the resumption of work will begin on May 30.
Governor Jaime Bonilla Valdez questioned the figures the Federation has given for people killed by COVID-19, because just yesterday, he said, he reported 31 deaths in Baja California when in reality there were 65, that is, they omitted 34.
“Either they are telling lies, or us,” he said, after asking the state secretary of health, Alfonso Pérez Rico, if he is certain that the people who died today, 72, actually died of the coronavirus, which the state official replied yes.
This afternoon, without mentioning any specific name, Hugo López-Gatell, undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion, reiterated that he respects all the country’s governors and the actions they carry out in health matters.
In yesterday’s report, the Ministry of Health reported that 486 people had lost their lives in the country, however, the figure they gave about the deaths in the entity is 50% lower, which would imply that there are actually 520 dead. The above without reviewing the figures of the rest of the states, Bonilla highlighted.
“Those 31 we reported them almost a week ago. And if we report 72 (today), because it seems strange that there is so much difference, we have almost twice as many people who have succumbed, why?
“… Here we have confirmation that those died. So, it means that the information is being dosed or that they are not saying it, and I would like that to be explained to me in Mexico. And you tell me it’s the same case for everyone? Does that mean that those 486 is not real? “Asked the governor
The head of Health in the entity considered that the gap is due to the fact that the center of the country surely lacked the data “in real time”, due to the technological platform they are using, while in the state they have the contagion figures and deaths at the moment.
Bonilla Valdez replied: “It is not a matter of being updated, it is a matter of telling the truth. If we reported it a week ago, why don’t they report it? ”
He added: “It is becoming increasingly clear to me that there are many differences between the information that you have here and that of Mexico. I am beginning to worry because there is a trend: I do not know whether to misinform or give other numbers or because they do not have the information or it is a combination of incompetence or misinformation. But this is very serious because across the country there is a lot of disagreement with the information being done in the center of the country and we have to get to know what the reason really is. ”
Engallado, Jaime Bonilla launched: “I, as governor, am going to demand that you give true information about Baja California. They can’t dose it! ”
Then he cast doubt: “What a danger it is (not giving the real numbers), because we are in real time. What is the use of publishing what is and in Mexico to publish another number? I don’t like that. For starters, they are not telling the truth and why not tell it? We have to investigate, and those 486 (killed nationwide) is not real. “
Computer experts in charge of making the graphs and counts of the situation in the state detailed that the platform that Mexico City uses is Apple and Google is also used here, because it offers more accurate data, such as in the case of mobility, and most of the population uses this platform.
And the State Executive explained the importance of the mismatch in the figures: “I feel that by not presenting all the information, Tijuana and Baja California are sacrificed, affecting and giving a serious problem to the economy of my state.”
He commented that after the figures that were presented yesterday at the routine conference in Mexico City, he consulted with the University of San Diego and they agreed that they see “many holes in the information. I don’t know if it’s biased, but it’s not complete. ”
He continued: “Many states are challenging this information because they feel it is biased. From the moment they do not report (the number of) the people who are succumbing in Baja California, I wonder why when we are saying how many deaths there are. It means that the 486 is not real. Why? I do not know, we will know, time will determine the reason.
“They are doing the country a disservice when they are not giving the data and are seven days behind (in the figures). It is time for them to say how the situation is and to know what to expect. “
He concluded: “There is a lot of information that is deviant … I think there is some petty reason. I do not tolerate a consistent lie. ” And he did not rule out that behind the dubious handling of the data is President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Ministry of the Interior, the Notimex agency recalled, began an administrative sanctioning proceeding against El Diario de Chihuahua and El Diario de Juárez on Tuesday, for spreading false information about those killed by Covid-19 in a hospital in the border city.
Said newspapers published photographs of corpses inside black bags that were allegedly deceased inside the IMSS hospital in Ciudad Juárez , when in fact they are informative materials that originate in Ecuador. The complaint was filed by the Governor of Chihuahua, Javier Corral, against both publications.
In this regard, the Segob confirmed that the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador “will continue to be scrupulous in guaranteeing the freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution, knowing that this freedom does not protect defamation, slander or disinformation through false news” .
Source: proceso.com.mx, aristeguinoticias.com
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