9
Leidy s brother confirmed her deathCredit: Facebook
Villalba s mother, Juana Villalba, and cousin, Lourdes Luna, arrived in Miami on Sunday to search for answers to what happened to Leidy, marking Juana s first time outside of her home country. I’m asking for any news of my daughter. I don’t know anything about her and I’m desperate, Juana had told ABC TV Paraguay before the revelation of her daughter s death.
Leidy s brother Richard Luna Villalba also confirmed Leidy s death as he told C9N that Juana was devastated by the tragic news. She told me that they found her last night and that they identified her today. About 30 minutes ago they warned us. We never lost hope, but now we find out [sic] that Leidy left us, he said.
China is using its access to COVID-19 vaccines as a political tool to coerce Latin American countries into cutting off official diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
MOU revision to help Paraguay buy Indian vaccines
Staff writer, with CNA
Taiwan would provide financing for Paraguay, its South American ally, to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from India, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Saturday.
Taipei has agreed to revise a 2018 memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Paraguay, one of Taiwan’s 15 diplomatic allies and its only one in South America, to help it fight the pandemic, the ministry said.
The MOU change would provide Asuncion with US$16.50 million to purchase 2 million doses of the Covaxin vaccine from India-based Bharat Biotech.
A medical worker displays a vial of the Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in India on April 1.
COVID-19: US-China rivalry snarls Paraguay’s quest for jabs
Bloomberg
As poor nations struggle to get their hands on COVID-19 vaccines, a thinly-populated South American country finds its chances linked to its unexpected role in growing tensions between the US and China.
Paraguay’s 63-year-old alliance with Taiwan forged when both were run by authoritarian governments means the government cannot directly buy from China’s vaccine makers that have supplied other Latin American nations.
Officials say they have been approached to switch to Beijing to get the doses.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken telephoned Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez to stiffen his spine against such a shift.
Call with Paraguay reaffirmed ties, ministry says
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Tuesday night spoke on the telephone with Paraguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs Euclides Acevedo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, amid speculation that China might poach Taiwan’s sole remaining ally in South America using COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy.
During the call, both men reaffirmed ties, while exchanging opinions on bilateral cooperation programs and issues related to the pandemic, the Taiwanese ministry said in a press release.
Wu expressed the government’s intention to continue working with Paraguay to combat the pandemic, while Acevedo thanked Taiwan for its medical supplies and its assistance in helping Paraguay obtain vaccines, it said.