The onslaught of the COVID-19 crisis caught most Americans by surprise. Among them were thousands of US citizens traveling, studying or vacationing abroad. As of March 20, approximately 1500 Americans are stranded in just one country, Peru, which like many others has closed its borders in an effort to contain the virus.
Helping stranded Americans has been a precedent for the State Department and the U. S. Embassy. The Oscar-winning film Argo, based on a true story, tells the story of how the U. S. government worked behind the scenes to get six Americans out of revolutionary Iran in 1979. .
During the COVID-19 outbreak, some travelers would possibly be in real danger. The State Department recently warned that there are reports that foreigners accused of spreading the coronavirus have been harassed, attacked, and stoned in Ethiopia. Americans have been evacuated from Wuhan and other parts of China and Morocco, totaling more than 150 seniors.
We have reached out 3 times to the State Department to request comment on the prestige of U. S. citizens in Peru. We have received a response.
The State Department just raised its “Do Not Travel” warning to level four. If they are abroad, they deserve to return to the United States. But if a country’s borders and airport are closed, it is arguably highly unlikely that U. S. citizens will return without government assistance. So far, those Americans have not been able to leave Peru for the United States.
Many share stories on the Facebook group Americans Stuck in Peru. Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider, 65, has taken to Facebook with a plea for the return of his 23-year-old daughter Cheyenne and the other Americans. “Due to the national quarantine…the borders are being closed and no flights are going on at this time. There are people who are not in safe situations.”
Snider blamed Peru and the U. S. government for “letting other people dry out. “Snider’s prestige as a contestant on President Trump’s former TV show, “Celebrity Apprentice,” didn’t help bring his daughter home. “Thousands of people are stranded around the world. We deserve to be able to quarantine ourselves in our own country. I say to the U. S. government: don’t abandon yours. “
Some of those stranded fear food shortages and imaginable civil unrest, even though the Peruvian military controls the streets. Others, stranded in remote spaces like Cuzco, fear they might travel to Lima to catch a flight abroad. Others simply struggle with boredom. Mark Ruiz posted on Facebook: “Who else is from Los Angeles?I’m wasting my head. (I’m wasting my head. )
Stephanie Goldberger, 29, a Californian who now lives in Oregon, came to Peru to “give herself a 30-year gift”: to Machu Picchu.
Instead, she was in Cusco at 8 p. m. on Sunday. That’s when Peru’s president ordered the country’s lockdown at midnight on Monday, leaving only 28 hours to leave. With the help of her family in the United States, Stephanie was able to travel from Cusco to Lima, but foreign flights were blocked. Cancelled before airport closes. She has been locked up in a hostel in Lima for a week.
“Daily life in the hostel, like most of us in quarantine across the world, is segmented by meals and video chats with friends and coworkers. The difference is that we cannot leave for exercise outside; we’re locked in and only one staff member can retrieve groceries each day,” Stephanie writes.
A Brazilian citizen carries the V sign of a bus that takes her and others to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Callao, in front of the Brazilian consulate in Lima, on March 20, 2020, due to the coronavirus blockade. – Some 400 Brazilian citizens are being repatriated after being stranded due to border closures and mandatory quarantine decreed by the government of Peru as a preventive measure against the coronavirus pandemic. So far, another 263 people have tested positive and four have died in Peru from the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. (Photo via Cris BOURONCLE/AFP) (Photo via CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP Getty Images)
“I’m lucky to be in Lima with a warm climate, but those from Cusco aren’t so lucky. Cusco sits more than 11,000 feet above sea level, twice the altitude of Denver, Colorado. Goldberger acknowledges that his scenario could be worse. But he adds: “Although I have other people to interact with, it is disheartening to stand still while other countries have taken temporary steps to repatriate their citizens. Israel, Mexico and Chile are among those that have sent planes.
Lima airport is reportedly closed to commercial flights for16 days, and quarantine could be extended another week. Stephanie’s father Gary told this reporter, “We choose to be hopeful and believe that our government with get them out.”
An evacuation is possible over the weekend. Reportedly, flights with U. S. military C-130 aircraft were arranged for Americans stranded in Morocco. And on March 19, President Trump, at a press conference, referred to a “group of young people” from the “great state of Alabama. “President said, “They’re in Peru and lately we’ve been running there to check them out and get them out. It’s a big group. There are about three hundred. We’re going to. . . Let’s get there.
To date, the discrepancy between the three hundred cited through the president and the 1,500 reported through the press has not been clarified. But US Secretary of State Pompeo said: “We know the academics who are in Peru, as well as other travelers who are there. ” Also,” in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “President Trump has made it clear that we will do everything we can to get every American home safely. “
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 20: U. S. President Donald Trump (left) speaks alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a briefing on the latest developments in the U. S. coronavirus outbreak at the James Brady Hall press conference. at the White House on March 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. With coronavirus deaths surging and economic turmoil expected, the Senate is introducing legislation to provide a $1 trillion relief package to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. President Trump announced that Tax Day would be postponed from April 15 to July 15. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
For Carlos Barron, co-founder of US Traveller Assist (USTA), those words are all you want to hear. “For the ambassador, the fact that the president is talking about his country will arouse emotion and enthusiasm in people. With this publicity, the flame grew.
The USTA was founded by security specialists with years of law enforcement experience with the FBI and U. S. embassies. U. S. Citizenship Operations Abroad. It currently offers services in Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, Indonesia, and Singapore, and provides tourists, business travelers, and academics from the U. S. with the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of tourism. In the U. S. , there are no resources on site in the event of a safety or security emergency. The company charges $10 per day for its services, which must be booked in advance — no phone calls from foreign prisons are allowed unless you’re a subscriber.
Thankfully, no USTA subscriber needed his help to get out of the current coronavirus crisis. Barron acknowledges that working with the embassy “can rarely feel like a black hole. “
That’s the service USTA helps provide in more normal time. Their representatives in the countries they serve are retired FBI agents who were the legal attaches to the U.S. Embassy. When a traveler signs up, the subscriber is introduced to the USTA rep before the trip and gets email, phone and What’s App contacts. “If you get a traffic ticket, something got stolen, you get poisoned, you’ll have 24/7 contact. And that person is a fixer,” says Barron.
Obviously, with a global event like the COVID-19 pandemic, the scenario takes on a whole new dimension. But the president’s wisdom about the American presence in Peru “changes the scenario to a code red scenario,” Barron says. “The embassy is functioning, but there are logistical aspects involved. I think the children are in their hands and they will return home. “
Locals and foreigners board a US Army C-130 evacuation flight following Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, central Philippines, Tuesday, November 12, 2013. AP Photo/Wally Santana)