Mexico Urges Towns to Stop Putting Up Roadblocks
Mexico's Interior Department is urging towns and states to stop putting up roadblocks and curfews to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, as hundreds have done.
Mexico City, Apr 29 (AP) Mexico's Interior Department is urging towns and states to stop putting up roadblocks and curfews to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, as hundreds have done.
The department said in a statement on Tuesday that such measures violate constitutional rights like the right to free movement, and argued that local governments don't have the authority to enact them.
“The health emergency does not constitute a state of emergency or suspension of rights,” the department wrote.
The department said in a report that almost 20 per cent of Mexican municipal governments, about 340, have put up checkpoints or filters to limit people's movements.
Most were concentrated along the country's coasts, where many beach towns have tried to exclude travelers who might spread the coronavirus.
Dozens of towns have enacted curfews and at least three of the country's 31 states have threatened to arrest people who don't obey social distancing measures. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)