'Why?' El Salvador's Bukele says world leaders being told to take hydroxychloroquine, while public is warned away from it

'We have been advised to take it. While the rest of the world is being advised not to. Why? That’s a question worth asking. Isn’t it?'

Reuters
May 27, 2020
10:59 AM EDT

SAN SALVADOR — Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on Tuesday he takes hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that U.S. President Donald Trump has promoted as a way to ward off the novel coronavirus, though experts have warned about its safety.

Bukele told reporters that El Salvador was not promoting it anymore as a treatment, following the recommendation of the World Health Organization, though patients would still be able to take it as a preventative measure if they wished.
Does it work? I don’t know.

But we have been advised to take it. While the rest of the world is being advised not to.

Why? That’s a question worth asking.

Isn’t it? https://t.co/6ulY2CJQFJ

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 27, 2020

“I use it as a prophylaxis, President Trump uses it as a prophylaxis, most of the world’s leaders use it as a prophylaxis,” Bukele said.
On Wednesday, in a follow-up tweet, he said:
“Does it work? I don’t know. But we have been advised to take it. While the rest of the world is being advised not to. Why? That’s a question worth asking. Isn’t it?”

Bukele’s forceful response to the coronavirus, including moving to extend a national state of emergency without congressional approval, has prompted criticism that the 38-year-old has shown authoritarian tendencies and exceeded his powers.

Speaking at an event with Bukele, the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, suggested that he approved of the leader’s handling of the pandemic.

“I believe that in crisis situations, oftentimes people must give up a little bit of their freedoms in order to favor the rights and freedoms of the majority and of the whole,” he said.

“This is only a temporary moment.”


https://nationalpost.com/news/world/...d-away-from-it