Francisco Santana, El Salvador’s ambassador to Taiwan, said yesterday it would be understandable if President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) cancels his trip to the Central American ally next month because of the global swine flu outbreak.
“We know that the outbreaks of the swine flu are of great concern [to many countries] at the moment. Therefore, it is understandable if President Ma cannot visit El Salvador should the disease continue to spread,” Santana said.
Ma is planning to visit three allies in Central America from May 27 to June 4. He is scheduled to attend the inauguration of El Salvador’s president-elect Mauricio Funes on June 1 and also travel to Guatemala and Honduras.
The outbreak of the new H1N1 swine flu and its spread across the globe has given rise to concerns about the president’s safety on his planned trip.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said yesterday that Ma’s travel plans remain unchanged, but his ministry was collecting information on the spread of the disease and was evaluating all possibilities.
“If a red travel alert is issued for any of the countries that the president is planning to visit, of course he will not enter those countries,” he said.
So far, the ministry has issued a red travel alert — its most serious travel advisory alert — for Mexico, warning local travelers not to visit the country because of the spread of the swine flu from Mexico to the rest of the world.
It has issued a yellow travel alert for the US, Canada and Costa Rica, advising travelers to exercise caution when traveling to those countries.
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