EPECIAL

FUNAG. 23/04/2020. Lançamento. Livro: Na diplomacia, o traço todo da vida 

A FUNAG lançou, em 20 de abril, a quarta edição da obra Na diplomacia, o traço todo da vida, do ex-chanceler Mario Gibson Barboza, em comemoração ao Dia do Diplomata, instituído há 50 anos, durante sua gestão. Há anos esgotada, a obra descreve, com riqueza de detalhes, importantes episódios da prolífica carreira de Gibson Barboza. Esta edição, com ortografia revisada, conta com novo e expandido caderno de fotografias da época, várias delas inéditas.

A obra está disponível para download gratuito, em três formatos, na biblioteca digital da FUNAG. A versão impressa do livro será disponibilizada oportunamente, uma vez que a gráfica licitada pela FUNAG retome suas atividades.

EMENTA

Quarta edição das memórias do ex-chanceler Mario Gibson Barboza, Na diplomacia, o traço todo da vida, é a primeira edição publicada pela FUNAG. Há anos esgotada, a obra, que pode ser considerada um clássico da história diplomática brasileira, descreve, com riqueza de detalhes, importantes episódios da prolífica carreira de Gibson Barboza, especialmente durante sua gestão à frente do Itamaraty. Pode-se citar, como exemplos dos temas tratados na obra, a questão do aproveitamento energético da bacia do Prata e a negociação e assinatura, por Gibson Barboza, do Tratado de Itaipu; o complexo processo de transferência do Itamaraty para Brasília; as relações do Brasil com os Estados Unidos e a amizade de Gibson Barboza com importantes figuras como Henry Kissinger; a defesa do mar territorial de duzentas milhas; a posição brasileira em relação ao Tratado de Não Proliferação Nuclear (TNP); a aproximação com os países africanos; as tensões com Portugal sobre suas colônias na África; a tentativa de intermediação no conflito árabe-israelense, no início de 1973; o desafio de lidar com os sequestros de diplomatas pelas guerrilhas no Brasil e no Uruguai; etc. Esta edição conta, ainda, com um novo e expandido caderno de fotografias da época, várias delas inéditas.

LIVRO: http://funag.gov.br/biblioteca/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1028

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US ECONOMICS

ASEAN

U.S. Department of State. 04/22/2020. The United States and ASEAN are Partnering to Defeat COVID-19, Build Long-Term Resilience, and Support Economic Recovery. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are enduring strategic partners as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and plan for economic recovery. We commit to continue our collaboration with ASEAN to beat this pandemic and get back to the business of building a bright future for the region together.

We thank our ASEAN partners for their valuable support in promoting the continued flow of vital medical supplies into the United States, as well as their support for our repatriation flights. For example, Vietnam expedited clearances for charter flights to deliver 2.2 million personal protective suits to the United States, and we expect more shipments of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the coming weeks. Additionally, since the beginning of April, Malaysia facilitated the speedy delivery of over 1.3 million kilograms of gloves for U.S. health care workers. Cambodia helped Americans safely return home from the Westerdam cruise ship.

The United States continues to provide generous support to ASEAN nations to assist them to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We urge all countries to embrace full and transparent information sharing. Transparency saves lives; suppression puts them at risk. During this meeting, I was pleased to announce the U.S.-ASEAN Health Futures initiative to enhance our efforts in health security through research, public health, and training the next generation of ASEAN health professionals. To date, the United States has released more than $35.3 million in emergency health funding to help ASEAN countries fight the virus, building on the $3.5 billion in public health assistance provided across ASEAN over the last twenty years.

We also urge authorities to take appropriate measures to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and services to the most vulnerable populations across the Indo-Pacific—including those displaced by violence inside Myanmar. We call for all to work with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to make that happen for Rohingya and other displaced persons.

The United States is committed to using all available tools to minimize the economic and social damage from the pandemic and restore global growth. We start from a strong foundation with $294 billion in two-way goods trade in 2019 and $273 billion of U.S. Foreign Direct Investment across ASEAN countries. The Development Finance Corporation is investing in infrastructure projects across the region. The USAID-supported ASEAN Single Window is facilitating greater and greater contactless trade throughout ASEAN. The U.S.-ASEAN Internship Program continues to expand with openings at many of our biggest companies in the region. The U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership promotes U.S. private sector engagement in smart city solutions and the digital economy. We remain committed to sustaining our long-term investments in economic technical assistance and human capacity development through our bilateral USAID programs in the ASEAN member states of Cambodia, Indonesia, LAO PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Given the strong link between illegal wildlife sold in wet markets and zoonotic diseases, the United States has called on the People’s Republic of China to permanently close its wildlife wet markets and all markets that sell illegal wildlife. I call on all ASEAN governments to do the same.

Even as we fight the outbreak, we must remember that the long-term threats to our shared security have not disappeared. In fact, they’ve become more prominent. Beijing has moved to take advantage of the distraction, from China’s new unilateral announcement of administrative districts over disputed islands and maritime areas in the South China Sea, its sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel earlier this month, and its “research stations” on Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef. The PRC continues to deploy maritime militia around the Spratly Islands and most recently, the PRC has dispatched a flotilla that included an energy survey vessel for the sole purpose of intimidating other claimants from engaging in offshore hydrocarbon development. It is important to highlight how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is exploiting the world’s focus on the COVID-19 crisis by continuing its provocative behavior. The CCP is exerting military pressure and coercing its neighbors in the SCS, even going so far as to sink a Vietnamese fishing vessel. The U.S. strongly opposes China’s bullying and we hope other nations will hold them to account too.

We expressed concerns over a scientific report showing that Beijing’s upstream dam operations have unilaterally altered flows of the Mekong. The report found that such operations significantly deprived the Mekong countries of water for years, with catastrophic results during the most recent dry season for the 60 million people who depend on the river for food, energy, and transportation.

The story of the ties between the billion people of America and ASEAN is an inspiring, positive one. We have faced shared challenges before. Together, we’ve made our people safer and more prosperous. We commit to continue to build for the future based upon the tried and true principles that we share – ASEAN centrality, openness, transparency, a rules-based framework, good governance, and respect for sovereignty.

U.S. Department of State. 04/22/2020. U.S.-ASEAN HEALTH FUTURES

Today, Secretary Pompeo launched the U.S.-ASEAN Health Futures initiative. Health Futures captures our existing and ongoing work with ASEAN on public health and lays the groundwork for long-term partnership, targeted assistance, and a renewed focus on our most fundamental resource – the health and wellbeing of our combined one billion people. Over the last 20 years, the United States has invested over $3.5 billion in shared health goals in collaboration with ASEAN nations, representing a historic level of engagement in a serious and sustained way. This funding lays the foundation for strong public health throughout the region and is the basis for our engagement going forward. Our assistance to ASEAN continues to be responsive to the region’s needs, including as of April 22, $35.3 million in emergency funding for ASEAN Member States to combat COVID-19.

We have advanced our shared goals for a healthy future in a wide variety of fields, including HIV/AIDS and other infectious disease control, expanding safe water access, and improving nutrition and maternal and child health. Together, we are conducting joint health research, strengthening health capacity across the region and working to develop the next generation of human capital. We are also exploring smart city health solutions through the U.S-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership.

RESEARCH: Scientific knowledge is fundamental to understanding and diagnosing disease, and the development of new therapeutics. Joint research in the ASEAN region includes:

• More than 1,000 research projects over the last ten years, including 300+ active research projects in collaboration between ASEAN members and 20+ institutes at the U.S. National Institutes of Health;
• Over $30 million in direct research funding over the last ten years to universities and government research institutions;
• Support for HIV prevention trials, microbicide trials, AIDS clinical trials, tuberculosis epidemiology, and infectious disease clinical trials.

HEALTH SYSTEM CAPACITY: Strong health systems are critical to supporting a vibrant, healthy citizenry and addressing emerging health risks and threats. Collaborative capacity building in ASEAN includes:

• Supporting quality health care, services, and coverage for all citizens, especially the most vulnerable;
• Fostering public-private partnerships to promote healthy populations, especially in the area of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. Public-private partnerships between USAID and U.S. companies have enabled better detection and treatment of tuberculosis, enabling thousands of patients across ASEAN to start appropriate treatments for tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis;
• Controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Over 150,000 patients are now on antiretroviral therapy due to joint efforts between the United States and ASEAN countries. With U.S. support, Vietnam is on track to become the first President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Reliefcountry to achieve full ownership of its HIV/AIDS response by the end of 2020 by mobilizing domestic resources and ensuring sustainable financing;
• Sustained support to ASEAN to reduce tuberculosis and malaria in the region. For example, the number of cases of malaria in Laos dropped 70 percent from 2014 to 2017;
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Global Disease Detection Operations Center monitors and reports on outbreaks and their risk to communities around the world, including 44 infectious disease outbreaks across ASEAN from 2014-2019, reducing the risk of further spread;
• USAID is working with the ASEAN Secretariat to develop a Public Health Emergency Coordination System, bringing together existing ASEAN mechanisms, such as the ASEAN Emergency Operations Centre Network, to prepare for and respond to emerging public health emergencies.

DEVELOPING HUMAN CAPITAL IN HEALTH: Fostering the next generation of health care professionals is a critical part of our shared goals for a healthy future. Efforts include:

• Through the newly launched U.S.-ASEAN Health Futures Alumni Network, we are connecting 2,400 ASEAN medical and public health visiting scholar and program alumni to share best practices and directly engage with U.S. experts;
• Supporting ASEAN physicians, public health trainees, and science students to learn from U.S. expertise through Fulbright educational exchanges, the International Visitor Leadership Program, and other citizen exchanges;
• Training more than 1,300 disease detectives across ASEAN to track diseases, research outbreaks, and respond to health emergencies;
• Creating One Health university networks (four country-specific, one regional) to prepare health workforces to prevent, detect, and respond to the threat of infectious diseases, which have trained more than 10,000 students and professionals since 2014.
• Promoting telehealth and e-records to help cities and healthcare professionals deliver services and information efficiently.

CORONAVIRUS

U.S. Department of State. 04/22/2020. The United States Continues Leadership in the Global COVID-19 Response with More Than $270 Million in Additional U.S. Foreign Assistance. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

For more than a half century, the United States has been the largest contributor to global health security and humanitarian assistance.  Through the American people’s generosity and under the leadership of President Trump, the United States continues this outstanding record in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the announcement of more than $270 million in additional foreign assistance provided by Congress in supplemental funding specifically to respond to the outbreak.

This new funding will provide approximately $170 million in humanitarian aid to allow communities in some of the most at-risk countries to prepare for, and respond to the pandemic. At the same time, we are also providing more than $100 million to help governments, civil society, and the private sector prepare for, mitigate, and address second-order economic, civilian-security, stabilization, and governance impacts of COVID-19.

Today’s announcement brings the total global investment from the U.S. Government since the outbreak of COVID-19 to more than $775 million to date in health, humanitarian and economic assistance – specifically aimed at fighting the pandemic in more than 100 countries in every region of the world.

A healthier world means a healthier United States. Decades of smart and strategic foreign assistance has proven to mitigate further impact to Americans overseas and better protect Americans at home from further transmission across our borders.

The State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Department of Defense are working together as part of an All-of-America response to support health care, humanitarian assistance, and economic, security, and stabilization efforts worldwide with $2.4 billion in emergency supplemental funding allocated by Congress.

The United States is without peer as a humanitarian force for good. Together, Americans – separately from our government aid and contributions to multilateral institutions – have generously donated more than $3 billion to populations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic around the world through private businesses, nonprofit groups, faith-based organizations, and charitable organizations, in addition to what the U.S. Government has provided.

The United States welcomes high-quality, transparent contributions from other donors to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Department of State. Briefing with Dr. William Walters, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Operations, Bureau of Medical Services, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ian Brownlee, Bureau of Consular Affairs, on COVID-19: Updates on Health Impact and Assistance for American Citizens Abroad. Via Teleconference

• Dr. William Walters, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Operations, Bureau of Medical Services
• Ian G. Brownlee, Principal Deputy Assistant SecretaryBureau of Consular Affairs

MR BROWN: Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to what I believe is our 10th briefing on the State Department’s historic effort to bring Americans home from every corner of the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have two subject matter experts joining us for this on-the-record briefing, and you’ve all become quite familiar with them both: Ian Brownlee, our principal deputy assistant secretary from the Bureau of Consular Affairs; and Dr. William Walters, deputy chief medical officer for operations from the Bureau of Medical Services. Dr. Walters will begin with opening remarks and turn it over to PDAS Brownlee. After that we’ll take a few questions. A reminder that this briefing is embargoed until the end of the call.

Dr. Walters, please, go ahead.

DR WALTERS: Yeah, thanks, and good afternoon, everybody. Daily statistics: our overseas current cases are 169. I’m happy to say that our recovered cases are at 152, and I would anticipate that those two lines will cross probably in the next couple of days where we have more recovered cases than current cases, and that’s a good-news story for everybody and a testament to the countermeasures that have been put in place in each of our embassies around the world. We still have no trends to show employee-to-employee transmission either domestically or overseas. Our current cases domestically are 79. Our current fatalities are unchanged, so very happy to see that. And our current medevac numbers are unchanged as well.

And so overall we have a very healthy workforce overseas that are continuing to deliver on the Secretary’s promise. Back to Ian.

MR BROWNLEE: Thank you very much, Will. Hello to my friends in the Fourth Estate. Hello, it’s good to be back here with all of you.

The Department of State has coordinated the repatriation of 65,000 U.S. citizens and family members from 122 countries on 687 flights so far.

I’d like to focus today on our efforts in India and Pakistan. We are still tracking significant numbers of U.S. citizens requesting repatriation assistance. In India, we’ve already coordinated the repatriation of more than 4,000 U.S. citizens. We have four more flights scheduled in the coming days. Getting people to New Delhi and Mumbai, the outbound hubs for those two – for those flights, is no small feat in the midst of a nationwide lockdown, but Mission India team is up to this challenge. They are actively coordinating with passengers arriving on feeder flights and buses from all across this huge country.

In Pakistan —

QUESTION: I can’t hear you.

MR BROWNLEE: — the department has helped bring home more than 1,000 U.S. citizens with six more flights planned. The Pakistani Government’s strict lockdown on internal travel has posed significant challenges for us. All internal domestic flights are grounded, and all ground transportation is banned for vehicles holding more than three people. Our team in Pakistan is making every effort to help people get to Islamabad and Karachi to board our repatriation flights, and will continue to do so.

We strongly encourage U.S. citizens in both India and Pakistan and elsewhere to register at step.state.gov and also to monitor our embassy websites carefully for the latest information on flights. Consular sections around the world are consistently sending out detailed messages about the status of repatriation flights and local health conditions via STEP as well as through our embassy websites and social media accounts.

Communicating safety and security information to U.S citizens overseas is always a top priority for the Department of State, and especially so during this difficult time. We are tracking many cases of U.S. citizens overseas who are not necessarily close to a capital or other major city, and we’re making every effort to help people get to where they can take advantage of our repatriation flights, of course local travel conditions permitting.

For example, in the Philippines we have coordinated sweeper flights to collect U.S. citizens from Cebu, Davao, and Iloilo and get them to Manila to fly home. In Cabo Verde, the team is working to arrange a charter repatriation flight that will collect U.S. citizens from several island locations before an onward connection to Boston. We are working hard and creatively to help those who have come forward to request our assistance, but as I’ve said on multiple occasions, these flights will not go on forever.

And I think with that, I look forward to your questions. Out.

MR BROWN: All right. If you’re on a speaker line and you’re not speaking, please mute your line. And if you want to get into the queue, of course, press 1 and 0. I think we have one person in the queue right now. Let’s go ahead and open the line of Lara Jakes.

QUESTION: Good afternoon, everyone. I wonder if both of you can address different parts of this. Ian, for example, can you say how many American citizens who have registered through STEP are still waiting for some assistance, or do you have any kind of sense of how many thousands of Americans are still hoping to get on some kind of repatriation flight?

And Doc Walters, I wanted to see if you could talk a little bit about risks of people trying to take commercial flights now. I know that in some places the State Department is no longer offering chartered flights and the urging is to get on commercial flights if they want to come home. But I wonder if we have reached a point where there are no good options for coming home, if people are now running the risk of catching the coronavirus if they go through commercial flights or any other kind of commercial transport where they could be in contact with people who have not been in self-isolation. Thanks.

MR BROWNLEE: Lara, yeah, we’re tracking – I’m always kind of reluctant to give this number out, but we’re tracking something like 17,000 people who have expressed some degree of interest in maybe getting our help, and this – these – there’s a range of people out there, which is why the number is not all that meaningful, and some of these are people who say, “Yup, I’m waiting at the airport; you give me a call and I’ll show up tomorrow and get on a flight.”

There are others who have been registered by, for example, their children in the United States saying, “My aging parents are in country X,” Peru or wherever, “and they should be getting out of there,” and in fact those aging parents have no particular interest or desire to leave.

So it’s this big – a big range. The number is still up in the multiple thousands, though. Over.

DR WALTERS: And hey, it’s Dr. Walters. I – you bring up a great question, and that is – and it’s really been the question since, like, February: Is it safer to stay where I am or to make my way back to the United States if I am an American expatriate, I’m an American citizen that finds themselves them in – pick a place, Bujumbura. It’s a tough – it’s a tough calculus for anybody to sort through and it’s an individual decision. On the one hand, if you get on a repatriation flight, you are going to be well inside social distancing distances for a short period of time, where you can come back to the United States where you are a citizen and you have access to health care and you have access to an infrastructure that is still intact; or you can stay where you are, understanding that if you’re in a place where the infrastructure wasn’t good to begin with, that when the peak – when that steep uphill climb starts and when it gets to peak, you will be an American citizen in a foreign country that didn’t have great infrastructure to begin with, and now you have less rights and less access to less infrastructure.

I think that is an individual decision that people have to make, but they need to make it very clear-eyed, understanding that the State Department remains committed to taking care of American citizens wherever they are, but taking care of them doesn’t necessarily mean a repatriation flight in a timeframe where it’s needed. And so we’ve been keeping up as well as we could, and Africa is a great example, where the vast majority of international airports and the vast majority of international airspace has been closed down, and we’ve still been working through those problem sets. But if you look at the epidemiology curves for Africa right now, they’re only about to start the uphill climb. And so whatever problems we’ve had in the past getting repatriation flights in and out of Africa and many other places in the Southern Hemisphere are only going to get worse.

And so to Ian’s point over the last many calls, if you’re going to make a decision – if you’re an American citizen and you find yourself overseas and you feel the earth quake, don’t continue to stand on the beach waiting for the tsunami. The tsunami will come. And they still have time to make decisions – make decisions regarding repatriation flights, make decisions based on international commercial flights. Really, there is no difference in the distance between the two seats, and quite frankly, there isn’t a whole lot of distance with regard to self-isolation and any assurance that the person sitting next to you has been doing the right thing.

That’s not the question. The question is: Are you safer in the United States as an American citizen than you are overseas? I hope that answers your question.

MR BROWN: Okay. For our second question let’s go to the line of Matt Lee.

QUESTION: Hi there. Thanks again. I can’t remember exactly when this was. Maybe it was last week, maybe it was a month ago, but time runs together. But you guys had talked, or at least one of you had talked about the situation in Brazil, and your concern that there were a huge number of Americans – like more than – significantly more than there were in Peru or ended up being in Peru – who are in Brazil and who are at risk if they – and I’m just wondering if anything more has come of those concerns. Thank you.

MR BROWNLEE: Hey, Matt, Ian here. Yeah, I was probably the one who mentioned that. There’s a very large expat population in Brazil. Who knows how many – a couple hundred thousand or so. And there are still commercial flights from Brazil to the United States. There are fewer than there were just a couple of weeks ago, but there are still something on the order of nine or so flights a week between major Brazilian cities and the United States. And so we’re strongly encouraging people to focus on where they are, should they stay there, should they go through that analysis that Will just went through and decide, “Am I going to stay here or am I going to head back to the United States?”

Take advantage of those commercial options while they exist. Over.

MR BROWN: Okay, for our next question can we go to the line of Courtney McBride.

QUESTION: Thanks. Do you have a breakdown of the number of Americans who traveled commercially versus on K Fund flights and perhaps the number who availed themselves of the repatriation loans? And then beyond India and Pakistan, and Matt just asked about Brazil, are there other countries with large numbers of Americans who have contacted the department seeking a return?

MR BROWNLEE: Hey, Courtney. Ian here. So I got three questions, right? Number of repat loans, other large countries. I’m sorry, what was the first one?

QUESTION: Yes, and just the commercial versus K Fund flight breakdown, if you have it.

MR BROWNLEE: Oh, commercial v K Fund. Really broadly speaking – and it’s not just commercial v K Fund – it will be sort of commercial v USG-funded, because Doc Walters’ MED flights have brought home a very large number of people. So – and then we also had some come in on DOD Space-A, et cetera. So – but broadly speaking, if you go appropriated funds versus commercial repat, it’s something like 60, 65 to 35 to 40 percent, 35-40 being the commercial rescue flights.

The number of repat loans overall, I don’t have that. I do know that we’ve been doing a lot of them in Brazil – I’m sorry, Brazil – Peru, and I’ve got a figure here that last week we did 59 in Peru alone. I don’t have the number for – the worldwide number from the beginning of this crisis.

And then in terms of other large populations, really – the really heavy populations where we are pulling people out now, we’re identifying people, are those that I identified earlier: Pakistan, India. The other populations are smaller. They may accumulate to a fairly large number. Bear with me a second. I’m going to pull up a data point here to give to you. Bear with me just a moment.

Yeah. So looking across the entire world, we’re looking, we’re tracking – the greatest number are still in South Central Asia, India, Pakistan. And the vast bulk of those are in India; it’s like 6,000 or so. Western Hemisphere, we’re tracking somewhere in the 4,000 range. Africa comes next with about 3,000.

And after that, it goes down to – I mean, it goes down to much smaller numbers in the rest of the world. So really, the big one – I’m rambling on – the big one is India. Over.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR BROWN: Okay. For the next question, let’s hear from Jessica Donati.

QUESTION: Hi, thank you. I – this is just a continuation from Courtney’s question. I’m wondering, when you give us the figure of 65,000 Americans that were aided by the State Department to come home, do you have a number for the number of people that were on special – specially organized State Department flights and those that simply got onto commercial flights that became available?

MR BROWNLEE: Well, it’s that percentage breakdown I just gave. I’m not very good at math. I can’t do the math precisely and I – it’s that range, that percentage breakdown. Somewhere in the high 30s, 40 percent are on commercial flights where the State Department and our embassies overseas put in a heavy lift in pressing the local government, wherever that is, to permit these flights to come in.

So a good example would be Peru, where we’ve had these four Eastern Airlines flights in the past week or so. That took quite a lot of work on the part of the embassy to get permission from the Government of Peru for those flights to take place. Something similar is – there’s an outfit down there called Solange. We’ve not been as heavily engaged on behalf of Solange, but we have been involved there.

Something similar takes place in, for example, the Bay Islands of Honduras, big tourist destination. There are a lot of U.S. citizen tourists on the island of Roatan, and the embassy in Tegucigalpa had to play quite a heavy role in getting permission for U.S. commercial flights to go into Roatan airport and bring those folks home. Over.

MR BROWN: Okay. Christina Ruffini, next question.

QUESTION: Hey, guys. Ian, I’m wondering if you can address the President’s announcement about the 60-day immigration freeze and what that means for consular officers of the State Department, visas already in progress, things like that. He also said there would be an easier way for those farm workers to come into the country. Are there any changes in the work to how you’re processing H-2A seasonal worker visas or any changes to that program? Thank you.

MR BROWNLEE: Well, Christina, I have been, I think, a hundred percent involved in repats ever since this whole thing started. So I think what I can say about two points there – and I’ve said this before – is that we have substantially ended routine visa operations around the world in response to the crisis, and we’ve – folks have been coming home on authorized or ordered departure, or they’ve been pivoting to do other work, specifically, in many cases, American citizen services. So as I say, routine visa services have been substantially terminated –suspended.

With regard to H-2As, we recognize that these H-2A workers are a priority for the maintenance of the U.S. food supply, and so our posts around the world, and particularly in Mexico and Central America where the vast majority of the H-2As come from, are prioritizing H-2As. Other than that, I’m – I can only speak about repatriations. Over.

MR BROWN: Okay. Next question let’s go to Kylie Atwood.

QUESTION: Hello, thank you. Two questions – I may have missed this off the top, but how many Americans are you still tracking that are asking for assistance to come back? And do you have a percentage of the State Department workforce internationally that has come back to the U.S.? Thank you.

MR BROWNLEE: Hey, Kylie, Ian here. As I said earlier, we’re tracking a number of around 17,000 who have expressed some degree of interest in maybe being repatriated. As I said, these range from people who are eagerly waiting with their bags packed and would hop on the next air – next flight out, to folks who maybe they want to be on a list, to folks who are on the list because their kids put them on there. So that number of about 17,000 is – that’s not 17,000 people lining up at airports around the world waiting to get onboard. The number of people who are seeking immediate assistance is much, much smaller, and that’s one of our challenges at the moment is determining exactly what the real, comma, current demand is. Over. And I’ll defer to Will on the percentage question.

DR WALTERS: Yeah, I don’t happen to have the percentage of the folks that have rotated back. We’d have to take that.

MR BROWN: Okay. Looks like the last question we have in the queue is from Humeyra.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Just to follow up on Christina’s question, Ian, I understand you said the consular, like, visa services have been reduced substantially, but you also mentioned that the process was still continuing for some people in the pipeline, say, like medical professionals who have secured a job in the U.S. Could you talk a little bit about what happens to them, the people who had put their applications already in and may be, like, waiting for an appointment or, like, waiting for paperwork? What happens to those people in the pipeline? Thank you.

MR BROWNLEE: Humeyra, I’m sorry, I am going to have to take that question. This is something that has come up in the past very short while, and I have been entirely focused on repatriation, so I’m sorry I’m not in a position to answer that question. Over.

MR BROWN: Okay. Looks like we have one more. If we could, again, try to keep this on repatriation, and go to the line of Carol Morello.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for doing that. Can you hear me?

MR BROWN: Sure can.

MR BROWNLEE: We hear you.

QUESTION: Great. You’ve been saying for quite some time now that these flights will not last forever, but you’ve also said they’re winding down. So while I realize you can’t foresee what various countries will do in terms of closing down their airspace, could you give a rough estimate? How much longer do you think at least the U.S. Government-paid-for flights will continue? Are we talking days? Will it go into next month? Do you – can you give a rough idea? What is your sense of how much longer you will continue with this work? Thank you.

MR BROWNLEE: Thank you, Carol. This really – it’s hard to say on a worldwide – or better said, there is no single worldwide answer to that question. What we have found in a number of places – and I mentioned Honduras earlier, Guatemala, for example, is another case where intermittent commercial options are now available and relatively frequent. They’re not daily, there aren’t multiple flights a day, but there are multiple flights a week out of those places. We’re looking – we’re hoping to see a similar sort of rhythm out of Peru soon. Places like India are more challenging at the moment. Pakistan I mentioned is – both of those places – there is a complete lockdown on internal movement, and there are also relatively large U.S. citizen populations. So we have multiple authorized K Fund charter flights out into the future. It really is going to be very much a country by country, case-specific answer to your question. Are we going to get into May? I – yes, we are. Are we going to get deep into May? That question I cannot answer at this point. Over.

MR BROWN: Okay, that looks like it was our last question, so thank you to our briefers once again for joining us and for everybody who dialed in. That concludes the call and the contents of the call are – the embargo is lifted. All right, thanks.

U.S. Department of State. 04/23/2020. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Laura Ingraham of Fox News. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

QUESTION:  Joining me now exclusively is our Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here tonight.  Earlier this week, I said that the global community should demand that Tedros and his cronies resign in order to just get this behind everyone.  What’s the state of play regarding our relationship right at this moment with the WHO?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Well, Laura, thanks for having me on.  First of all, as you said, the President has stopped all U.S. taxpayer funding for the World Health Organization.  It’s completely appropriate given the recent history.  But Laura, you’ve got a sophisticated set of viewers; they’ll remember this isn’t the first time that the World Health Organization has failed to do what it needs to do when a pandemic begins to break out.  In fact, I am very worried that we’re still not getting it right.

So you recounted what happened in January and the delayed announcement about the pandemic, and the fact that China had asked them not to announce, and the World Health Organization didn’t do that.  But even today, the Chinese Government hasn’t permitted American scientists to go into China, to go into not only the Wuhan lab but wherever it needs to go to learn about this virus, to learn about its origins.

Look, we know it began in Wuhan, but we need to figure this out.  There’s an ongoing pandemic.  We still don’t have the transparency and openness we need in China, and it is the World Health Organization’s responsibility to achieve that transparency.  They’re not doing it; they need to be held accountable.  And what’s been great is to see other countries around the world to begin to recognize the WHO’s failures as well.

QUESTION:  And this is an opportunity, Mr. Secretary, for the United States to take a leadership role given the closeness that the WHO has with China, which spends a fraction of the money we’ve been sending to the WHO.  So given all of this, given everything that’s happened, shouldn’t Tedros be called on to resign before we go forward at all in a relationship with the WHO?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  I think we’ve got to take a real hard look at the WHO and what we do coming out of this, Laura.  We reformed this back in 2007, so this isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with the shortcomings of this organization that sits inside the United Nations.  We need a fix.  We need a structural fix for the WHO.

QUESTION:  If we’re talking about real accountability here, the guy who’s leading the organization, I don’t see how he can be part of the solution.  So tonight, you’re not ruling out that not – that might be one of the requirements for going forward with the WHO?  You’re not ruling it out?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  No, I think that’s right, Laura.  Even more than that, it may be the case that the United States can never return to underwriting having U.S. taxpayer dollars go to the WHO.  We may need to be – have even bolder change than that.

QUESTION:  Right.  Yeah, make our own organization.  All right, Mr. Secretary, Senator Tom Cotton wrote a phenomenal piece in The Wall Street Journal yesterday saying that the U.S. Government is investigating whether COVID-19 came from a government lab in Wuhan:  “Evidence is circumstantial, to be sure, but it all points toward the Wuhan labs.”

Well, China absolutely disavows any culpability from that lab, as does the chief scientist, world-renowned scientist who runs that lab.  She said the same thing in interviews over the last week.  Do you agree, though, that this is what the state of our information now is that this lab was the source of the virus that has done huge damage and loss of life in the United States?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Well, Laura, we don’t know precisely where it started.  That’s the core problem.  China kicked out journalists.  When the United States, under President Trump, tried to get in to conduct the very investigation that needs to still be undertaken – it still hasn’t been done – when we tried to do that, the Chinese denied access not only to the lab but to the wet markets, to all of the places that one would need to go to identify the original source for this virus.  We’re still trying to get that information.  We’re still seeking transparency.

QUESTION:  Your predecessor – I know you guys are texting pals, John Kerry – claims, Mr. Secretary, that we need to entangle ourselves even further with China going forward.  Watch:  “We have to work with China.  You have to work with China on COVID-19, on all pandemics.  You have to work with China on the security challenges of the region.  You have to work with China on cyber and cyber warfare.  And right now, I think the President is all over the place and even heading in the wrong direction.”

On cyber warfare, we have to work with China?  Secretary Pompeo, we’re getting drones from China to spy on American citizens – some of our mayors and localities.  But John Kerry says let’s keep it going.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  I’m not sure where to begin, Laura, other than to say that President Trump has taken a fundamentally different view with China than President Obama did and Secretary Kerry did, whether it was the unfair trade relationship the President is attempting to untangle, whether it’s being serious with China that says when you conduct cyber attacks against us we’re not going to tolerate that.  And here, even in this, we’d love to find a way to cooperate with the Chinese, frankly, on all of those things.  But it takes a partner who is willing to do that.  And as you described, the biggest threat isn’t our ability to work with China on cyber; it’s to make sure that we have the resources available to protect ourselves from Chinese cyber attacks.

These are the kind of things that President Trump is taking seriously, and we have to make sure that we recognize the challenge that China presents to America and work with them where we can.

QUESTION:  Well, I have to ask you in closing, Mr. Secretary, about a tweet from President Trump earlier today.  He said, “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”  Now, this came after Iran had successfully put into orbit what is called its first – I guess its first satellite, military satellite, hours before this tweet.

So where do things stand at this hour?  Is – that’s a pretty serious threat coming from the United States, and what’s next?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  It is pretty serious.  It’s a coincidence you asked that question, right, about talking about John Kerry.   You’ll recall when, under the Obama administration with Secretary Kerry, they took 10 of our Navy sailors, and John Kerry apologized to get them back.  This is a very different approach from our President.  He takes seriously the obligation to protect our forces wherever they may be, in this case, on Naval ships in the Arabian Gulf.  We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we defend our folks and continue to deter the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Laura, last thing to say, they launched this military satellite today.  They had promised that their entire satellite program, their entire missile program, was civilian, and the person who oversaw this launch was General Hajizadeh.  This is the same fellow whose forces shot down an aircraft, killing 176 innocent civilians, just a few weeks ago.

QUESTION:  How comfortable are you dealing with Kim Jong-un’s sister, if for any period of time she becomes the leader of the country going forward, given the concerns that some are expressing about Kim Jong-un’s health right now, Mr. Secretary?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Well, I did have a chance to meet her a couple of times, but the challenge remains the same.  The goal remains unchanged.  Whoever is leading North Korea, we want them to give up their nuclear program, we want them to join the league of nations, and we want a brighter future for the North Korean people.  But they’ve got to denuclearize, and we’ve got to do so in a way that we can verify.  That’s true no matter who is leading North Korea.

QUESTION:  All right, Mr. Secretary.  Thanks so much for spending some time with us tonight.  We really appreciate it.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Yes, ma’am.  Thank you, Laura.

U.S. Department of State. 04/22/2020. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo Remarks to the Press At a Press Availability. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State. Washington, D.C. Press Briefing Room

SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, good morning, everyone. Happy Ramadan to those of you in time zones where it’s Thursday already.

I want to lead off with three commemorations.

First, we remember those slain in terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. That was one year ago yesterday.

Second, this week the administration honors the annual Holocaust Days of Remembrance. This is the 75th anniversary year of the liberation of many Nazi concentration camps where so many innocent people were murdered, including 6 million Jews. We bear witness to their stories so that such repugnant acts of evil will never happen again.

Third, it’s Earth Day, and especially in light of Secretary-General Guterres’ message released this morning to turn our recovery into a real opportunity to do the right thing, I want to remind everyone that the right way to achieve a greener, cleaner, brighter future for the world is to unleash private innovation and free market competition. It’s what we’ve done here in the United States but continue to be our model, and we are a world leader in reducing all types of emission.

One simple data point: From 2005 to 2018, the most recent year we have data, U.S. emissions decreased by more than 10 percent even as our economy grew by 25 percent. China, conversely, has been the largest annual emitter since 2006 and it expects that its emissions will continue to grow until around 2030, thus offsetting the progress of countries all around the world in reducing global emissions. I would urge Secretary Guterres to make sure we have the data right, the facts right about who is actually delivering on the things that we all value. And on Earth Day, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, I think that’s especially important.

Turning to the World Health Organization, I want to spend a few minutes telling the American people a little bit more about the problems that we’re trying to work our way through.

The WHO has two primary functions. First, it’s a regulator and an advisory role, and a health emergency and humanitarian aid operation on top of that.

After the first SARS outbreak in 2003, the United States led the reform of the WHO, the WHO rules that govern how countries report on public health threats. So a major reform effort at 2003.

Those rules – they’re called the International Health Regulations – went into effect in 2007.

We set very clear expectations. We – the world – set very clear expectations for how every country must disclose data to protect global health.

For example, Article 6 of the IHR says that “each State Party shall notify the World Health Organization…within 24 hours…of all events which may constitute a public health emergency of international concern within its territory…”

Annex 2 of those same rules provides that countries must notify the World Health Organization of any unusual or unexpected public health events such as SARS, a close genetic cousin of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Those rules also said how countries should evaluate when to notify the WHO of diseases of unknown causes or sources.

We strongly believe that the Chinese Communist Party did not report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely fashion to the World Health Organization.

Article 6 of the IHRs, which was a part of this reform, further mandates that a State Party – that would include China – “shall continue to communicate to WHO timely, accurate and sufficiently detailed public health information…” That is, there’s an ongoing obligation.

Even after the CCP did notify the WHO of the coronavirus outbreak, China didn’t share all of the information it had.

Instead, it covered up how dangerous the disease is. It didn’t report sustained human-to-human transmission for a month until it was in every province inside of China. It censored those who tried to warn the world, it ordered a halt to testing of new samples, and it destroyed existing samples.

The CCP still has not shared the virus sample from inside of China with the outside world, making it impossible to track the disease’s evolution.

Not making a legal determination here today on China’s adherence to the IHRs, but the World Health Organization’s regulatory arm clearly failed during this pandemic.

I’d also note that when countries adopted these new rules in 2007, we also gave the director-general of the WHO encouragement and the ability to go public when a member-country wasn’t following those rules, and that didn’t happen in this case either.

It’s why we continue to insist this is an ongoing requirement for transparency and openness according to the WHO rules, and the WHO has responsibility to continue to enforce them today. This transparency and getting it right is critical to saving lives today and in the future.

I’ll talk for just a minute about humanitarian aid. The United States is the most generous nation on the planet, has been for the past three years, will continue to be this year.

Thanks to the American taxpayers, we’ve dedicated more than $140 billion in global funding for global health purposes in the past two decades.

Today I can confirm the United States is making an additional commitment of about 270 million to assist the most at-risk countries in fighting the virus, bringing our total to more than $775 million to date.

We do this in lots of ways. We do this through multilateral organizations. We help our partners by sharing expertise. Today the CDC has officers stationed in 59 countries and has helped train thousands of epidemiologists worldwide over the years whose knowledge is providing incredibly valuable.

You should know it helps those countries, it saves lives in those countries, but this is a global pandemic and that work protects us right here at home in America as well.

Weeks before the first reported COVID case arrived in Guatemala, USAID helped the Ministry of Health there equip a key hospital to start caring for its first patients.

And the United States is training more than 70,000 pharmacists across Indonesia today so they can provide good advice and referrals.

American generosity isn’t limited to our assistance that comes directly from the United States Government. Our businesses, our NGOs, charities, all faith groups – this is an all-of-America approach to saving lives all across the world and protecting us right here at home as well.

We estimate that the American people, in cume, have given nearly $3 billion in donations and assistance just to fight this particular virus.

America’s global health commitments remain as steady as ever.

Move on to a couple final points. I want to highlight two ways in which the Chinese Communist Party is exploiting the world’s focus on COVID-19 crisis by continuing its provocative behavior.

First, we commented on what’s taking place in Hong Kong, where amidst increased efforts by Beijing to erode autonomy, law enforcement authorities have arrested pro-democracy activists, including 81-year-old Martin Lee. We’ve always said that China has an obligation to live up to its promises, its obligation – as I was speaking about the virus earlier – to live up to the rules that it put in place and it signed off on. We’d ask them to continue to do that here.

You’ve also seen that the Chinese Communist Party is exerting military pressure on Taiwan and coercing its neighbors in the South China Sea, even going so far as to have – so far as to sink a Vietnamese fishing vessel.

The United States strongly opposes China’s bullying; we hope other nations will hold them to account, too. Tonight I’ll be on a phone call cochaired by myself and my Laotian counterpart with every ASEAN member.

I want to note, too, that we are now well along in developing the implementing policies required by the law in the NDAA of 2019 prohibiting use of Huawei and other untrusted vendors in U.S. facilities.

Data that come into U.S. facilities will have to follow a Clean Path and reside and transit only through trusted systems. And we’ll provide full details on that before too long.

On Venezuela, as I’ve commented frequently from this podium, we’re continuing to apply pressure on the Maduro regime, all the while seeking to provide humanitarian assistance for the Venezuelan people.

As announced by the Department of Treasury yesterday, the general license which allowed certain companies to maintain operations – Venezuela, PDVSA – expires today.

The Treasury Department has announced a new, narrowly limited license for seven months which will allow companies that are operating there to begin their wind-down process.

And with that, I’m happy to take questions.

MS ORTAGUS: Okay, great. Nick.

QUESTION: Thank you, Morgan. Thanks, Mr. Secretary, for doing this. Let me try Iran and China, if you don’t mind. The IRGC today said that it launched a military satellite into orbit for the first time. Could that technology be used for ICBMs? And we’ve seen from Iran expanded nuclear capacity, Iraqi militia rocket attacks, harassing of a Navy ship in recent days. After the Soleimani strike, there was talk of reestablishing deterrence. Do you fear the deterrence has slipped?

And on China, there are millions of PPE items stuck in China despite the fact they’ve been bought by U.S. companies. Do you believe the PPE is stuck because of red tape, China trying to make sure the quality is high, or because China is actually hoarding them and keeping them from the U.S.? Thanks.

SECRETARY POMPEO: As for your second question, I’ll leave to the Vice President’s task force to talk about those goods and their transit. The good news is we have seen China provide those resources. Sometimes they’re from U.S. companies that are there in China, but we’ve had success. The Vice President and his team have talked about the air bridge that has delivered products to the American people from China, and we appreciate that. We are counting on China to continue to live up to its contractual obligations and international obligations to provide that assistance to us and to sell us those goods – often these are commercial transactions – in a way consistent with all of the international trade rules.

As for Iran, you noted the launch last night. The Iranians have consistently said that these missile programs were disconnected from their military, that these were purely commercial enterprises. I think today’s launch proves what we’ve been saying all along here in the United States: The IRGC, a designated terrorist organization, launched a missile today. And I’ll leave to the Department of Defense to talk about the details about that. But when you talk about the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, I think every nation has an obligation to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent with that Security Council resolution. I don’t think it remotely is, and I need – I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what they’ve done. They’ve now had a military organization that the United States has designated terrorists attempt to launch a satellite.

You talked about the naval ships. You saw the President’s statement this morning. The President’s been very clear to the Department of Defense and frankly to the State Department team too to do everything we need to do to make sure that we protect and defend our officers, our military officers, our diplomats around the world, to continue to ensure that they are secure and safe. What he said this morning and what I know he’s told all of us in leadership inside the government is take whatever action is necessary to make sure that you can defend and keep our people safe. I’m confident that the Department of Defense will do that in response to what the President said this morning as well.

And then finally, you talked more broadly about deterrence. Two thoughts. First: The Iranian regime has gone around the world spreading disinformation in response to this virus. One of the things they’ve said is that, boy, we need resources in order to take care of the virus at home. And all the while they are launching satellites, driving ships around the Arabian Gulf, coming and harassing U.S. naval vessels. They continue to underwrite Shia militias, they’re working to support Hizballah. Yesterday my Iranian counterpart – or the day before – was in Syria talking to the butcher in Damascus.

I hope that the Iranian regime will respond to the Iranian people’s demands to prioritize resources, resources that the Iranian regime clearly has, to the health and security and safety of the Iranian people, rather than continuing their global terror campaign. You can see they’re still hard at it. You can see they still have resources. You should note, we, the – at the very first news that the COVID virus had hit Iran, offered humanitarian assistance to the people of Iran. That offer was rejected. That offer still stands. We’ve assisted other countries in delivering humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people. I only wish that the Iranian regime cared about its people as much as the rest of the world has demonstrated that it does.

MS ORTAGUS: Barbara.

QUESTION: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, we’re hearing that there is panic buying in North Korea at the moment. I was wondering if you have any reading about what’s going on there. And given the reports that Kim Jong-un is in very poor health, has the U.S. tried to reach out to Pyongyang for any information, and what was the response?

And then a broader question on China, if I may. How would you say that the Chinese behavior – this disinformation that you are talking about – what effect do you think that has on a long-term relationship with the U.S.? Do you think it will damage it significantly?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Barbara, thanks. I don’t have anything to add on North Korea. As the President said last evening I think it was, we’re watching closely what’s taking place there. But I don’t have anything to add.

As for China, nations that desire to be part of the global landscape have obligations for truthful information – they have obligations to share and be transparent and open. That’s our expectation for every country. What I think – I think you were referring to was you called it disinformation. Seeking to transfer responsibility or to deny access to the world so that the world can figure out what’s going on – you have to remember, these labs are still open inside of China, these labs that contain complex pathogens that were being studied. It’s not just the Wuhan Institute of Virology. There are multiple labs inside of China that are handling these things. It’s important that those materials are being handled in a safe and secure way such that there isn’t accidental release.

We have an elaborate regime inside the United States to do that. Many countries do it as well. We have lots of regimes where – I’ll give you an example in the nuclear context, where the world inspects sites so that we can ensure that there’s proper handling. The United States spends a lot of money training others to help them handle nuclear materials in an appropriate way. We have to make sure that the Chinese Government is handling those materials in an appropriate way not only in the Wuhan Institute of Virology but elsewhere. So this is an ongoing obligation that the Chinese Government has as well as an ongoing obligation of the World Health Organization that has responsibility for compliance with the rules.

I hope I didn’t bore you with them, but they’re important to understand that there are a set of global regulations that the Chinese Communist Party signed up for. These aren’t American rules we apply, these are rules that the Chinese Government signed up for, and the World Health Organization has a continuing obligation – not just one from back in December but a continuing obligation to make sure that those rules are being complied with today in a way that protects us not only from the ongoing pandemic but a future one as well.

MS ORTAGUS: Michel.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. Mr. Secretary —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, sir.

QUESTION: — first, have you delivered the President’s warning to Iran directly? And second, do you – are you concerned that the oil price will have an effect on the security and stability of the Gulf states and your partners in the region?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I never comment on communications, internal communications between myself and private – between myself and my counterparts. So I don’t have any comment on your first question.

On your second one, the President has been incredibly focused on trying to create a more stable energy market in light of the enormous decrease in demand, right. You’ve seen crude oil demand fall somewhere between 20 and 35 percent over the past several weeks, and you’ve seen the price impacts that have resulted from that, right. You had the front futures contract trading for negative $37 for a few hours a couple days back now. What the President did a couple of weekends ago and the work that he’s engaged in today are twofold: one, to do everything we can to ensure that we preserve America’s capacity to deliver on its energy resources here; and second, to work to try and create stability in the energy markets so that you get price signals that are consistent with real demand, and that also means getting the global economy cranked back up again. A key element that will have the most significant impact on those price issues, on those supply chain issues in the energy industry is getting the world back going and getting demand back to the levels we had back in October, November, and December of 2019.

Here in the United States we had one of the most robust economies that the United States has ever had. When we get back to those levels and the world gets back to those levels, those governments that depend for a significant amount of their revenue – for their national GDP on oil will be in a better place than they are today. There’s real risk. With low prices and low volumes of demand, those countries are really going to face financial challenges, and we’ve been in conversation with many of them about how we can bridge that gap collectively.

MS ORTAGUS: Rich.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Rich, how are you?

QUESTION: Good, how are you?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’m good.

QUESTION: Given its failure to notify the WHO in a timely manner, do you think that the Chinese Government owes countries or individuals compensation? And also, just as you’d spoken about the multiple labs within China, what’s your assessment of China’s handling of these dangerous materials? Do you think that they do a sufficient enough job of it?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So I’m going to leave the accountability piece of this for another day in terms of what we do to assign accountability and how we hold other nations accountable, other than to say is that the rules set – the WHO rules set itself contemplates nations complying with their obligations, and it gives the director general of the WHO enormous authority with respect to nations that do not comply, and we expect every country who signs up for the International Health Regulations and the leadership of the WHO to then enforce them. And so we’re counting on that. We’re now counting on that not only retrospectively, but that that continue today.

What’s the second question, Rich?

QUESTION: You mentioned multiple labs within China.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. I’m not going to comment on that. What I will say is it’s always easier to know the answer to your question about whether these labs are in compliance not only with the regulations but if they’re handling this material in a way that is adequate, safe, and secure, if the world can have access to those places, if they will share that information openly and transparently and in spite – the President said this – we tried to get in to take a look at what was going on early on in this, to come in alongside the World Health Organization early on; it would have been back in January if I remember correctly. We still do not have a sample of the virus nor has the world had access to the facilities or other locations where this virus may have originated inside of Wuhan.

MS ORTAGUS: Said.

QUESTION: Thank you, Morgan. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Sir, a new Israeli Government was formed, a unity government between Mr. Netanyahu and General Gantz, and they vowed to begin annexing parts of the West Bank on the 1st of July. I wonder if you would have a comment on that.

Also on the aid you released recently, you released $5 million to the Palestinian Authority, to fight COVID-19. Are they – they need a lot more. So will there be any more aid in the pipeline? Thank you, sir.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Two good questions. On the first one – on the second one, we are happy to provide that $5 million of assistance and we hope that it’ll get to the right place. Our concern with having provided assistance, the reason we stopped providing assistance previously was that this – these resources weren’t getting to the place they needed to, to the Palestinian people. We hope that this money, this $5 million will get where it needs to go to provide real assistance to the Palestinian people who, to your point and I agree with, are going to need a lot of help as they move through this. We’ll evaluate whether this $5 million both worked, delivered, and second, if there’s more resources that are both either appropriate or can be delivered in a way that actually gets to the Palestinian people.

Your first question was about the election.

QUESTION: The government.

SECRETARY POMPEO: We’re happy with the – a new government’s formed. A fourth election, we think, wouldn’t have been in Israel’s best interest, but we’ll leave that to them. We think it’s not in the world’s best interest. We’re glad that there is a now fully formed government in Israel.

As for the annexation in the West Bank, the Israelis will ultimately make those decisions. Those are – that’s an Israeli decision, and we will work closely with them to share with them our views of this in a private setting.

MS ORTAGUS: I need to get the Secretary to his next meeting, but we still have two special guests to continue this briefing so —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Great. Thank you all. Thanks for being with me. Everybody have a good morning.

MS ORTAGUS: Okay. So we’re going to have John Barsa first, and then Jim Richardson, and then we’ll go right to Q&A again. So, John.

MR BARSA: Good morning. Thank you for having us here today. For those of you who I have not yet met, my name is John Barsa. I am the new acting administrator at USAID, and I’m deeply honored to have been chosen for this position. I would like to thank President Trump for the support and confidence he’s placed in me with this charge. I look forward to working with him, Vice President Pence, Secretary Pompeo, and other leaders throughout the interagency as we lead one of the finest workforces in the U.S. Government today.

We are here to discuss how the United States continues to demonstrate global leadership and help countries around the world fight the COVID-19 pandemic. With the $2.7 billion in emergency supplemental funding Congress has provided, USAID is working with the State Department and the CDC to provide assistance that strengthens health systems, meets emergency humanitarian needs, and mitigates the economic impact of the virus’s spread.

With the Secretary’s announcement today, we have contributed a total of more than $775 million across more than 100 countries facing the threat of this global pandemic. Here’s a little bit more detail for you on the specific pots of money that this announcement encompasses. It includes nearly $103 million from the Economic Support Fund account, which nongovernmental organizations will use to implement a variety of interventions to support communities and countries. We’ll also be committing $100 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID’s International Disaster Assistance Account to help meet urgent, lifesaving needs in crisis-affected areas, and $667 million in migration and refugee assistance to support displaced populations, which remain the most vulnerable populations to this pandemic.

In every corner of the globe, the United States is lending a helping hand to countries that need it the most. Many of these countries are places where we regularly provide assistance. Our expanded presence in other countries demonstrate the extraordinary nature of this crisis.

For example, on April 11th the United States, through USAID, committed critically needed assistance to Italy to mitigate the overwhelming disruption the pandemic has had on the delivery of health care in communities and to help stabilize the country’s economic situation. This assistance will help improve Italian citizens’ access to essential health care during the current pandemic and support Italy’s recovery.

In this latest round of funding, State and USAID will provide COVID-19 assistance to some countries for the first time since the outbreak began. These countries include Algeria, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Bulgaria, the Republic of Congo, Djibouti, El Salvador, Ecuador, Eswatini, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Jordan, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Montenegro, Morocco, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Lesotho, Liberia, Panama, Namibia, Niger, Romania, Sierra Leone, Turkey, Uganda, the West Bank, and Yemen.

MS ORTAGUS: Well done.

MR BARSA: It was a quick list. Now, did you all memorize it? (Laughter.) As you know, we work through international organizations and NGOs in many of these countries to reach people in need, and as you can see from the list of countries I mentioned, the kind of places where we are responding is, of course, varied. To make sure our assistance is as impactful as possible, the support we provide is tailored to each country’s capacity and needs. Our toolkit of support includes investments that improve case management, disease surveillance, and public health screening. It strengthens infection prevention and control of medical facilities, bolsters laboratory capacity, scale of communications campaigns to raise awareness, expand access to water and sanitation, and more.

America remains the leader in global health and humanitarian assistance. Through unmatched generosity, the American people have saved countless lives, protected those people who are most vulnerable to disease, built health infrastructure, and promoted the stability of communities and nations. America has always led the world through times of strife, turmoil, and uncertainty, and this pandemic is no different.

Lastly, I want to highlight President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Secretary Pompeo for their extraordinary leadership on the world state throughout this crisis. This all-star team and the rest of the Trump administration is working around the clock to stem the spread of virus at home and abroad, and they deserve our recognition. So thank you very much.

MS ORTAGUS: Jim.

MR RICHARDSON: Thank you, Morgan. I’m Jim Richardson, and I’m the director of foreign assistance here at the Department of State. First of all, I want to acknowledge the leadership, as John just did, of the President and the Vice President and of the Secretary, and really our talented teams both at State and USAID around the world, as we work together to defeat COVID-19. To put it simply, pandemics like COVID-19 do not respect national borders, and so that our response, our USG response, can’t either.

Through decades of U.S. global leadership in health and humanitarian assistance, we know that the smart and strategic investments are critical to our primary mission of maintaining the health and safety of the American people. We can and must actually fight the pandemic both here and overseas. It’s not a zero-sum game; it actually builds on each other.

Through the American people’s generosity, the State Department of the United States continues to demonstrate global leadership in the face of this pandemic. In fact – this fact is underscored by what the Secretary just announced of an additional $270 million for humanitarian and economic security assistance, bringing our total to 775 million spread over 100 countries worldwide, nearly all of them John just mentioned. So we’ll implement this funding around – through a strategic, all-of-America approach to ensure that this world is safe from infectious diseases, both today and also in the future.

When it comes to our investments thus far, let me address a couple hot-button topics that I’m sure you will ask me about. First of all, let’s talk about Italy. We’ve provided $50 million in economic support to Italy, one of our closest allies and friends who has been at the forefront of the fight against COVID. These funds will help support the recovery of the Italian economy, they – and support international organizations and NGOs, including many faith-based organizations, many of which are already on the ground saving lives.

Second, the United States is also providing $5 million to the Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza to battle the pandemic. The United States welcomes the ongoing cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to address the COVID-19 crisis and Israel’s facilitation of goods and equipment to the West Bank and Gaza in support of this effort.

Third, I want to talk about the Northern Triangle – El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras. We’re providing $7 million to help address this outbreak. This comes on top of what the President and the Secretary have announced of $258 million in targeted foreign assistance for these three – for these three countries. These funds will benefit both the United States and our important allies. By targeting economic assistance to regions with high outflow migration, we can help keep people at their – at home while supporting and deterring illegal immigration to the United States.

As you’re aware, well aware, the United States – or last week the President announced that we are pausing for the next 60 to 90 days funding for the World Health Organization while we examine the failures to the response. First and foremost, this pause will not impact our commitment to fight COVID around the world. We are focused on outcomes, and as such we are working with other partners around the world, including community and faith-based organizations, to get the job done.

To put it in perspective, as the Secretary, I believe, mentioned, the WHO only receives about 4 percent of U.S. global assistance – global health assistance every year. There are plenty of amazing and highly qualified organizations implementing these programs around the world, and to be honest, no organization – or country for that matter – is owed a single nickel from the American people. We provide assistance out of generosity and U.S. national interest. At the very least, the American people should demand that every organization we fund – every NGO, every contractor, and every multilateral – is transparent, accountable, and results-oriented, and that’s what this President’s review will do.

To the – at the end of the day this should be about saving lives, not about saving a bureaucracy. For more than half a century, the United States has been the largest contributor to global health security. We have built the foundations upon which the global health system is based, contributing over $140 billion in this century alone. In the face of COVID-19, our global leadership will continue and is once again underscored by what the Secretary has announced. And with that, we’ll be available for questions.

MS ORTAGUS: Okay. Let’s – you haven’t asked one yet, right? Okay, go ahead. And CBS, if you have one, I think you, too, haven’t gone yet, right? Okay.

QUESTION: Okay, so I don’t know who this goes to, but I’ll throw the question out and you guys can decide. So with regard to the pause on the World Health Organization funding, what will determine if they get that funding or not, and who is actually leading the review of that funding right now?

MR RICHARDSON: Go ahead, John.

MR BARSA: In terms of what the President said – so it’s a 60- to 90-day pause. I think there are multiple elements within government who will be looking at the review. I’m not going to – we have nothing to announce today in terms of the internal review processes, how it’s going to work out. Know that others who interact with World Health Organization are contributing to the review process.

QUESTION: Okay, but what is the review looking for? What does the World Health Organization have to do in order to secure its funding?

MR BARSA: As the President stated, and the Secretary stated this morning, there’s numerous questions in terms of the management of the World Health Organization, how they have been operating and holding member states accountable in their actions. So the review is going to be all-encompassing, getting to all manners of management and operation questions.

QUESTION: And one thing that the Secretary said was that the World Health Organization has not highlighted the fact that the CCP didn’t reveal what it knew about the coronavirus pandemic when it knew it. If the WHO does that, is that something that you guys are looking for?

MR BARSA: I’m not going to comment on any interim findings or discussions. I just – I’ll have to say we’ll have to wait till the final review is done.

MS ORTAGUS: You want to add anything?

MR RICHARDSON: Nope, sounds good.

MS ORTAGUS: No? Okay. CBS.

QUESTION: I had a question about the cooperation with vaccine development.

MS ORTAGUS: Okay.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR RICHARDSON: It’s probably —

MR BARSA: Vaccine development. Go on.

MS ORTAGUS: Go ahead, ask your question.

QUESTION: Considering that several countries are working on a vaccination, and given that the funding has been halted to WHO, does that mean this will affect at all cooperation between WHO countries on sharing information about a vaccine, depending on who comes up with one first? Or will the U.S. step in to help facilitate cooperation on a vaccination?

MR BARSA: Okay. Couple things to think about. First, let’s talk a little bit about scale. As the Secretary and Jim mentioned, over the last two decades the United States has contributed over $140 billion dollars in health work. In 2018, the last year that I actually have actual figures, it needs to be noted that only 4 percent of U.S. funds went to the World Health Organization. Ninety-six percent of our funds went to other organizations. So during this pause, what USAID and other entities are doing – we’re looking for alternate partners to carry out the important work. So be it vaccines, polio, or any number of health issues, by no means are we pausing our efforts to eradicate polio or come up with vaccines. We’re going with existing programs outside of the World Health Organization, and we’re looking for different partners.

MS ORTAGUS: Robin.

QUESTION: Just some clarification on that. So first of all, you are – I was wondering if there might be a carveout for certain WHO programs like polio, but you’re saying no, there isn’t, you’re going to find somebody else to do the polio – or to do those programs that you’re committed to?

And then I just have a few other questions as well, if – do you want to answer that one first?

MR BARSA: Okay, so I’ll start with that one. So even before the onset of this pandemic, USAID was working, piloting a new partnership initiative to look for other regional community-based partners outside of the normal menu of people we work with. I look forward to next week expanding the new partnership initiative in a more formal manner, but what we’re doing right now is we’re looking for different partners right now in terms of – working polio or any number of health issues, are there other entities, local community-based entities, faith-based organizations, are there other groups that can continue on this work. So part of the assessment that is taking place during this 60-to-90-day pause is to evaluate the availability of new partners to carry out this work.

So know that the questions you ask in terms of are there other partners for whatever program of interest, that’s part of the assessment. So we’re evaluating that now. I have people in our missions and our Global Health Bureau. We’re looking for new partners right now. It’s good government.

QUESTION: And just to —

MS ORTAGUS: I want to get to everybody, (inaudible).

QUESTION: Just a quick – one quick follow-up.

MS ORTAGUS: Okay, one more (inaudible).

QUESTION: There’s a fair bit of U.S. expertise at the WHO, so you’ve had health experts there – you still have health experts there. Is that cooperation going to be cut off as well? Are you sort of cutting off the WHO not just in terms of funds, but also in coordination and cooperation?

MR BARSA: So part of your question is getting at to the end point of an assessment. We cannot tell you what decision is going to be made at the end of the assessment. During this assessment that the President announced, 60 to 90 days, we’re going to look at all aspects of operations in World Health Organizations. So some of the questions you pose are the questions we ourselves are going to be asking in terms of capabilities during this pause period.

MS ORTAGUS: (Inaudible.)

MR RICHARDSON: Yeah, let me just – so the way I would say it is that the pause is about new decisions to provide assistance through the WHO. There is a lot of existing contracts that we’ve already essentially sent the check to pay for individuals, and we’re not asking for refunds at this point. In terms of exemptions or those types of things, the President said we’re pausing all assistance for 60 to 90 days. If the President has a subsequent announcement, we’ll leave that to him to make that about target assistance.

MS ORTAGUS: Nick, go ahead.

QUESTION: So on the partners, just to be clear, as you examine the partners, are you taking the money that would have been going to the WHO over the next two to three months and plan to transfer them, transfer that funds to partners? Or are you withholding the money so that you possibly could still give it to the WHO depending on reforms? And if I could zoom in on IHRs, let me ask – let me have you answer that first and then we —

MR BARSA: Okay. So as the Secretary stated, in the aggregate, we have committed over $775 million just on the pandemic alone. So when we’re looking for new partners, we’re looking for partners who can execute the funds in these countries for their specific needs. So it can’t be a cookie cutter approach. So a solution for a challenge in one country is not the same as a solution in another country. So we’re looking at ways to address the challenges individually with the funds that are being announced.

QUESTION: Right, but does that mean that the money that would have gone to the WHO will instead go to partners? Or is the money for the WHO being held back and possibly could still go to the WHO in the future?

MR BARSA: It – again, it’s a pause in new funding. As Director Richardson announced, money that has been given to WHO already is not being taken back, so some of those contracts and existing work is continuing.

QUESTION: Okay. And then on the international —

MS ORTAGUS: Do you have anything to – (inaudible).

MR RICHARDSON: Yeah, let me just – yeah, so at the end of the day, this pandemic can’t wait for the review. So our assistance to countries around the world is going to move forward. We will absolutely use the best – every time that we make a decision to provide assistance to any country around the world, we have to make a choice: Do we use a multilateral organization? Do we use an NGO? Do we use a faith-based organization? Do we use a contractor? And that’s really what the expertise of USAID does, to – looks at the whole what – how are we going to get the best results in this circumstance.

And so for every contract or every dollar flowing today, we’re just taking WHO off the table and we’re going to provide that assistance to these other organizations in order to get the job done. Our system simply can’t wait. That said, we’re going to have a lot of global health resources in response to this pandemic over the coming years. Congress has already provided an additional $2 billion, and so we’ll look forward to continuing to make more announcements about funding over the next several months.

QUESTION: And then quickly on the IHRs, on the International Health Regulations, as I understand them, there is no real enforcement mechanism. I know the Secretary talked specifically about the leadership being able to enforce them, but is one of the reforms that you’re asking for to increase the enforcement mechanism, or do you believe that enforcement mechanism is already there, and therefore this is a true failure not of regulation, but of the leadership?

MR BARSA: Well, again, we’ll have to get back to you with the details on that. Again, so we’re – I’m not going to prejudge the outcome of any assessment.

MS ORTAGUS: Said, go ahead.

QUESTION: A quick question.

MS ORTAGUS: Sure.

QUESTION: Is the money dispensed to the West Bank and to the hospitals – does it go directly there? Because I think USAID is not operating in the West Bank anymore.

MR RICHARDSON: No, so we mostly – we use implementing partners around the world. As I said, we use contractors, NGOs, multilateral organizations to actually be our hands and feet in most places around the world. So we’ll be announcing the actual implementing partner here in the next couple days.

MS ORTAGUS: Anybody else? Rich?

QUESTION: Just following up on what the Secretary had to say about the – and a bit what Nick was talking about – the director general of WHO has an enormous power available to him to enforce those who violate regulations. What is available to him?

MR BARSA: Well, as the Secretary stated, there are certain mechanisms which oblige member-states to comply with agreements beforehand. So part of our review is to see what authorities did WHO leadership have. Did they execute the authorities and keep compliance? So the question you’re asking gets exactly to the heart of what our review – is the management of the World Health Organization running it the way it should be run?

MS ORTAGUS: And just to follow up on both of your and Nick questions, I think the best thing for us to do is to get a briefing probably with Ambassador Bremberg or someone from IO, so we’ll get that – I know you were wanting that, Nick, so we’ll go ahead and get that scheduled, and I think we could through a little bit more detail through Andrew or through IO. Okay?

QUESTION: Can I ask John one more question?

MS ORTAGUS: Sure. Then we’ve got to – I just blew off my next meeting, so go ahead.

QUESTION: So – thank you. So you talk about a lot more work that USAID is going to have to do to identify new partners. So how – do you have the capacity to do that? Has USAID had to hire new people? What does your team look like?

MR BARSA: No, again, so before the onset of the pandemic, we already knew good government was to diversify the base of implementing partners that we’re working with. So under the leadership of Mark Green, who was administrator at the time, we started a pilot program called the New Partnership Initiative. So we started out in 14 missions. So we already knew the good government solution was to not depend on just a few implementers and partners, so what we are doing is that we’ve been already working with our workforce. We’ve gotten to pilot – the pilot program has been very successful, so next week I’ll be signing an order expanding that pilot to all of our missions worldwide. This is something that was going to occur regardless of the pandemic.

So with the pandemic coming on here, we’re already starting to work with new partners. That does not necessitate new contracting staff either in DC or the missions, but what we’ve been doing is providing guidance to our contracting staff to look and consider other partners. Are there other NGOs, faith-based organizations, community-based organizations which are localized in the country that have more permanence? So this was going to go on regardless of the implementing – regardless of the onset of the pandemic, so we’re just fortunate that we’ve already been thinking along these lines and are able to execute now without any additional investment in staff or personnel.

MS ORTAGUS: Thanks so much, guys.

U.S. Department of State. 04/23/2020. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo’s Call with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:‎

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke today with Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar.  Secretary Pompeo and Minister Jaishankar discussed bilateral and international cooperation to contain and mitigate COVID-19, including ensuring the availability of pharmaceutical and medical supplies.

UNEMPLOYMENT

DoL. BLS. REUTERS. 23 DE ABRIL DE 2020. Pedidos recordes de auxílio-desemprego nos EUA apagam ganhos de emprego pós-Grande Recessão
Por Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Um recorde de 26 milhões de norte-americanos procurou auxílio-desemprego nas últimas cinco semanas, confirmando que todos os postos de trabalho criados durante o mais longo boom do emprego na história dos Estados Unidos foram eliminados em cerca de um mês, à medida que o novo coronavírus abala a economia.

O Departamento do Trabalho dos EUA disse nesta quinta-feira que mais 4,427 milhões de pessoas solicitaram auxílio-desemprego pela primeira vez na semana passada, abaixo dos 5,237 milhões em dado revisado da semana anterior.

A expectativa entre economistas em uma pesquisa da Reuters era de que as reivindicações recuariam para 4,2 milhões na semana passada, embora as estimativas tenham chegado a 5,5 milhões.

Os dados mais recentes elevam os pedidos de auxílio-desemprego acumulados para mais de 26 milhões desde a semana que terminou em 21 de março, representando cerca de 16% da força de trabalho. A economia criou 22 milhões de empregos durante o boom empregatício iniciado em setembro de 2010 e encerrado abruptamente em fevereiro deste ano.

Embora os registros semanais de auxílio-desemprego permaneçam muito altos, os dados da semana passada marcaram o terceiro declínio semanal seguido, aumentando as esperanças de que o pior já passou. As reivindicações semanais parecem ter atingido o pico de 6,867 milhões na semana encerrada em 28 de março.

No entanto, o relatório soma-se a uma pilha crescente de dados econômicos cada vez mais sombrios. Também ocorre em meio a protestos crescentes contra isolamentos em todo o país para controlar a propagação do Covid-19.

O presidente Donald Trump, que está buscando um segundo mandato na Casa Branca nas eleições gerais de novembro, está ansioso para retomar a economia paralisada. Na quarta-feira, Trump aplaudiu as medidas tomadas por uma série de Estados liderados pelos republicanos para começar a reabrir suas economias, apesar das advertências de especialistas em saúde sobre um possível novo surto de infecções.

“A economia dos EUA está sangrando empregos em um ritmo e escala nunca antes registrados”, disse Scott Anderson, economista-chefe do Bank of the West. “Ele se compara a um desastre natural em escala nacional.”

O relatório de pedidos de auxílio-desemprego da semana passada cobriu o período em que o governo pesquisou estabelecimentos comerciais para o componente de criação de vagas fora do setor agrícola do relatório de emprego de abril. Os economistas projetam que 25 milhões de empregos foram perdidos em abril, depois que a economia eliminou 701.000 posições em março, o maior declínio em 11 anos.

DoL. APRIL 23, 2020. Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending April 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 4,427,000, a decrease of 810,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 8,000 from 5,245,000 to 5,237,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,786,500, an increase of 280,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 2,000 from 5,508,500 to 5,506,500.

FULL DOCUMENT: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20200691.pdf

DoL. BLS. April 21, 2020. EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES -- 2019

In 2019, 4.9 percent of families included an unemployed person, down from
5.2 percent in 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Of
the nation's 82.6 million families, 81.1 percent had at least one employed
member in 2019.

These data on employment, unemployment, and family relationships are
collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey
of about 60,000 households. Data in this news release are annual averages.
Families are classified either as married-couple families or as families
maintained by women or men without spouses present. Unless otherwise noted,
families include those with and without children under age 18. For further
information, see the Technical Note in this news release.

Families and Unemployment

The number of families with at least one member unemployed decreased by
224,000 to 4.1 million in 2019. The proportion of families with an unemployed
person declined by 0.3 percentage point to 4.9 percent. (This is the lowest
proportion since 1994, the first year for which comparable data are available.)
In 2019, the proportion of families with an unemployed person was down for
White (4.5 percent), Black (7.9 percent), Asian (4.1 percent), and Hispanic
(6.6 percent) families. Black and Hispanic families remained more likely
to have an unemployed member than White or Asian families. (See table 1.)

In 2019, among families with an unemployed member, 71.2 percent also had at
least one family member employed, up from 70.0 percent in the prior year.
The proportion of families with an unemployed member that had at least one
family member working full time grew to 62.4 percent in 2019.

Among families with an unemployed member, Black families remained less likely
to also have at least one family member who was working (60.2 percent) than
White (73.7 percent), Asian (82.4 percent), and Hispanic (73.9 percent)
families. In 2019, the likelihood of families with an unemployed member also
having an employed family member increased for White and Hispanic families,
but changed little for Black and Asian families.

In 2019, 3.9 percent of married-couple families had an unemployed member,
less than the corresponding percentages of families maintained by men or
families maintained by women (7.8 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively).
Among families with an unemployed member, those maintained by women were
less likely to also have an employed family member (53.7 percent) than
families maintained by men and married-couple families (61.4 percent and
82.1 percent, respectively). (See table 3.)

Families and Employment

In 2019, 81.1 percent of families had at least one employed family member,
up from the prior year (80.8 percent). From 2018 to 2019, the likelihood
of having an employed family member increased for White (80.6 percent),
Black (80.0 percent), and Hispanic (88.3 percent) families and was little
different for Asian (88.4 percent) families. (See table 1.)

Families maintained by women remained less likely to have an employed
member (78.5 percent) in 2019 than families maintained by men (85.5 percent)
or married-couple families (81.2 percent). Among married-couple families,
both the husband and wife were employed in 49.4 percent of families. In
18.5 percent of married-couple families only the husband was employed,
and in 6.8 percent only the wife was employed. (See table 2.)

Families with Children

In 2019, 33.4 million families, or two-fifths of all families, included
children under age 18. (Children are sons, daughters, step-children, or
adopted children living in the household who are under age 18. Not included
are nieces, nephews, grandchildren, other related and unrelated children,
and children not living in the household.) At least one parent was employed
in 91.3 percent of families with children, an increase of 0.5 percentage
point from the previous year. Among married-couple families with children,
97.5 percent had at least one employed parent in 2019, and 64.2 percent had
both parents employed. Among families maintained by fathers, 85.2 percent
of fathers were employed, a greater share than the 75.4 percent of employed
mothers in families maintained by mothers. (See tables 1 and 4.)

Parents

The labor force participation rate--the percent of the population working
or looking for work--for all women with children under age 18 was 72.3 percent
in 2019, up from 71.5 percent in the prior year. Married mothers remained
less likely to participate in the labor force, at 69.9 percent, than mothers
with other marital statuses, at 77.6 percent. (Other marital status includes
persons who are never married; widowed; divorced; separated; and married,
spouse absent; as well as persons in same-sex marriages.) The unemployment
rate for married mothers was also considerably lower than for mothers with
other marital statuses--2.3 percent, compared with 5.9 percent. (See table 5.)

Mothers with young children are less likely to be in the labor force than
those with older children. In 2019, the labor force participation rate of
mothers with children under age 6, at 66.4 percent, was lower than the rate
of those whose youngest child was age 6 to 17, at 76.8 percent. Among mothers
with children under age 3, the participation rate of married mothers was lower
than the rate of mothers with other marital statuses (62.2 percent versus 66.6
percent). The unemployment rate of mothers who were married and had children
under age 3, at 2.3 percent, was substantially lower than the rate for their
counterparts with other marital statuses, at 8.3 percent. (See tables 5 and 6.)

The labor force participation rate for all fathers with children under age 18
changed little at 93.4 percent in 2019. The participation rate for married
fathers, at 94.2 percent, continued to be higher than the rate of fathers
with other marital statuses (88.5 percent). Married fathers also continued
to have a lower unemployment rate (1.7 percent) than fathers with other marital
statuses (5.3 percent). (See table 5.)

Employed fathers remained more likely to work full time than employed mothers
in 2019; 96.2 percent of employed fathers worked full time, compared with 78.5
percent of employed mothers. Among employed mothers, those with older children
were more likely to work full time than those with younger children. In 2019,
80.3 percent of employed mothers with children ages 6 to 17 worked full time,
compared with 75.8 percent of mothers with children under age 6. Employed
fathers with younger and older children were about equally likely to work
full time, at 96.1 percent and 96.2 percent, respectively.

FULL DOCUMENT: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf



ECONOMY



IHS Markit. REUTERS. 23 DE ABRIL DE 2020. Atividade empresarial dos EUA atinge novas mínimas recordes em meio a bloqueios por coronavírus
Por Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A atividade empresarial dos Estados Unidos atingiu novas mínimas recordes em abril, com o novo coronavírus interrompendo gravemente a produção industrial e de serviços, levando a economia a territórios sem registro anterior.

A empresa de dados IHS Markit disse nesta quinta-feira que seu Índice de Gerentes de Compras (PMI) Composto preliminar dos EUA, que rastreia os setores de manufatura e serviços, caiu para uma leitura de 27,4 este mês.

Esse foi o menor resultado desde que a série começou, no final de 2009 e seguiu uma leitura final de 40,9 em março. Uma leitura abaixo de 50 indica uma contração na produção do setor privado.

O PMI preliminar do setor de serviços caiu para a mínima recorde de 27,0 este mês de 39,8 em março, ante expectativa de 31,5.

A atividade industrial contraiu mais este mês, com o PMI preliminar despencando a 36,9, nível mais fraco desde março de 2009 e ante 48,5 em março. Economistas esperavam recuo para 38,0 em abril.

RAMADAN

U.S. Department of State. 04/23/2020. On the Occasion of Ramadan. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

On behalf of the American people, I extend my best wishes to Muslim communities in the United States and around the world as they mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a time of introspection, service, and compassion. In the United States, under normal circumstances, many mosques, homes, and community centers welcome friends and neighbors of different faiths to unite under one roof, echoing our shared American values of inclusion and charity.

This year, COVID-19 has abruptly changed the gatherings and celebrations of many Muslims throughout the world. Muslims who were planning on traveling to Mecca for Umrah pilgrimage to visit the two Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina, have been encouraged to hold off on their plans in order to curb the spread of the disease.  Iftar meals, cannot be shared, as they traditionally are, with extended family and friends; many will be moved to online platforms.

And in this sacred season, already reshaped by the pandemic, scapegoating of certain religious groups, including Muslims, has increased with the spread of COVID-19. We urge all governments and communities to use this time to focus on service and unity, to keep in mind the health and safety of the most vulnerable and the marginalized as we continue to fight to stop the COVID-19 crisis.  Ramadan is a reminder for people of all faiths to strive for compassion, reflect on our own actions, and ensure all individuals are safe in times of hardship.

Under normal circumstances, many of our embassies and consulates around the world host iftar receptions to celebrate and honor the values of peace and friendship represented by Ramadan. This year, they will be engaging in creative ways that continue to demonstrate our common humanity and commitment to promoting religious freedom and inclusion at home and abroad. Once again, I wish Muslim communities around the world celebrating, a blessed and peaceful Ramadan.

Ramadan Kareem

_________________

ORGANISMS

CORONAVIRUS

CEPAL. 22/04/2020. Nuevo informe especial COVID-19. América Latina y el Caribe: Dimensionar los efectos del COVID-19 para pensar en la reactivación, ABRIL 2020

1. Previo al COVID-19, América Latina y el Caribe mostraba bajo crecimiento, espacio limitado de política fiscal y conflictos sociales crecientes.
2. COVID-19 impacta a la región a través de efectos internos y externos: paralización de la actividad económica doméstica acompañada de una fuerte recesión en la economía mundial.
3. Sus efectos generarán la recesión más grande que ha sufrido la región desde 1914 y 1930. El PIB de América Latina y el Caribe caerá más de 5% en 2020.
4. El desplome del comercio internacional aumentará la magnitud de la recesión.
5. Se prevé un fuerte aumento del desempleo con efectos negativos en pobreza y desigualdad.
6. Los países de la región han anunciado medidas importantes, las que deberán ser reforzadas y requerirán mayor financiamiento.
7. Es urgente acceder a recursos de financieros a bajos costos con base en un apoyo flexible de los organismos financieros multilaterales, alivios del servicio de la deuda y eventuales condonaciones.
8. Es urgente repensar el modelo de inserción de la región y las alternativas de reactivación a la luz de los cambios estructurales que ocurrirán en la globalización y el mundo post COVID-19.

DESCRIPCIÓN

El objetivo de este segundo Informe Especial elaborado por la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) sobre la evolución y los efectos de la pandemia del COVID-19 en América Latina y el Caribe es dimensionar sus efectos económicos en el corto y mediano plazo en la región.

Para el corto plazo, es decir en el curso de 2020, se presentan estimaciones de la dinámica de la producción y el empleo con base en la información disponible al 17 de abril de 2020, que abarca todas las subregiones de América Latina y el Caribe y muchas de sus economías. Asimismo, se detallan las principales medidas de política macroeconómicas para enfrentar los efectos de la pandemia anunciadas hasta esa fecha.

Dimensionar la caída de la actividad económica permite comenzar a determinar la magnitud del esfuerzo para un regreso a la normalidad. Pero ese regreso no será y no debe ser una vuelta a la situación existente antes de la pandemia. La visión de mediano plazo con la que concluye este Informe ilustra los cambios estructurales en la organización de la actividad productiva que están en proceso y que se intensificarán. Esto además tendrá impactos, en ocasiones irreversibles, en la estructura laboral, el empleo y el bienestar.

De la conjunción de las estimaciones cuantitativas de corto plazo y las previsiones sobre los principales cambios cualitativos de mediano plazo surgirá lo que será una nueva normalidad.

DOCUMENTO: https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/45445/1/S2000286_es.pdf

IMF. 04/23/2020. A POST-CORONAVIRUS RECOVERY IN ASIA—EXTENDING A “WHATEVER IT TAKES” LIFELINE TO SMALL BUSINESSES

• By Kenneth Kang, Deputy Director in the IMF’s Asia & Pacific Department
• Changyong RheeKenneth Kang, Director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department

Asia was hit hard by the first wave of the coronavirus, as the sudden stop in activity struck households and firms simultaneously—first in China, then elsewhere in Asia, and now globally. Policymakers responded swiftly with aggressive spending to support the medical response and vulnerable households and firms. And central banks took swift actions to expand liquidity.

While this helped support financial markets and sentiment, we may be on the cusp of a new, more dangerous phase of “economic deleveraging” as firms struggle to repay loans and pay workers in the face of a sudden collapse in cashflow and tighter credit.

Full stop

In Asia and elsewhere, small and medium-size enterprises are at greater risk in this new deleveraging phase. They are also concentrated in services where the containment and social distancing measures have hit the hardest. Compared to large corporates, small firms have thin cash buffers, are more leveraged, and rely mainly on short-term loans and retained earnings. Against this “crisis like no other,” small businesses face severe cashflow shortfalls with few financing alternatives.

Banks need to step forward in a major way to provide the working capital, but banks too are facing their own pressures, as large firms access credit lines to boost cash reserves. With banks looking to service first their largest customers, smaller firms will be left behind to fend for themselves.

The approach in Asia so far—to encourage loan rollovers through regulatory forbearance and guarantees and provide cheap lending to banks—will help but may not be enough to save small and mid-sized firms, given banks’ capacity and reluctance to take on this risk. Neither step addresses the massive need for new working capital to keep workers employed as cashflows dry up. Some private surveys suggest that small businesses, as the major employers in these economies, may have less than 3 months of cash left, raising the specter of a wave of defaults and a surge in unemployment.

To prevent this, smaller firms need a temporary lifeline—an economy-wide “working capital bridge loan”—that goes well beyond current policies. Such financial support is essential for maintaining jobs and incomes and preventing the downturn from turning into a prolonged depression that permanently damages the economy. Only the public sector has the means to extend this lifeline in the face of a such an unprecedented shock.

Bridging the divide

The question then is how best to do this while maintaining the proper incentives. One idea would be for the government to create a special purpose vehicle—a temporary public entity tasked for a specific purpose, namely to facilitate new working capital loans to small and medium-sized firms.

To address those most in need, only the firms that can show they were sound borrowers last year but are now experiencing significant revenue declines from the virus, would be eligible. They would apply to banks for a new 3-year loan covering working capital needs and payments (interest and principal) falling due over the next 12 months. In return, the firms would commit to maintain employment while avoiding dividends or share buybacks.

On the public side, the central bank would provide funding to the special purpose vehicle to purchase these new “working capital loans” from the banks, thus freeing up space for banks to lend more now. The central bank would be secured by the assets of the special purpose vehicle and receive some loss protection from the government’s initial equity investment.

Banks would retain the remaining portion of the loan to keep “skin in the game.” To manage losses, the special purpose vehicle would look to maximize recovery value and have banks collect on defaulted loans through foreclosure and bankruptcy. While this idea can apply easily to bank-centered economies, it could be extended to those with more-developed capital markets in Asia, such as Japan or Korea, by securitizing these loans and selling the tranches to institutional investors for broader risk sharing with the private sector.

Whatever it takes 

The alternative is for governments to use their budgets, but the difference between the current crisis and past ones is the enormous scale of financing needed to roll over working capital loans for an extended period. Many emerging markets in Asia have limited fiscal space to fill in this gap using credit guarantees or lending but are under immense pressure to do whatever it takes to prevent large layoffs and defaults. Some are considering commercial banks or even the central bank directly financing the extra fiscal spending (i.e. direct monetization).

For these economies, a risk-sharing mechanism as described above that uses the flexibility of central bank funding can achieve this objective while preserving hard-earned central bank independence and banking soundness. Fiscal policy, by providing some loss protection, can complement monetary policy and enhance the potential economic benefits through greater lending. Governments and central banks in advanced economies, such as the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve with its Main Street Lending Program, have introduced similar special purpose vehicles with some public risk sharing to support distressed companies.

Given the exceptional measures needed in this crisis, emerging markets in Asia could borrow a page from this playbook to do whatever it takes to rescue their economies.

FULL DOCUMENT: https://blogs.imf.org/2020/04/23/a-post-coronavirus-recovery-in-asia-extending-a-whatever-it-takes-lifeline-to-small-businesses/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

THE WORLD BANK GROUP. APRIL 23, 2020. A Shock Like No Other: Coronavirus Rattles Commodity Markets

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted both demand for and supply of commodities: direct effects from shutdowns and disruptions to supply chains, indirect effects as economic growth stalls. Effects have already been dramatic, particularly for commodities related to transportation.
• Oil prices have plunged and demand is expected to fall by an unprecedented amount in 2020.
• While most food markets are well supplied, concerns about food security have risen as countries announce trade restrictions and engage in excess buying.

As countries around the world contend with the health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic effects of suspending almost all activity have immediately impacted the world’s commodity markets and are likely to continue to affect them for months to come.

The pandemic has affected both demand for and supply of commodities, the April edition of the Commodity Markets Outlook reports. Those effects are direct, resulting from shutdowns to mitigate the spread of the virus and disruptions to supply chains, and also indirect, as the global response slows growth and leads to what is anticipated to be the deepest global recession in decades.

The full impact of the pandemic on commodity markets will depend on how severe it is, how long it lasts, and how countries and the world community choose to respond to it. The pandemic has the potential to lead to permanent changes in the demand and supply of commodities, and especially to the supply chains that move those commodities from producers to consumers around the world.

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The effects have already been dramatic, particularly for commodities related to transportation. Oil prices have plunged since January, and prices reached an historic low in April with some benchmarks trading at negative levels. Declines reflect a sharp drop in demand and have been exacerbated by uncertainty around production levels among major oil producers. Due to mitigation efforts that have limited most travel, oil demand is expected to fall by an unprecedented 9.3 million barrels per day this year from the 2019 level of 100 million barrels per day. Oil prices are expected to average $35 per barrel in 2020, a sharp downward revision from the October forecast and a 43 percent drop from the 2019 average of $61 per barrel. Prices for natural rubber and platinum, both heavily used by the transportation industry, have also tumbled.

Recent efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporters and other oil producers to cut production in response to the plunge in demand will ease some of the pressure on oil markets. However, over the longer run, the current arrangement, to the extent it supports prices, will be subjected to the same forces—the emergence of new producers, as well as substitution and efficiency gains—that led to the collapse of previous OPEC arrangements and other commodity pacts. A section of the report looks at OPEC in the context of the history of previous coordinated efforts to manage the prices of certain commodities.

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Energy prices overall—which also include natural gas and coal—are expected to average 40 percent lower in 2020 than in 2019, although a sizeable rebound is anticipated next year. Natural gas prices have fallen substantially this year but coal prices have been less affected, since the demand for electricity has been less affected by mitigation measures.

The halt in economic activity has taken a toll on industrial commodities such as copper and zinc, and metal prices overall are expected to fall this year. A deceleration of economic growth in China—which accounts for half of global metal demand—will weigh on industrial metal prices. Gold prices, on the other hand, have risen as buyers have sought safety amid financial market turbulence.

Agriculture prices are less tied to economic growth and have undergone only minor declines over the first months of the year, with the exception of rubber which fell sharply, and of rice, which rose due to worsening crop conditions and some trade restrictions. Overall global agricultural prices are expected to remain broadly stable in 2020 as production levels and stocks of most staple foods are at record highs.

Most food markets are well supplied. However, concerns about food security have escalated as countries announce trade restrictions that include export bans on certain commodities and engage in excess buying.Similarly, agricultural commodity production, especially next season, could be affected by disruptions to the trade and distribution of inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, and labor. Snags to supply chains have already affected to the exports from some emerging market and developing economies of perishable products such as flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Despite well supplied markets, export restrictions could hurt food security in importing countries. The World Bank has joined other organizations in calling for collective action to keep food trade flowing between countries.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on commodity markets more broadly may result in longer-term changes. Transport costs may be higher due to additional border-crossing requirements. Higher trade costs will in particular affect agriculture and food commodities and textiles. Decisions to stockpile certain commodities could affect trade flows and have an effect on global prices.

Commodity-dependent emerging market and developing economies will be among the most vulnerable to the economic impacts of the pandemic. In addition to the health and human toll they face, and the effects of the global economic downturn, reduced demand for exports and disruption of supply chains will take a toll on the economies of these countries.

FULL DOCUMENT: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/04/23/coronavirus-shakes-commodity-markets?cid=ECR_E_NewsletterWeekly_EN_EXT&deliveryName=DM61330

________________

ECONOMIA BRASILEIRA / BRAZIL ECONOMICS

CORONAVÍRUS

PR. 22/04/2020. PRÓ-BRASIL. Bolsonaro participa de reunião sobre programa de redução de impactos pós-pandemia. Iniciativa objetiva reduzir os impactos do coronavírus nas áreas social e econômica

O presidente da República, Jair Bolsonaro, participou nesta quarta-feira (22), da reunião sobre o programa Pró-Brasil, iniciativa proativa do Governo Federal que tem como propósito reduzir os impactos do novo coronavírus nas áreas social e econômica com foco no período pós-pandemia. O ministro-chefe da Casa Civil, Braga Netto, apresentou o programa ao presidente, ao vice-presidente e demais ministros.

O programa atende determinação do presidente da República de salvar vidas e manter empregos e se soma ao conjunto de medidas do Governo Federal já em curso no enfrentamento às consequências da Covid-19 no Brasil. Serão planejadas e desenvolvidas ações integradas, estruturantes e estratégicas para recuperação e desenvolvimento do País, bem como o restabelecimento do bem-estar da sociedade brasileira.

Pró-Brasil

O programa atuará com ênfase em dois eixos: ordem e progresso. No eixo ordem encontram-se as medidas estruturantes como o aprimoramento do arcabouço normativo; atração de investimentos privados; maior segurança jurídica e produtividade; melhoria do ambiente de negócios; e mitigação dos impactos socioeconômicos. No eixo progresso estão previstos investimentos com a realização de obras públicas e de parcerias com o setor privado.

A Casa Civil publicou no dia 14 de abril a resolução número 1 que cria o grupo de trabalho no âmbito do Comitê de Crise para Supervisão e Monitoramento dos Impactos da Covid-19 para o planejamento das ações do Pró-Brasil. O grupo apresentará seu plano de trabalho em até 90 dias e terá as seguintes competências:

• Propor ações estruturantes e atos normativos para a retomada das atividades afetadas pela Covid-19;
• Articular com entes federativos e privados, bem como com entidades sem fins lucrativos, propostas de ações coordenadas para a retomada das mencionadas atividades;
• Propor medidas na área de infraestrutura com foco em obras públicas de responsabilidade da União e parcerias com o setor privado;
• Recomendar medidas que garantam a cadeia de suprimentos estratégicos e que aliviem as disparidades regionais causadas pelos impactos econômicos e sociais da Covid-19;
• Sugerir diretrizes para a destinação de emendas parlamentares por meio de articulação com o Congresso Nacional.

FGV. Impactos do COVID-19. 23/04/2020. As consequências na economia, gastos públicos e emprego

Segundo as previsões trimestrais divulgadas pelo FMI, as mudanças têm sido radicais na economia. Três meses atrás, o FMI previa que o PIB teria crescimento de 3,3% este ano. Segundo os cálculos anunciados há poucos dias, ele prevê uma queda de 3% no crescimento em 2020. Segundo o entrevistado Armando Castelar, coordenador da área de economia aplicada do FGV IBRE, um dos motivos dessa queda radical foi a demora da reação do Brasil à crise do Covid-19. Uma crise não originada na economia, mas de proporções gigantescas, que deve gerar um aumento de 10% do desemprego na Europa e nos Estados Unidos esse ano.

VÍDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5kNiHL0xK4&feature=youtu.be

GASTO PÚBLICO

REUTERS. 23 DE ABRIL DE 2020. PESQUISA-Economias de Brasil e México enfrentam déficits imensos devido a choque do coronavírus
Por Gabriel Burin

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - As maiores economias da América Latina, o Brasil e o México, provavelmente enfrentarão aumento do déficit este ano dado que os governos são forçados a combater recessões provocadas pela pandemia de coronavírus, mostrou uma pesquisa da Reuters.

Mas qualquer recaída na frouxidão fiscal no longo prazo pode ameaçar a recuperação futura, adicionando um novo risco às preocupações existentes sobre as atitudes do presidente Jair Bolsonaro e seu colega mexicano, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, em relação à emergência global.

O Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) do Brasil recuará 2,5% em 2020, de acordo com a mediana das estimativas em uma pesquisa realizada com 45 analistas entre 13 e 21 de abril, afundando novamente a maior economia da América Latina em recessão após três anos de crescimento fraco.

A visão pessimista, um rebaixamento ante uma previsão de expansão marginal de apenas 0,3% em uma pesquisa preliminar no mês passado, agora está associada a temores emergentes sobre o “Orçamento de guerra” de Bolsonaro contra o vírus.

Maiores gastos e menores receitas resultantes da crise reverteriam anos de austeridade e fariam o déficit primário do Brasil subir para 6,0% do PIB, elevando a dívida bruta a um recorde de 85% até o final de 2020, de acordo com as respostas dos analistas a uma pergunta separada.

Autoridades dizem que essas métricas extremas ainda são administráveis, ​​e uma maioria de 10 economistas entre 15 na pesquisa concordou em princípio, afirmando que medidas de emergência fiscal, combinadas com cortes na taxa de juros pelo banco central, devem impulsionar o crescimento em 2021.

No entanto, 12 de 14 analistas que responderam a uma pergunta diferente viram riscos para a economia se o país não for capaz de mostrar claramente como vai restabelecer a austeridade quando o pior do episódio do coronavírus terminar.

“Precisamos entender por quanto tempo haverá pausa nas reformas que estavam levando os mercados a precificar mudanças estruturais positivas e qual será o desvio nos gastos”, disse Rafael Silotto, gerente de portfólio da Brasilprev.

A mais recente recessão do Brasil, atualmente em seu primeiro e pior trimestre, com uma perda estimada de 5,7% do PIB no período, deve elevar a taxa de desemprego para 13,1% no final do ano, de 11,6% em fevereiro.

No entanto, se o cenário básico se realizar, seria mais brando do que a contração de 2015 e 2016, quando o Brasil enfrentou a mais profunda crise econômica de uma geração em meio a turbulências políticas domésticas.

As tensões relacionadas ao tratamento geral da pandemia são outra fonte de ansiedade, pois Bolsonaro entra em conflito com poderosos governadores estaduais sobre seus planos de reabrir a economia rapidamente, minimizando a doença que ele chama de “gripezinha”.

MÉXICO

Assim como Bolsonaro, López Obrador, presidente do México, também foi alvo de críticas por minimizar a pandemia, após suas sugestões iniciais no mês passado de que as pessoas deveriam continuar indo a restaurantes e gastando dinheiro para manter a economia em movimento.

Como no Brasil, as contas públicas do México estão em uma condição delicada. O déficit primário deverá subir para 2,5% do PIB este ano, ante superávit de 1,4% em 2019, enquanto a dívida bruta está prevista em 54% do PIB, cerca de 9 pontos percentuais a mais.

López Obrador “tem uma corda bamba difícil de andar”, disse Christian Lawrence, estrategista de mercado do Rabobank. “O estímulo é necessário, mas não pode ser oferecido sem arriscar o rating de grau de investimento do México.”

Enquanto alguns dizem que o México está entrando em sua maior recessão desde a chamada “crise da tequila” do início dos anos 1990, ou pior, a pesquisa apontou para uma contração de 5,1%, um pouco menor do que a queda de 5,3% em 2009.

INFLAÇÃO

FGV. IBRE. 23/04/20. Índices Gerais de Preços. IPC-S. Inflação pelo IPC-S recua na terceira semana de abril

O IPC-S de 22 de abril de 2020 variou 0,07%, ficando 0,27 ponto percentual (p.p) abaixo da taxa registrada na última divulgação.

Nesta apuração, sete das oito classes de despesa componentes do índice registraram decréscimo em suas taxas de variação. A maior contribuição partiu do grupo Transportes (-0,97% para -1,57%). Nesta classe de despesa, cabe mencionar o comportamento do item gasolina, cuja taxa passou de -3,68% para -5,29%.

Também registraram decréscimo em suas taxas de variação os grupos: Educação, Leitura e Recreação (0,41% para -0,22%), Habitação (0,38% para 0,23%), Alimentação (1,65% para 1,51%), Saúde e Cuidados Pessoais (0,50% para 0,38%), Vestuário (-0,23% para -0,32%) e Despesas Diversas (0,34% para 0,32%). Nestas classes de despesa, vale destacar o comportamento dos itens: passagem aérea (7,40% para 1,43%), móveis para residência (-0,34% para -1,07%), hortaliças e legumes (11,73% para 9,87%), artigos de higiene e cuidado pessoal (0,94% para 0,52%), calçados (-0,15% para -0,39%) e serviços bancários (0,33% para 0,22%).

O grupo Comunicação repetiu a taxa de variação de 0,06% registrada na última apuração. As principais influências partiram dos itens: mensalidade para TV por assinatura (0,03% para 0,12%), em sentido ascendente, e tarifa de telefone residencial (0,48% para 0,33%), em sentido descendente.

DOCUMENTO: https://portalibre.fgv.br/navegacao-superior/noticias/inflacao-pelo-ipc-s-recua-na-terceira-semana-de-abril-1.htm

SETOR AUTOMOTIVO

ANFAVEA. PORTAL G1. REUTERS. 23/04/2020. Indústria de veículos se prepara para retomada, mas em velocidade menor, diz Anfavea. Pandemia de coronavírus fez faturamento do setor cair cerca de 80%, diz presidente da associação das montadoras. Cerca de 43 fábricas do setor estão paradas.

A indústria de veículos do Brasil se prepara para uma retomada de produção até junho, mas em ritmo abaixo do normal diante de queda "dramática" de vendas no segundo trimestre e volumes nos meses seguintes provavelmente abaixo dos registrados em 2019.

O presidente da associação que representa as montadoras no Brasil, Anfavea, Luiz Carlos Moraes, afirmou nesta quinta-feira, durante entrevista transmitida online, que o faturamento do setor caiu cerca de 80% com os impactos da pandemia de coronavírus no país.

Por conta disso, o setor está tomando medidas para proteger o caixa, o que o levará a rediscutir com o governo o cronograma de investimentos obrigatórios como inclusão de itens de segurança nos veículos e cortes em emissões de poluentes.

"Hoje temos cerca de 43 fábricas paradas...com previsão de retorno a partir do final de abril, meados de maio e algumas em junho", disse Moraes.

"Estamos nos preparando para o retorno, que será numa velocidade diferente e com um modelo de produção diferente por questões de segurança", referindo-se a medidas de proteção dos funcionários e limpeza de maquinário de produção contra possível contaminação pelo novo coronavírus.

2,5 mil emplacamentos por dia

Segundo o presidente da Anfavea, os emplacamentos no final de março eram de cerca de 1.400 por dia, número bem abaixo dos cerca de 10 mil veículos diários antes das medidas de quarentena adotadas por Estados como São Paulo.

De lá para o início do mês os licenciamentos melhoraram, segundo Moraes, mas ainda seguem em nível muito menor que os verificados antes da pandemia, da ordem de 2.500 por dia até a véspera.

Além da queda na demanda, do fechamento de concessionárias ocasionado pela crise, o presidente da Anfavea citou também problemas em burocracia de órgãos públicos que registram os licenciamentos.

"O Denatran precisa se reinventar. Por que não fazer licenciamento vitual?", questionou Moraes, se referindo ao Departamento Nacional de Trânsito, responsável pelos registros de emplacamentos.

"Este trimestre está muito difícil...Dependendo da crise da saúde, o terceiro trimestre pode ser melhor, mas vai ser substancialmente menor que o ano passado. Não tenho dúvida", disse o presidente da Anfavea. Ele disse, porém, que caminhões pesados e extrapesados estão tendo melhor desempenho por conta da demanda de setores menos atingidos pela pandemia, como o de produção de grãos.

Diante da necessidade de preservar caixa, Moraes afirmou que os planos de investimentos do setor estão congelados, mas admitiu que parte deles podem ser cancelados pelas matrizes. Ele não mencionou valores. "A prioridade agora é pagar o boleto do mês", afirmou o executivo.

Questionado sobre eventual fechamento de unidades de produção após a passagem da pandemia, Moraes respondeu que a indústria tem "agora uma queda absurda do mercado interno, o mercado de exportação, que já era pequeno ficou menor com a Argentina em situação ainda pior. Temos mais problemas na América Latina...Vejo, sim, um problema difícil".

COMÉRCIO EXTERIOR BRASILEIRO

CitrusBR. PORTAL G1. REUTERS. 22/04/2020. Exportações de suco de laranja do Brasil sobem 18% em 9 meses da safra 2019/20. Em faturamento, o aumento é de 6% na mesma comparação, com um total de US$ 1,44 bilhão.

As exportações brasileiras de suco de laranja cresceram 18% em volume nos nove primeiros meses da safra 2019/2020, até março, ante igual período da temporada anterior, informou a associação de exportadores do setor na segunda-feira (20).

"Houve aumento na demanda pelo produto, mas também é preciso ressaltar que a alta acontece sobre uma base pequena da safra passada", disse à Reuters o diretor-executivo da CitrusBR, Ibiapaba Netto.

Ao todo, o maior exportador global embarcou 861.700 toneladas de suco concentrado de laranja congelado nos nove primeiros meses da safra, ante 732.048 toneladas no mesmo período de 2018/19, disse a associação.

Em faturamento, o aumento é de 6% na mesma comparação, com um total de US$ 1,44 bilhão.

A safra 2018/19, que serve como referência para comparação com o ciclo atual, fechou com o segundo pior volume exportado desde que o Brasil ultrapassou a barreira de 1 milhão de toneladas embarcadas, em 1991/92, após uma colheita ruim.

Para a União Europeia, principal mercado comprador, os embarques da bebida totalizaram de julho a março, 597.242 toneladas, alta de 26%. O faturamento somou US$ 1,01 bilhão, 14% a mais que em 2018/2019.

Segundo principal destino do suco de laranja brasileiro, os Estados Unidos, importaram 138.800 toneladas, 16% a menos do que observado entre julho e março do ano passado, com 165.015 toneladas. Em faturamento, foram registrados US$ 224,7 milhões, redução de 11% no comparativo anual.

ARRECADAÇÃO

MEconomia. RFB. 22/04/2020. Arrecadação. Receita Federal arrecadou R$ 109,7 bilhões em março/20

No período acumulado de janeiro a março de 2020, a arrecadação alcançou o valor de R$ 401.138 milhões, representando um acréscimo pelo IPCA de 0,21%.

Quanto às Receitas Administradas pela RFB, o valor arrecadado, em março de 2020, foi de R$ 107.390 milhões, representando um decréscimo real (IPCA) de 3,,67%, enquanto que no período acumulado de janeiro a março de 2020, a arrecadação alcançou R$ 383.479 milhões, registrando acréscimo real (IPCA) de 0,53%.

O resultado pode ser explicado, principalmente, pelo comportamento dos principais indicadores macroeconômicos que afetam a arrecadação, especialmente relacionados com o consumo, produção industrial e importações tributáveis.

Além disso contribuíram para o resultado do mês e do período acumulado de janeiro a março e 2020 tanto o crescimento nominal de 55,77% das compensações tributárias e o crescimento de 28,7% (IPCA) dos recolhimentos do IRPF, especialmente de ganhos de capital na alienação de bens e ganhos líquidos em operações de bolsa de valores.

Clique aqui para acessar os relatórios do resultado da arrecadação.

ENERGIA

CONAB. 23 de Abril de 2020. País confirma recorde na produção de etanol: 35,6 bilhões de litros na safra 2019/20

O Brasil alcançou a maior produção de etanol da história, com um total de 35,6 bilhões de litros provenientes da cana-de-açúcar e do milho. Isso representa um acréscimo de 7,5% em comparação a 2018/19. A confirmação de recorde é do 4º Levantamento da safra 2019/20 de cana-de-açúcar, divulgado nesta quinta-feira (23) pela Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab).

O boletim mostra também que a estimativa de produção total de etanol a partir da cana-de-açúcar é de 34 bilhões de litros, um aumento de 5,1% sobre a safra passada. Já a produção total de etanol à base de milho mais que dobrou nesta safra. Saiu de 791,4 milhões de litros em 2018/19 para 1,6 bilhão de litros nesta temporada.

O etanol anidro da cana-de-açúcar, que é utilizado na mistura com a gasolina, teve aumento de 8,5%, alcançando 10,1 bilhões de litros. O anidro extraído do milho alcançou 390,7 milhões de litros, 66,8% superior à temporada passada. O total de etanol hidratado de cana-de-açúcar deve ficar em 23,9 bilhões de litros, incremento de 3,7%. Enquanto o que deriva do milho alcançará 1,25 bilhão de litros, 124,5% a mais em comparação a 2018/19.

As condições climáticas verificadas nas principais regiões produtoras favoreceram a produção de cana-de-açúcar, que apresentou incremento no seu rendimento médio. Com o término da safra 2019/20, houve a confirmação do crescimento na produção da cana-de-açúcar em comparação à temporada passada.  Foram mais de 642,7 milhões de toneladas colhidas, representando aumento de 3,6% em relação a 2018/19. A área colhida ficou em 8,4 milhões de hectares. Neste caso houve uma redução de 1,7%. Isso se deu porque fornecedores que tiveram seus contratos encerrados migraram para outras culturas, além de áreas não propícias à colheita mecanizada.

O sudeste manteve a liderança na produção, com mais de 415 milhões de toneladas colhidas, indicando acréscimo de 3,7% em comparação a 2018/19. No Centro-Oeste houve crescimento de 1,5% na área colhida, atingindo 1,8 milhões de hectares. Somado ao incremento na produtividade média, a produção foi 2,6% superior à safra anterior, chegando a 140,4 milhões de toneladas. No Nordeste, as condições climáticas foram mais favoráveis à cultura. Com isso, a região colheu cerca de 49,1 milhões de toneladas, representando acréscimo de 10,6%.

Houve redução de 6,7% na área colhida do Sul, principalmente nas que foram reconvertidas para a produção de grãos. O total produzido foi de 34,4 milhões de toneladas. O Norte, que é responsável por menos de 1% da produção nacional, também teve sua área cultivada reduzida em 8,1%, mas concluiu a produção em 3,7 milhões de toneladas, devido ao melhor rendimento nesta safra.

Finalmente, com relação ao açúcar, a produção foi de 29,8 milhões de toneladas, crescimento de 2,6% em relação ao produzido na safra 2018/19.

COVID 19 – Para atender as orientações da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) e também do governo federal, em relação ao combate à pandemia de COVID-19, excepcionalmente para esse estudo os levantamentos foram realizados por meios eletrônicos, como contato telefônico e e-mail, em substituição às visitas a todas as unidades de produção, que ocorrem usualmente. Contudo, isso não comprometeu a qualidade das informações, graças à expertise da Conab na coleta de informações e à network de parceiros no setor sucroalcooleiro.

DOCUMENTO: https://www.conab.gov.br/ultimas-noticias/3342-pais-confirma-recorde-historico-na-producao-de-etanol-35-6-bilhoes-de-litros-na-safra-2019-20

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LGCJ.: