The Center for Emergency Operations (COE) announced the death toll over the Christmas and New Year holidays was 23 persons. A COE spokesperson insisted that the relatively low death count was attributed to an effective coordinated effort by government agencies. However, El Dia reports that the count of deaths for traffic accidents and intoxication kept by the National Health Service (SNS) was 34. In addition there were three victims that died due to bullet wounds and two due to knife wounds, for a total of 39. Those 39 deaths compare to the official number of 23 reported by the COE.
Prior to 2016, the COE would issue daily reports. But the press office of the Presidency (Dicom) put a stop to those more detailed reporting, and the COE then began issuing a single report at the end of the holiday. When the change was made, the director of the COE, Juan Manuel Mendez, had justified the change saying that it gave time for the reporting to be more accurate.
El Dia makes the point that the under accounting is even greater taking into account that the SNS statistics only account for persons who actually die in public hospitals, not previously on the road, or in private hospitals or clinics.
El Dia, in an editorial on 23 January 2019, criticizes the Medina administration for abandoning the transparency in its statistical bulletins with which the COE had earned credibility prior to 2016.
In addition to the restraints to the statistical reporting by the COE, the media has also criticized the restrictions now exercised by the National Police in its reporting of crime.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Al Momento
El Dia
El Dia
23 January 2019
