Coronavirus: Trump cancels June’s G7 meeting, Chile postpones referendum on Constitution.

A videoconference between representatives of the member countries would instead be held between April and May, on a date that has not yet been confirmed.

Following the advancement of the coronavirus pandemic in the world, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Thursday the cancellation of the G7 meeting. The summit is to be replaced by a video conference with representatives from member countries between April and May.

The G7 brings together seven of the main economies in the world (in addition to the USA, includes Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) and was scheduled to take place between June 10 and 12 at Camp David, the official field residence of the US president.

According to a statement by the deputy press secretary of the White House, Judd Deere, the intention is for each country to concentrate all resources on the economic response to the pandemic.

“The White House also informed the other G7 members that in order to continue close coordination, the President will convene the Leaders’ via video teleconference in April and May just as he did this week,” he said in a statement.

Trump conversed with G7 leaders by videoconference on Monday to coordinate measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the official said.

During Monday’s video conference, G7 leaders agreed to coordinate their response to the pandemic.

Trump and other leaders agreed to do “whatever it takes” to combat the coronavirus from a health standpoint, as well as its economic effects, Larry Kudlow, an economic adviser to the U.S. government, told CNN.

Chile postpones referendum on Constitution.

Several Chilean political parties reached an agreement on Thursday (19) to reschedule for October 25 the referendum on a new constitution in the country, initially scheduled for April 26, due to the the new coronavirus pandemic.

“I appreciate this effort. It’s difficult in politics to reach accords about an issue as complex as redefining the electoral calendar,” announced Senate President Adriana Muñoz on the pact.

Rise of cases

The agreement, which has yet to pass approval in Parliament to be made official, comes at a time when Chile is in a state of disaster and has 342 patients, most of them in the capital.

Authorities have not ordered the population to be confined to their homes, but there has been a drop in activity on the streets, and borders, shopping centers and non-essential businesses are closed. In addition, classes have febeen suspended since Monday.

Other changes

The pact also contemplates the change of municipal elections scheduled for October 25 to April 4, 2021, together with the election of the constituents, should the referendum decide to bury the current Constitution, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and target of criticism during the wave of protests that started last year.

The referendum is one of the main political bets to mitigate the crisis that the country has been experiencing since October, with about 30 dead, thousands injured, episodes of extreme violence, as well as accusations against the security forces for violations of human rights.