Citizens of the municipality Las Margaritas, Chiapas, demonstrated in Tuxtla Gutiérrez’s main square this week, railing against the coronavirus and claiming that the deadly pandemic was created by Microsoft founder Bill Gates to murder the elderly and sick.

More than 1,500 people joined the “March Against the Invention of the Coronavirus.” 

“It was made to kill those over 60 years old as they hinder capitalism because they are no longer productive and are a burden to society, or those who are already sick with diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema and other diseases,” said the organization Luz and Fuerza del Pueblo Chiapas (“light and strength of the people of Chiapas”) through a statement on their Facebook page.

The group believes that the coronavirus is an invention created in a lab in England and financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropic organization and one that has pledged some US $250 million to aid in the coronavirus response. 

A co-conspirator named by the activists is the Johnson & Johnson company, which in March donated US $50 million to support health workers on the front lines of the pandemic. 

“The governments of the world do not dare to denounce and prosecute Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, in the international criminal court for crimes against humanity, because he is part of the wealthy who dominate the world,” march organizers stated.

Spraying against mosquitoes was also seen as a conspiracy against the people.

Protesters demanded that government spraying to prevent the spread of dengue through mosquitoes be ended, as they believe the government is actually spraying with harmful chemicals to make people sick. 

Marchers took the opportunity to denounce the planned Maya Train and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec railway as monuments to capitalism. 

Other grievances expressed during the march were the use of insecticides, deforestation, lack of supplies for hospitals, and more federal spending on the National Guard than health care. 

As of Thursday, Chiapas had recorded 5,086 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and had seen 697 deaths.

Source: La Jornada (sp), Infobae (sp)