The mayor of Soconusco, Veracruz, has some unorthodox methods for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic in his town.

Rolando Sinforoso Rosas’ latest effort in the fight against the pandemic was the installation of a nine-tonne statue of Christ the Redeemer in the town’s main square on Friday, a move that he claims will strengthen the faith of his constituents and protect them from the coronavirus.

Sinforoso said the over 12-meter-tall replica of the famous Cristo Redentor statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will give the region character and help people recover the faith in Jesus Christ that he declares they have lost.

But the statue isn’t the only unconventional tactic the mayor has come up with to face the pandemic. In early May he caused a stir when he issued a decree prohibiting deaths from Covid-19 in the municipality, located in the southeast of the state.

“I believe that Soconusco — if we’ve already outlawed Covid-19 deaths — along with putting God first, nothing is going to happen,” he said in an interview with local media that his administration streamed live from its official Facebook page on Friday.

He added that the official inauguration of the statue will be held on Friday this week and emphasized that authorities will implement sanitation measures to mitigate coronavirus transmission, despite the statue’s alleged protective abilities.

Sinforoso also expressed the magnanimity of the erection of the Jesus statue, saying that “this isn’t just a Christ for Soconusco, but for the whole region.”

Despite criticism on social media and national news outlets, the Citizens’ Movement party politician defended his endeavor to prohibit deaths from Covid-19. He has claimed victory, announcing that not one person had died from the disease in Soconusco.

In his most recent statement to his constituency, Sinforoso requested that anyone who is going to die of Covid-19 do so outside the municipality.

Source: La Silla Rota (sp)