A member of the Social Democratic Party of Andorra, Victor Naudi Zamora, told all-andorra.com about his vision of the current “post-pandemic” situation in the country.
Interview: Irina Rybalchenko
In Andorra, a large-scale campaign to conduct mass tests for the detection of antibodies to coronavirus has been completed. Can we now really appreciate the importance and necessity of this event, which cost the state €1,500,000? Is it true that this testing can be considered the first step in preparing people for mass vaccination?
Although it is too early to talk about the causes of the virus, its current and future consequences, the tests can serve as a database and can help to know the number of people affected, their reaction and the evolution of the disease.
Some time ago, in your interview you mentioned the so-called “passports of good and bad citizens.” What did you mean? Did the government really discuss this possibility?
In my interview, I sneered at the fact that the government intended to classify citizens as good and bad. But what I really wanted to do was categorically oppose such a potential solution. Any document confirming that a person is not infected and can travel or perform certain actions is contrary to the Constitution. And if you make comparisons, this may be comparable to what the Nazis did to the Jewish people.
According to official statistics, 10% of Andorran residents did not participate in mass testing. Will they have problems? If the children did not pass the analysis, will they be able to continue their education in the country without problems?
At first, the government wanted to make the test mandatory, but in the end, the government agreed that this decision would be unconstitutional. This would be another irresponsible decision, like the previous one (with passports). I think that in the case of children, this would be even more sad, since they would be deprived of their basic right—the right to education on an equal base for all.
You also mentioned monitoring citizens by telephone and tracking their contacts using geolocation, which, in your words, has already been implemented at the first stage. What does it mean?
During the pandemic, the government had to refute some information published in the media that claimed that the government-funded ActuaTech agency, together with state-owned telecommunications company Andorra Telecom, allegedly worked to create a mobile phone application aimed at tracking and localizing people who might be infected.
It is true that similar projects were considered in other European countries, but on a voluntary basis. The problem is that here it was about tracking people using geolocation and without observing confidentiality conditions and data protection guarantees.
The government recognized that it is already working with this tool to keep track of tourists: from which countries they come and what places they visit. But at the same time, their confidential data is not used, but only considered.
If we talk about information ethics and information hygiene, how do you generally assess the flow of information during a pandemic on “mainstream” media? Were there facts of fake information?
I think it was more than a distortion of information! There was too much dubious information and poor explanation of facts that were not scientifically proven. All this played a role and drove our citizens into fear. There is nothing more sensitive than our emotions, especially fear. Our own ignorance and distorted (or exaggerated) facts published in the media together acquire a huge scale of influence on our opinion. For some reason we are used to believing what they say and show on TV to us.
If people understand that the scale of the pandemic was clearly exaggerated, perhaps the next step will be the numerous financial claims of small, medium and large companies to the governments of European countries in connection with the “wrong policy” in this situation, which entailed their complete or partial bankruptcy? Do you see such a development?
Many have already talked about this, but such claims will be difficult to satisfy, since governments take actions to protect public health and give compensation to companies, although the economic consequences that will come in the coming months will far exceed governmental compensations, which is obvious. Governments have always acted in accordance with previous laws, although in some cases and in many countries, they did not respect their own institutions, especially with respect to the right to freedom of movement.
In Andorra, there was no alarm state and there was no emergency. But the public reacted very responsibly and civilly to the recommendations of the government.
However, as I said earlier, it should be said that the government has repeatedly taken actions contrary to the Constitution.
Information wars, wars in cyberspace and other forms of modern technology are changing the classic concept of war. Can COVID-19 be interpreted as an instrument of the third WW? Who fought or is fighting with whom?
At first, one could think that China created this tool together with Russia to weaken the global economy, especially the United States and Europe, and thus gain more weight, becoming leading powers at all levels. But this theory is bizarre and far from reality. In any case, this shows that the system of absolute economic growth is dangerous and needs to be reoriented.
What do you think about the danger of total “chipization” of mankind and the creation of a single database?
Unfortunately, this is a trend whose sole purpose is to learn how to better control people from the point of view of their consumer needs, to sell more, take advantage of all possible tools, social networks and to benefit from the dependence that is exposed to more and more number of people all over the world.
This fact is consistent with what I said above about geolocation tracking. This is the next step, so that certain forces control not only the movements of people, but also their hobbies, their tastes and their weaknesses, to be able to influence them both at the commercial and political levels.
More people do not have their own tastes and beliefs, act in accordance with trends and fashion, or even under the influence of famous people who are remotely controlled by lobbying structures.
This is the challenge of the future, and we need to learn how to respond to it.
The issue of voluntary and (or) compulsory vaccination. Can you assess the risk of deadly vaccines? Is compulsory vaccination consistent with the constitution?
This is a delicate matter, since here and in most countries the obligation of vaccines, as is customary for young children, is taken for granted to live in society and get education (for example, vaccination against smallpox, polio) …
Consequently, an obligation can be made by an overwhelming majority of citizens and even in the face of fear of the unknown.
In any case, I personally understand that this cannot be mandatory until some time has passed before it can be proved that the vaccine has no dangerous effects.