El Salvador suspends flights, accuses Mexico of letting coronavirus patients board plane

President Nayib Bukele suspended passenger flights to El Salvador on Monday after accusing Mexico of allowing a dozen people with coronavirus to board a flight to San Salvador, an assertion quickly questioned by Mexico's government.

Bukele did not provide evidence for the claim, which he made on Twitter. He described Mexican authorities as "irresponsible." "No passenger plane can land on Salvadoran soil," Bukele said. "Planes en route should change their flight plans."

Mexico's deputy foreign minister for Latin America, Maximiliano Reyes, responded to the tweets by asking that Bukele reveal the source of his information and describing Mexico as a pioneer in handling epidemics. Bukele said the people with coronavirus were set to fly on an Avianca flight leaving Mexico City at 1600 local time on Monday.

Avianca later said it had canceled the flight and that the passengers had not boarded, and were being informed of the cancellation. Bukele said the government was working on a new set of protocols to allow flights to resume through San Salvador airport, which is a connection point for flights to other Central American countries.