Peru is being ravaged by a deadly second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic. Few parts of the country are as badly affected as the remote Amazonian villages in the northeast of the country and cities like Iquitos.

The country has been one of the worst hit by the pandemic. For several months last year, it topped the per capita death charts. Officially, 1.2 million have been infected here while 43,880 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

One man’s effort to help those who have been most impacted, has nearly cost him his life.

In Peru, oxygen mafias are making death threats and burning down homes in their bid to control supplies and speculate with Covid-19 patients suffering. My latest for @VICEWorldNews:https://t.co/HYOAuT22PG

— Simeon Tegel (@SimeonTegel) February 18, 2021

As Peru now faces a daily oxygen shortage of 100 tons, Peruvians are becoming desperate for whatever oxygen they can get their hands on. Oxygen mafias are rising up to steal oxygen products and sell them on the black market for obscene prices.

Juan Torres Baldeón is a good samaritan who has, by his own estiamte, donated free oxygen to 8,000 desperate families in the jungle city of Iquitos. With his generosity, he’s likely saved hundreds if not thousands of lives in the process. But his generosity has also come with risks.

It began with crooks infiltrating the long lines outside Baldeón’s warehouse. The problem became so severe that the police and the military had to be called in to maintain order.

“We only give oxygen to those with prescriptions,” Baldeón told VICE News. “Normally, just half a tank, unless the patient is really sick, because we have to ration what we have. But we kept finding people in the queue who didn’t have a prescription, and when you asked them the name of the patient, they didn’t know what to say.”

Then he began receiving threatening phone calls, demanding he surrender his entire lifesaving supply of oxygen or leave his city behind.

That was when the criminals, who Baldeón believes are a local cocaine cartel, made their move.

In late January, Baldeón had left his home to go to the gym but quickly had to return. When he got back home, his office/home and four others alongside it were on fire.

“They probably thought I was inside,” he told VICE. “There’s nothing left now, just ashes. I feel for my neighbors. They didn’t even have anything to do with the oxygen.”

Thanks to Covid-19, oxygen has become a necessity for so many.

The Knights of Columbus have sent more than $200,000 of oxygen and related supplies to the Amazon regions of Brazil and Peru, following pleas from bishops whose people face crowded hospitals amid a coronavirus surge. https://t.co/gEtaI8f4te

— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) February 12, 2021

From Lima to Mexico City, residents have been forced to stand in line for hours on end and search far-flung neighborhoods to refill their oxygen tanks.

Normally, refilling a 10,000 liter tank of oxygen would cost around 100 Sols ($27). But with Covid-19 forcing so many to seek care at home with supplemental oxygen, some are paying more than $1,000.

Baldeón isn’t the only person to be threatened over oxygen supplies.

#AndinaEnglish 📌 Oxygen plants donated by Respira Peru to benefit over 100 patients 👉 https://t.co/fbKpmtiTgM pic.twitter.com/QwklUAr5RS

— Agencia Andina (@Agencia_Andina) February 17, 2021

In Peru’s capital city of Lima, a district mayor was forced to send his family abroad following death threats that he received after setting up a municipal oxygen plant and distributing the essential gas to needy families, including to those from outside his district.

Yet even outside of Peru, his family remain unsafe, and they have had to change hotels after their whereabouts were discovered by the criminals, who also threw a grenade at his house.

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Rising Argentine rapper Ecko will make his acting debut in the upcoming HBO Max series Días de Gallos. He shared the good news this week about the project that hits close to home.

Días de Gallos will focus on rappers who come up through freestyle battles.

#estreno
El cantante y compositor argentino, ECKO, una de las estrellas dentro del género del rap y trap latino, salta a la actuación como protagonista de la serie de #HBOMax Max, “Días de Gallos”, que se estrena en junio próximo.@WarnerMedia .@_eckoyg pic.twitter.com/26Aq5rpN52

— Notistarz (@notistarz) February 22, 2021

“This series is a snapshot of the world I come from, the world of freestyle,” Ecko said in a statement. “I am very comfortable telling this story. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with a great cast and production team.”

Like Ecko mentioned, Días de Gallos will be a scripted series showcasing the world of freestyle rap battles. He’s currently shooting the show in Bueno Aires, Argentina, with other confirmed castmates Ángela Torres and Tomás Wicz. Días de Gallos will premiere on HBO Max in June.

Ecko is one of Argentina’s leading trap rappers.

With a Latin trap movement happening within Argentina, Ecko has emerged as one of the country’s leading rap artists. He broke through in 2017 thanks to his hit “Dorado,” which has over 51 million views on YouTube. Ecko later followed that up with “Rebota,” the club banger he shares with other Argentine rappers like KHEA, Seven Kayne, and Iacho.

The 21-year-old artist has been building off that momentum, especially in 2020. Last November, Ecko released his EP Young Golden. For the EP’s lead single, he teamed up with Cazzu, Argentina’s top female trap artist, for the sensual collaboration “Cama Vacia.”

On Young Golden, Ecko collaborated with more of Latin music’s biggest hip-hop acts. He worked with Puerto Rican rapper Brytiago and Dominican singer Amenazzy for “QDLQQ” and Boricua trap pioneer Eladio Carrión in “Baila.”

Read: Trapera Cazzu Pretty Much Confirmed She Had A Relationship With Bad Bunny In A Super Awkward Interview

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