A Reflection On The Impact of Covid-19 in Latin America - ReVista

A Reflection on the Impact of Covid-19 in Latin America | ReVista 25/05/2021, 00:06
Spotlight: Eyes on COVID-19 - COVID January 2021

A Re%ection on the
Impact of Covid-19
in Latin America
Just One More Threat?
by Salvador Martí i Puig | Jan 5, 2021
Read English Version
Leer Versión en Español
These photos are from the exhibit “Documenting the Impact

of Covid-19 through Photography: Collective Isolation in
Latin America,” curated in collaboration with ReVista and
the Art, Culture, and Film program at Harvard’s David
Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS.)
The exhibition, based on an Open Call for Photography

launched in July 2020, aims to create a critical visual record
of our unprecedented times so they can be remembered by
future generations.
https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/a-reflection-on-the-impact-of-covid-19-in-latin-america/ Страница 1 из 14
A worker of the new area of the Nossa Senhora Aparecida

cemetery, Manaus, where a portion of the forest has been
cleaned up due to the signiKcant increase in deaths from
COVID-19 in the Manaus area, Brazilian Amazon. Photo by
Alessandro Falco
At the beginning of April 2020, in the middle of

lockdown, my friend and colleague, Manuel
Alcántara, and I started to discuss the impact that the
Covid-19 pandemic might have in Latin America.
Alcántara, a professor at the University of Salamanca,
was stranded in Medellín awaiting a repatriation Eight
while I was in Girona, Spain, frustrated at not being
able to travel to Mexico where I had to carry out several
academic activities.
We were soon joined by other colleagues in this

discussion, which was to sow the seeds for the
publication Política y crisis en América Latina. Reacción e
impacto frente a la Covid-19 (Politics and Crisis in Latin
America: Reaction and Impact in the Face of Covid-19),
a book written thanks to the participation of a team of

researchers from nearly every country in the
subcontinent.
With this book, we have set out to understand the social

and political consequences of the pandemic drawing on
the knowledge that ensuing transformations may have
relevance similar to that of the crash of 1929, the oil
crisis or the debt crisis. We contend that the Covid-19
pandemic is creating a critical scenario, which may lead
to unforeseen economic decision-making, as well as
new social coalitions. And all this can have a huge
impact on public policy development and the form
institutions take in the medium term.
We begin the book by noting that the pandemic

outbreak has occurred against a backdrop of political
and economic deXciencies. Economically speaking, the
region was not buoyant and growth forecasts were more
than modest. Although Latin America greeted the 21st
century with a long decade of growth thanks to the
commodity boom, this cycle came to an end in 2013.
On the other hand, at a political level, we could say that

Latin American democracies were, at the very least,
worn out. The rise in social mobilizations, the
implosion of traditional party systems, the increase in
levels of abstention and, above all, the loss of trust in
the institutions and a perception of growing
inequalities bear witness to this.
Keeping this context in mind, this book tries to give

tentative answers to what the factors related to the
spread of Covid-19 are, while also deXning the social
and political dynamics that have occurred, with the aim
of drawing comparisons. In this spirit, and in light of
the evidence accumulated during months of work, a set
of factors that have either accelerated or retarded the
pandemic have been established. These are factors of a
highly diverse nature since some are conditioning,
others contextual, and still others, circumstantial. They
are described below:
CONDITIONING FACTORS
Degree of isolation
Population size and density
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS
State capacity in general and the existence (or not) of

an extensive primary health network, in particular
Percentage of people working in the informal sector
Substandard housing
Degree of civic maturity
CIRCUMSTANTIAL FACTORS
Type and quality of leadership
Type of crisis management policies, the capacity to

Xnance and implement them, and pace of
implementation
Capacity to close national borders and reduce trabc

Eow
CUBA. Photo by David Estrada Rodríguez
As we can see, the variety of cases for each country is

highly diverse if we take these factors into account,
although the “big question” is always what explains why
one nation has infection and mortality rates well below
another. A wide range of possible answers exists in
response to this question. But when analysing the
efectiveness of the Xght against the pandemic in the
region, we should Xrst consider the conditioning
factors, namely, population size and density and degree
of isolation of the country. The relatively isolated and
less populated Cuba or Paraguay cannot be compared to
countries with an abundance of megacities —like
Mexico and Brazil—and which serve as human

corridors.
As for contextual factors, infrastructural state capacity

is crucial, both to obtain public resources and to ofer
citizens Xnancial support. The state needs to obtain tax
revenues to manage the administration, promote
development and implement policies. Bureaucrats,
doctors and teachers need to be hired and the state also
requires information to know and respond to the needs
and challenges that may arise. But in Latin America,
weak Xscal pressure and inebcient administration
mean the state has little money, fewer skilled
professionals than it actually needs and, frequently,
poor information.
The above has obvious consequences for the Covid-19

health crisis, since low healthcare expenditure signiXes
a lack of doctors, primary care centers and hospital
beds, while poorly functioning civil registration makes
it extremely dibcult to obtain data to monitor the
incidence of anti-pandemic measures.
Displaced migrants on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Photo by

Marco Garro
These factors, together with the political culture in each

country, do not serve to predict good or bad government
management of the pandemic, but they do indicate that
many decisions made at a given time—for instance, in
the context of a pandemic—rest upon earlier decisions
over the course of years, ohen made by previous
governments and leaders. Thus, if the decision had been
made to remove investment from state infrastructure
(public health or the abandonment of Xscal policy), and
sustained over several decades, the capacity of the
administration to tackle the onslaught of Covid-19
would be more restricted than if such measures had not
been taken. This also has an impact on the trust people
place in the authorities and their fellow citizens. One
extreme case is Nicaragua: some Nicaraguan friends,
for example, told me they listened to the televised
indications issued by Vice-President Rosario Murillo in
order to do just the opposite.
Another issue is decision-making linked to

circumstantial factors; here, political and scientiXc
matters come together and the exercise of authority is
crucial. It is, therefore, of great interest to know how
the leadership exercised by the political, social and
economic authorities has performed in each case. Each
and every one of the governments has had to Xght in an
arena characterized by the depletion of regular
resources and the need to ask for more, even at the cost
of falling into debt, by tensions derived from juggling
between safeguarding health or the economy, and by the
intensity of media reporting with an abundance of fake
news on social networks. Against this backdrop, it is
particularly noteworthy that the vast majority of
presidents have wrapped themselves in their national
Eag and used war metaphors in their speeches in an
attempt to close ranks in the face of an unknown,
invisible enemy from the outside. Some have even been
accompanied by disturbing symbolism, as in the case of
Chilean President, Sebastián Piñera, who surrounded
himself by the military in his Xrst press conferences,
reminding a good colleague of mine, whose father had
been persecuted and exiled, of Pinochetismo.
Also noteworthy is that public policies promoted by

almost all governments—despite their ideological
diversity—have been similar and aimed at the same
thing: avoiding contagion and maintaining social
distancing. Ultimately, these measures have been

deployed based on the same strategies—by means of
diferent types of lockdown—and only in the cases of
Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua and Uruguay were these
types of measures not (initially) decreed. This shows
that beyond the ideology professed by governments and
leaders, most executives have acted in a very similar
way, indicating that, when faced with uncertainty,
governments tend to imitate what their peers do
without giving too much thought to the grounds for
taking this course of action.
However, in the face of a pandemic another question is

that not all citizens experience the situation in the same
way. The consequences of Covid-19 difer depending on
the position one has on the social scale, and in the
region with the greatest inequality of the planet, this
statement is crucial. This is because the most
vulnerable are always the most exposed, and among
these are people who work in the informal sector,
accounting for 53% of total employment in the region,
despite notable diferences among countries, ranging
from 23% in Uruguay to more than 80% in Bolivia.
5 av Manuel Montt CHILE. Photo by Luis Weinstein
People who occupy the poorest strata in society have

found it very dibcult to comply with the rigors of
lockdown since their livelihood depends on the income
they earn by going out on the streets every day. For this
group, whose living conditions are appalling, the big
question is: is it worth being in lockdown to preserve a
society and public healthcare system that does not take
them into consideration? For Dorita, a domestic worker
who has four grandchildren in her care —who are now
at home with her due to school closures— and who has
to travel more than an hour by public transport to get to
work, government measures do not mean staying at
home, but increased stress. This last question is
possibly the key to understanding the inability of these
countries to contain the contagion and “Eatten the
curve” as quickly as in Europe. It also explains the
incessant increase in contagion in urban peripheries.
In contrast, the middle classes have taken more
precautions with the pandemic because they have the

mechanisms to replicate behavior patterns similar to
those in Europe (such as teleworking or living together
in clean, comfortable spaces). Nonetheless, they do not
have public beneXts (in education, health or
employment regulation policies) that other countries
with more robust welfare systems tend to provide.
Hence, we can understand how in Mexico, despite the

fact that 112,326 people had died from the pandemic
(according to data released in mid-December 2020), the
tourist towns of Playa del Carmen or Cancún were in
full swing awaiting the Christmas holidays. When asked
why this kind of resort has not been closed in many
Latin American countries, the answer is that the state
not only lacks the capacity to provide protection, but
people cannot aford not to work. In this regard, we
could say that many people living with Covid-19 in
Latin America see it as just another threat to their lives,
to be added to the many that already exist.
As a friend living in Lima told me a few days ago,

people expect little from the state and in their list of
threats, the virus is perceived as being a relatively
minor one. This theory was conXrmed days later by a
good friend in Mexico City with these words: “Fear of
Covid-19 does not even remotely compare to the fear I
went through when my teenage daughter started going
out at night.”
Yet, this book points out that policies are important,

and not just conjunctural policies, in which luck and
virtue play an important part, but also medium- to long-
term policies, in which projects are deXned, attitudes
shaped, and institutionalism built. In this respect, the
editors are aware that this volume only tells—at most—
half the story, since one of the most important episodes
of this crisis is yet to unfold, namely, vaccination
management. For this process to yield results, not only
will it be necessary to invest a great deal of resources
and incur debt, but also vaccination must be allocated,
distributed and controlled in a fair, orderly and
transparent manner. In this phase, the capacity and
good practice of governments will be decisive.
Salvador Martí i Puig is a Professor of Political Science at the

University of Girona (UdG) and a research associate at CIDOB-
Barcelona. He has written on Latin American politics in general,
particularly about Central America and Mexico. He has been an
invited professor and researcher at universities in Latin America,
Europe and the United States.
Salvador Martí i Puig, profesor de Ciencia Política de la

Universidad de Girona (UdG) e investigador asociado del CIDOB-
Barcelona, ha investigado y escrito sobre política latinoamericana
en general y, en especial, sobre Centroamérica y México. Ha sido
profesor e investigador invitado en Universidades de América
Latina, Europa y Estados Unidos.
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A Reflection on the Impact of Covid-19 in Latin America | ReVista 25/05/2021, 00:06

Spotlight: Eyes on COVID-19 - COVID January 2021

Read English Version

Leer Versión en Español

These photos are from the exhibit “Documenting the Impact

The exhibition, based on an Open Call for Photography

A worker of the new area of the Nossa Senhora Aparecida

At the beginning of April 2020, in the middle of

We were soon joined by other colleagues in this

a book written thanks to the participation of a team of

With this book, we have set out to understand the social

We begin the book by noting that the pandemic

On the other hand, at a political level, we could say that

Keeping this context in mind, this book tries to give

Population size and density

State capacity in general and the existence (or not) of

Percentage of people working in the informal sector

Degree of civic maturity

Type and quality of leadership

Type of crisis management policies, the capacity to

Capacity to close national borders and reduce trabc

CUBA. Photo by David Estrada Rodríguez

As we can see, the variety of cases for each country is

Mexico and Brazil—and which serve as human

As for contextual factors, infrastructural state capacity

The above has obvious consequences for the Covid-19

Displaced migrants on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Photo by

These factors, together with the political culture in each

order to do just the opposite.

Another issue is decision-making linked to

Also noteworthy is that public policies promoted by

distancing. Ultimately, these measures have been

However, in the face of a pandemic another question is

5 av Manuel Montt CHILE. Photo by Luis Weinstein

People who occupy the poorest strata in society have

In contrast, the middle classes have taken more

precautions with the pandemic because they have the

Hence, we can understand how in Mexico, despite the

As a friend living in Lima told me a few days ago,

Yet, this book points out that policies are important,

Salvador Martí i Puig is a Professor of Political Science at the

Salvador Martí i Puig, profesor de Ciencia Política de la

Latina, Europa y Estados Unidos.

The Endurance The Challenges O Estrangeiro

Home Current Issue Arts and Humanities

About Spotlights Business and Economics

Contact Student Views Culture

Subscribe Book Reviews Film and TV

Past Issues Food

Public Health and Medicine

Public Policy and Governance

Science and the Environment

You might also like