Pending protests from 2019 forecast in Latin America after COVID19 crisis
The nearest perception for this forecast is that protests will reactivate with a much stronger intensity. Before the COVID19 crisis Latin America lived numerous social outbreaks(Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile that had to suddenly come to a standstill due to mandatory quarantines and fear to get infected.
The pandemic has increased the list of reasons to protest for in Latin America and what is worse is that most of the protest reasons since 2019 haven’t been resolved and governments were saved by the bell when COVID19 suddenly arrived….but they cannot escape from the reality of a social breakdown that will explode sooner or later.
This revival tendency of protests could be replicated in countries like Mexico and Brazil. The economic crisis in many countries of Latin America i will be because of the subsidies that governments have been giving to different organizations so that these can survive the crisis. Once the crisis is over, this subsidies will end and most citizens wont have the money to buy, affecting the economic flow of the country.
Post Covid19 Travel Prevention Measures
The pandemic has aggravated socioeconomic problems, especially among sectors of the population that depend of informal economy. This aspect only intensifies the representativeness crisis behind most of the 2019 protests. Endless continuation of governments is one of the most common triggers to protests in Latin America.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the most critical situations:
Ecuador
What triggered the first wave of protests in this country was the government’s decision to end with fuel subsidies. The government was starting its last year facing several economic crisis and the pandemic arrived…Guayaquil was severely hit.
In Quito quarantines were not an obstacle for protesters to stay hidden: undergraduate students, government employees and some corruption cases.
At the same time, the approach of presidential elections has created a positive atmosphere among Ecuadorians, as it can be the beginning of the social and economic crisis healing.
Bolivia
A visible political polarization is present in Bolivia among the pandemic after presidential elections in October 2019, which was the main trigger of the wave of protests in that country due to questionable results.
Also, the present sanitary crisis has also detonated some protests during the COVID19 crisis.
Concerns of Latin America in times of COVID19
Chile
Here also the pandemic paralyzed the intense manifestations that started on October 2019. Today the crisis generated by COVID19 confirm the demands that inspired them: unemployment, very low salaries and food shortage among others.
Manifestations are impossible right now as the whole country remains in quarantine, but some protests have been reactivated in The Comunas demanding food and economic support from the government. People are starving due to the extremely strict restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
Colombia
Regarding political matters the pandemic was a relief for President Duque.
Although today only two sectors maintain their demands: teachers and war victims, this is only transitory because as soon as the quarantines are over the country will face the worst social and economic crisis of its history.
Also, the murder of social leaders and the limited implementation of the peace agreements are both agendas that are pending and have intensified during the pandemic.