COVID-19's political challenges in Latin America (Latin American Societies)

This book analyzes how COVID-19 impacted politics and how politics shaped the response to the pandemic in Latin America, the region which has become the epicenter of the global health crisis started in China. The volume brings together studies carried out in eight countries of the region – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Uruguay – and show how the impacts and outcomes varied a lot across the region depending on the political processes under way in each country in the years preceding the pandemic and on the political responses adopted by each government to deal with the health crisis. The volume is divided into four parts, each one dedicated to a specific dimension of the relation between politics and COVID-19 in Latin America. The first part is dedicated to denialism, and presents three case studies of governments that denied the importance of the health crisis: Brazil, Mexico and Nicaragua. The second part takes Uruguay and Colombia as two opposite examples of successful and failed state action against COVID-19. The third part analyzes how social movements faced the pandemic in Brazil and Chile. Finally, the fourth part analyzes how public opinion reacted to political responses to COVID-19 in four countries: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico. COVID-19's Political Challenges in Latin America will be a valuable resource for political scientists, sociologists and other social scientists interested in understanding how the pandemic affected politics and how politics affected the fight against the biggest health crisis faced by humanity in the last hundred years. COVID-19's political challenges in Latin America Copyright Contents Contributors Chapter 1: What Are the Political Challenges of COVID-19 in Latin America? Part I: The Deniers Chapter 2: Brazilian Response to Covid-19: Polarization and Conflict 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Bolsonaro: “The Negationist” 2.3 Pandemic Wars: The Role of Governors and Mayors 2.4 Popular Views on the Pandemic 2.5 Conclusion References Chapter 3: Mexico in the Face of Covid-19: In-Between Actions and Inefficiency 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Mexico’s Experience in the Face of the Pandemic 3.3 Mexico’s Reaction to the Covid-19: Lesson Learned? 3.4 Mexico: The Best of the Worst 3.5 AMLO and Covid-19: Do What I Say But Do Not Do What I Do 3.6 Conclusions References Chapter 4: Nicaragua: Denying the Health Crisis and the Political Crisis 4.1 The Political Crisis Has Conditioned the Health Crisis 4.2 Government Management of the Pandemic: Communications and Policies or Lack Thereof 4.3 Critical Voices from Civil Society and the Opposition 4.4 Conclusion References Part II: State Action During COVID-19 Pandemic Chapter 5: Managing the Pandemic in Colombia: Between the Immediate Response and the Structural Consequences 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The Pandemic in Colombia 5.3 The National Government’s Response to the Pandemic 5.3.1 Sanitary Measures 5.3.2 Economic-Administrative Measures 5.4 Institutional Political Effects of the Government’s Response 5.4.1 The Accumulation of Presidential Power and Its Relations with the Legislature 5.4.2 Individual Freedoms and Human Rights 5.4.3 The President’s Leadership 5.5 Conclusions References Chapter 6: The Uruguayan State’s Structure and the Management of the Pandemic 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The Evolution of the Pandemic in Uruguay 6.3 Uruguay Before the Pandemic 6.3.1 Political Context: Political Alternation 6.3.2 Socioeconomic Context 6.4 State Structure and Governmental Policies to Confront the Pandemic 6.4.1 “Responsible Freedom”: The GACH and the Coronavirus Fund 6.4.2 Health System 6.4.3 Labor Market, Social Security, and Social Assistance 6.4.4 Education 6.5 Final Remarks: The Government and the State During the Pandemic References Part III: Social Movements and Pandemic Chapter 7: Solidarity During the Pandemic in Brazil: Creative Recombinations in Social Movement Frames and Repertoires 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Frames, Repertoire, and Creative Action 7.3 From the Struggle Against Hunger to Grassroots Communication 7.4 Creativity and the Bricolage in Collective Action Repertoires 7.5 Creatively Connecting Frames 7.6 Conclusions References Chapter 8: Transformative Events and Collective Action in Chile During the Covid-19 Pandemic 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Closing a Country 8.3 Transformative Events and Collective Protest: Tracking Changes Across Time 8.4 Social Movements During the Pandemic 8.4.1 Workers: New Challenges and Grievances 8.4.2 The Demobilization of Students 8.5 Collective Action Beyond Social Movements 8.5.1 Pandemic and Survival Protests 8.6 Southern Mobilizations 8.7 Soup Kitchens and Solidary Campaigns 8.8 Conclusions References Part IV: Public Opinion and Pandemic Chapter 9: Presidential Approval During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Argentina 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Political and Economic Context 9.3 The Management of the Pandemic and Presidential Approval 9.3.1 The Response to the Irregular Territorial Distribution of Cases: ASPO and DISPO 9.3.2 Health vs. Economy 9.3.3 Vaccines 9.4 Lights and Shadows of the Argentine Strategy Against the Coronavirus 9.5 Conclusion References Chapter 10: Identity Versus Fear of Death: Political Polarization Under the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil 10.1 Fueling Identity Connections But Losing the Grasp on Political Right 10.2 Methodology 10.2.1 First Round of Opinion Poll 10.2.2 Second Round: Conjoint Analysis 10.3 Results: A Divided Political Right 10.4 Conclusions References Chapter 11: Between Pessimism and Mistrust: Ecuadorian Attitudes in the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Before the Pandemic: Political Ruptures, Economic Recession, and Social Unrest 11.3 The Effects of the Pandemic’s First Year. Ecuadorians’ Attitudes and Well-Being 11.4 Ecuadorians’ Evaluation of the Government and the Legislature During the Pandemic 11.5 Ecuadorians’ Attitudes and Expectations for the 2021 General Elections 11.6 Conclusion References Chapter 12: “For the Sake of All, the Poor First”: COVID-19, Mañaneras, and the Popularity of the Mexican President 12.1 Introduction 12.2 The Health Crisis 12.3 Chronicle of Announced Deaths 12.4 The Economic Crisis 12.5 AMLO Popularity 12.6 Reasons Behind AMLO’s Popularity 12.7 The Crisis of the Debate on Public Affairs: The Morning Conferences 12.8 Conclusion References Chapter 13: Comparing Cases to Understand the Political Challenges of COVID-19 in Latin America Index