Peeling back the curtain of Covid-19 in Latin America

Due to the pandemic, many have forgotten the social upheaval that shook Latin America in 2019. The causes of these agitations were multiple, however, all were rooted in poorly designed institutions that concentrate, rather than distribute, political and economic power between too few. The consequences of the turmoil were also multiple. The most serious, however, has been the deepening of the social legitimacy crisis. The most threatening pandemic in Latin America is public mistrust, not Covid-19. It’s irrelevant how large monetary transfers for the poorest will be, or how often the authorities will tout the necessity of adhering to the lockdown and social distancing. For most of its citizens, those are empty words coming from the powerful, “the usual suspects.” Now is time for prudence. Public squandering must be avoided. Populism must be chided. If these governments do not take urgent policies and send long-term reform messages to redistribute political and economic powers, the pandemic will not recede until it is too late.