“Inequality, densely packed cities, legions of informal workers and weak health care systems have undermined efforts to fight the pandemic, as some governments have fumbled the response.
The coronavirus was always going to hit Latin America hard. Even before it arrived, experts warned that the region’s combustible blend of inequality, densely packed cities, legions of informal workers living day-to-day and health care systems starved of resources could undermine even the best attempts to curb the pandemic.
But by brushing off the dangers, fumbling the response, dismissing scientific or expert guidance, withholding data and simply denying the extent of the outbreak altogether, some governments have made matters even worse.
In many ways, the faltering, scattershot approach to the pandemic in parts of Latin America resembles the disorganized approach in the United States — with some presidents in the region questioning how dangerous the virus is, championing unproven, baseless or even dangerous remedies, clashing bitterly with state governors and refusing to wear face masks in public.
And as the virus storms through Latin America, corruption has flourished, the already intense political polarization in some countries has deepened, and some governments have curtailed civil rights. In El Salvador, thousands of people have been rounded up, many for violating stay-at-home orders, despite the Supreme Court’s demands that the detentions end.
Economies already stretched thin before the virus lie on the precipice of ruin. Millions are out of work, with millions more at risk. The United Nations has said the pandemic could result in a drop of 5.3 percent in the regional economy — the worst in a century — forcing some 16 million people into extreme poverty.
In Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro spent months downplaying the threat of the virus — calling it a “measly flu” and railing against shutdowns imposed by governors — ....
In Mexico, where President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has suggested that a clean conscience helps ward off infection — ‘no lying, no stealing, no betraying, that helps a lot to not get coronavirus,’”
Does that sound like déjà vu or what? As the old saying goes, what goes around in the US comes around south of the border. Well, at least for bad stuff. Not so sure about good stuff.
Obrador: no lying, no stealing, no betraying
Trump: it's a democratic hoax, it will go away like magic, drink some bleach
Hm. Is Obrador is ahead of the president regarding COVID? Or, are they tied? Since the president is the world’s best negotiator and smartest stable genius with the best vocabulary, how could he not be ahead?
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