Paraguay – Evening Report https://eveningreport.nz Independent Analysis and Reportage Fri, 09 Oct 2020 21:13:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://eveningreport.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/cropped-MIL-round-logo-300-copy-1-32x32.png Paraguay – Evening Report https://eveningreport.nz 32 32 Paraguay marred by violence at home and uncertain foreign policy abroad   https://eveningreport.nz/2020/10/09/paraguay-marred-by-violence-at-home-and-uncertain-foreign-policy-abroad/ Thu, 08 Oct 2020 23:18:24 +0000 https://eveningreport.nz/?p=436340 Read more]]> Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage

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By Peter M. Tase
From Asunción, Paraguay

Landlocked, hit by wildfires, engulfed in a prolonged rainfall shortage and drought, and with its people succumbed into malnourishment, the Republic of Paraguay under the leadership of Mario Abdo Benítez is confronted with an overwhelming number of middle income families that have miserably slipped into extreme poverty. The government has garnered a negative image in the region and throughout the world as a consequence of the corrupt justice system with discredited Supreme Court Judges, violations of human rights and chaotic execution of Paraguay’s foreign policy. President Abdo Benítez has shown poor leadership as his administration scrambled to implement a clumsy strategy that has fallen woefully short in its duty to accomplish equal employment opportunities, improve public works, fight corruption and keep his campaign promises for economic growth and encourage a transparent judiciary.[1]

Horrible crime against two girls

On September 2nd, 2020, Lilian Mariana Villalba and María Carmen Villalba, of Argentinean nationality, were both 11 years old when killed by members of Paraguay’s Joined Task Force (Fuerza de Tarea Conjunta, or FTC in Spanish) in Yby Yaú (northern Paraguay).[2]  Once again the FTC, a military division of Paraguayan Armed Forces, has shown a total fiasco in its pursuit of bringing members of self-declared Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) before justice.  According to various sources, the two girls were captured alive, tortured, executed, and were allegedly dressed in a military uniform after being killed.[3]

Due to these atrocious acts, the Regional Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has requested President Abdo Benitez’s Government to urgently investigate the killing of the two Argentinian girls.[4]

These reckless acts, committed by FTC, have caused a deeply ingrained crisis in Asuncion’s bilateral relations with Buenos Aires. Various members of the Argentine National Congress, at the Chamber of Deputies, have requested a thorough forensic investigation of the two victims, while the Paraguayan president ordered the girls’ immediate interring right after their chilling execution.[5]

A notorious political kidnapping

On Wednesday, September 9th, 2020,  Óscar Denis, 74 years old, former vice-president of Paraguay (2012-2013), was kidnapped, together with his driver Adelio Mendoza[6], by the EPP rebel group.  Denis is allegedly believed to be dead as he was an insulin dependent and suffered from heart disease. Óscar Denis was kidnapped while working in his farm, located six miles from Yby Yaú, the site where the two Argentinian girls were killed. On Monday September 14th, Adelio Mendoza was liberated by his abductors.[7]

The current physical state of  Denis –still abducted– is kept under a mysterious veil of silence, while President Abdo is hushing political corridors because the former VPs apparent and highly publicised death could have grave political consequences for his presidency.[8]

High Judges involved in corruption

Benitez’s foreign policy implementation and Paraguay’s deteriorated image abroad are also affected by a high level of corruption in the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ). Its president Alberto Joaquín Martínez Simón has recently been alleged to be involved in a weapons’ trafficking scheme[9]; and Minister Federico Alberto González Franco, the president’s international affairs adviser is accused of trying to cover up the killing of the two Argentinian girls.

Martínez Simón is a member of an infamous masonic lodge named Gran Logia Simbólica del Paraguay, heavily exercising impunity in favor of his members, while illegally persecuting and purging highly qualified attorneys such as Dr. Jimmy Alberto Pàez Giret and other lawyers with high integrity, trained in Germany and the United States.[10]

Strategy against Venezuelan government

Venezuela is another sad chapter in Paraguay’s Foreign Policy; on January 10th, 2019 President Mario Abdo Benítez announced the termination of diplomatic relations with Venezuela and ordered the closure of the Paraguayan Embassy in Caracas.[11] These actions were taken immediately after President Nicolás Maduro was elected for a new term in May 2018.[12]

Later on Abdo Benítez (April 30th, 2019), called upon “the brave people of Venezuela to rise and defend democracy”, part of a deep political irony since more than four hundred thousand Paraguayan citizens have fallen into poverty in just 2 years.[13]

Acute poverty is not being addressed

Various international economists have argued that Abdo Benítez’s administration hampers the development of a sustainable democracy, allowing for corruption to proliferate.  For over two years the Paraguayan President has not shown any proclivity to reduce poverty levels in his country. This reflects a disturbing logic of Foreign Policy tenets and is only focused on amassing personal wealth at the detriment of his countrymen, as several media reports demonstrate.  While Benítez heavily criticizes Venezuela, Asunción today is in a dire condition[14] as it pertains to a deteriorated public order,[15] abysmal levels of poverty, organized crime[16] presence and deteriorated urban infrastructure, poorly structured residential neighborhoods or favella type homes, and a massively crowded prison system. Asunción’s poverty stricken Chacarita neighborhood can even be appreciated from the office windows of the Paraguayan head of state.   Under these circumstances there is rising doubt about whether President Abdo Benítez will be able to complete his constitutional mandate anticipated to end in August 2023.[17]  President Abdo Benítez is surrounded by corrupt members in the Council of Ministers and his weak leadership was openly displayed over the period of May – August 2019, in mishandling the ITAIPU Binacional treaty with the Government of Brazil; an imbroglio that almost caused him the presidency.[18] On this occasion President Benítez is alleged to have secretly allowed his close associates to conduct a murky energy sale deal pertaining to the fifty percent of electrical energy surplus produced by ITAIPU that belongs to Paraguay, a disingenuous bilateral negotiation valued at USD300 million, that is sold annually to the Brazilian industrial market for dirt cheap in exchange of underhand tactics and briberies that would solely benefit a few of his cronies.
In July 2019, President Abdo Benítez was saved from an overwhelming political impeachment by his long time political adversary and predecessor Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara,[19] currently the leader of Honor Colorado Movement within the Colorado Party (ANR). Meanwhile Benítez has yet almost three years to govern his country and his life saving vests are becoming ever more scarce [20] as in recent months his cronies[21] have succumbed to new corruption scandals and are testing[22] the patience of the Paraguayan people and certainly Paraguay’s national legislators are almost fed up.[23]

Peter Tase is a writer and foreign affairs scholar focused on Latin American countries, Europe and the Southern Caucasus region. More Information about Mr. Tase can be found here and here. 

[Credit Photo: President of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, meeting with Donald Trump in 2019. Open license, White House]

End notes

[1] “Periodistas reclaman transparencia a la Corte Suprema de Justicia”,  https://www.adndigital.com.py/periodistas-reclaman-transparencia-a-la-corte-suprema-de-justicia/
“Lilian Samaniego critica actitud del canciller”, https://www.lanacion.com.py/politica_edicion_impresa/2019/12/18/lilian-samaniego-critica-actitud-del-canciller/
“Incendios no cesan y bomberos ya no dan abasto”, https://independiente.com.py/solicitaran-ayuda-internacional-para-combatir-incendios/
“Existen desconfianza, corrupción y deudas a dos años de gobierno”, https://www.ultimahora.com/existen-desconfianza-corrupcion-y-deudas-dos-anos-gobierno-n2899922.html

[2] “La ONU exigió a Paraguay que esclarezca el asesinato de dos niñas argentinas en operativo contra el EPP” https://misionesonline.net/2020/09/06/la-onu-exigio-a-paraguay-que-esclarezca-el-asesinato-de-dos-ninas-argentinas-en-operativo-contra-el-epp/
“Abuela: “Mataron a dos niñas y no saben cómo salir de la situación””, https://www.ultimahora.com/abuela-mataron-dos-ninas-y-no-saben-como-salir-la-situacion-n2903527.html
“Paraguay: mataron a dos niñas argentinas en un enfrentamiento con guerrilleros”, https://www.lanacion.com.ar/seguridad/paraguay-mataron-dos-ninas-argentinas-enfrentamiento-guerrilleros-nid2440913
“Gremial de abogados de Argentina dice que niñas asesinadas vinieron “de visita” y culpan al gobierno”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2020/09/03/gremial-de-abogados-de-argentina-dice-que-ninas-asesinadas-vinieron-de-visita-y-culpan-al-gobierno/
“Denuncian que dos niñas argentinas de 11 años fueron asesinadas por el ejército paraguayo”, https://www.pagina12.com.ar/289964-denuncian-que-dos-ninas-argentinas-de-11-anos-fueron-asesina

[3] “Abatidas son hijas de líderes del grupo, según parientes”, https://www.ultimahora.com/abatidas-son-hijas-lideres-del-grupo-segun-parientes-n2903139.html

[4] “Gobierno niega un “ajusticiamiento” tras muerte de niñas en operativo de la FTC”, https://www.ultimahora.com/gobierno-niega-un-ajusticiamiento-muerte-ninas-operativo-la-ftc-n2903218.html
“Cancillería toma “con sorpresa” reclamo y responde a Argentina sobre muerte de niñas”, https://www.ultimahora.com/cancilleria-toma-con-sorpresa-reclamo-y-responde-argentina-muerte-ninas-n2903288.html

[5] “Niñas de 11 años fueron ejecutadas por el Gobierno”, denuncia abogada”, https://www.ultimahora.com/ninas-11-anos-fueron-ejecutadas-el-gobierno-denuncia-abogada-n2903119.html

“El Estado paraguayo ejecutó a dos niñas argentinas”, https://notasperiodismopopular.com.ar/2020/09/06/el-estado-paraguayo-ejecuto-a-dos-ninas-argentinas/

[6] “Paraguayans call for release of kidnapped ex-VP Óscar Denis”, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54147237?intlink_from_url=&link_location=live-reporting-story

[7] “EPP libera a Adelio Mendoza, secuestrado junto a Óscar Denis”,  https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2020/09/14/liberan-a-adelio-mendoza-secuestrado-junto-a-oscar-denis/

[8] “Asesor colombiano dice que el EPP busca rédito político con secuestro de Óscar Denis”, https://www.ultimahora.com/asesor-colombiano-dice-que-el-epp-busca-redito-politico-secuestro-oscar-denis-n2905988.html
“Paraguay terrorists linked to former prelate”, https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/paraguay-terrorists-linked-to-former-prelate

[9] “Cuñado de ministro trato de evitar juicio, pero Fiscalía respondió a recusación”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2020/01/07/cunado-de-ministro-vuelve-a-chicanear-para-evitar-juicio-por-trafico-de-armas/
“Una chicana más del cuñado del ministro Martínez Simón”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2020/02/07/una-chicana-mas-del-cunado-del-ministro-martinez-simon/
“A un mes de extinguirse causa por tráfico de armas, cuñado de ministro de la Corte volvió a chicanear el proceso”, https://www.adndigital.com.py/a-un-mes-de-extinguirse-causa-por-trafico-de-armas-cunado-de-ministro-de-la-corte-volvio-a-chicanear-el-proceso/
“Nueva recusación en caso tráfico de armas”, https://www.judiciales.net/2020/01/15/nueva-recusacion-en-caso-trafico-de-armas/

[10] “Masones realizarán su primer congreso abierto a la sociedad”, https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/locales/2019/09/30/masones-realizaran-su-primer-congreso-abierto-a-la-sociedad/
“Dr. Jimmy Alberto Pàez Giret: Victima de la Persecución y Discriminación en el Paraguay”, https://eurasiahoy.com/25092020-dr-jimmy-alberto-paez-giret-victima-de-la-persecucion-y-discriminacion-en-el-paraguay/
“Ex diputado pide que masones se aparten de Corte”, https://www.ultimahora.com/ex-diputado-pide-que-masones-se-aparten-corte-n2890904.html

[11] “Outcry from Israel after Paraguay moves its Jerusalem embassy back to Tel Aviv”,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/05/paraguay-jerusalem-embassy-moves-to-tel-aviv
“Israel closing embassy in Paraguay in response to return of mission to Tel Aviv”, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-paraguay-israel-netanyahu/israel-closing-embassy-in-paraguay-in-response-to-return-of-mission-to-tel-aviv-idUSKCN1LL2KG

[12] “Venezuela cierra sede de embajada en Paraguay”, https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/politica/venezuela-cierra-sede-de-embajada-en-paraguay-1780452.html
“Paraguay breaks relations with Venezuela on the day of the Maduro’s takeover”, https://en.mercopress.com/2019/01/10/paraguay-breaks-relations-with-venezuela-on-the-day-of-the-maduro-s-takeover

[13] “Abdo alienta al “valiente pueblo de Venezuela””, https://www.abc.com.py/internacionales/mario-abdoalienta-al-valiente-pueblo-de-venezuela-1809720.html

[14] “Estiman que línea de pobreza llegaría al 30% y afectaría a 2 millones de compatriotas”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2020/09/07/estiman-que-linea-de-pobreza-llegaria-al-30-y-afectaria-a-2-millones-de-compatriotas/

[15] “El imperio de la delincuencia”, https://www.abc.com.py/especiales/fin-de-semana/el-imperio-de-la-delincuencia-1662096.html

[16] “El imperio de la delincuencia”, https://www.abc.com.py/especiales/fin-de-semana/el-imperio-de-la-delincuencia-1662096.html
“Crimen organizado avanza en todo el país ante corrupción e inacción”, https://www.ultimahora.com/crimen-organizado-avanza-todo-el-pais-corrupcion-e-inaccion-n2843890.html

[17] “Violence intensifies in Paraguay after ex-vice-president kidnapped”, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/15/former-paraguay-vice-president-oscar-denis-kidnapped-amid-conflict-between-guerrillas-and-military

[18] “Itaipú: renunció el primer entreguista”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2019/07/29/hugo-saguier-renuncio-a-su-cargo-de-embajador/
“Pacto entreguista: Abdo aceptó las cuatro renuncias”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2019/07/29/pacto-entreguista-abdo-acepto-las-cuatro-renuncias/
“Polémica acta sobre Itaipú pone en el ojo de la tormenta a Hugo Velázquez”, https://www.ultimahora.com/polemica-acta-itaipu-pone-el-ojo-la-tormenta-hugo-velazquez-n2835142.html
“Ferreira: entreguistas aún esperan instrucción de Brasil y habrá consecuencias este verano”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2019/09/04/nueva-version-de-joselo-es-para-armar-nueva-historia-dice-pedro-ferreira/
“Luis Castiglioni retomó su banca en el Senado”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2019/08/20/luis-castiglioni-retomo-su-banca-en-el-senado/
“El libreto de la continuidad en Itaipú”,  https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/suplementos/economico/2020/08/30/el-libreto-de-la-continuidad-en-itaipu/
“El Vice gestionó acuerdo a favor de presunto negocio de Bolsonaro”, https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/politica/2019/07/31/el-vice-gestiono-acuerdo-a-favor-de-presunto-negocio-de-bolsonaro/
“Del pacto secreto en Itaipú al juicio político: entreguistas, antipatriotas y un frágil gobierno”, https://www.abc.com.py/especiales/anuario-2019/2019/12/16/del-pacto-secreto-en-itaipu-al-juicio-politico-entreguistas-antipatriotas-y-un-fragil-gobierno/
“HC salva a Abdo Benítez: Cartismo no acompañará el juicio político”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2019/08/06/hc-salva-a-abdo-cartismo-no-acompanara-juicio-politico/

[19] “Cartes ratifica apoyo a Abdo y lo salva del juicio político”, https://www.ultimahora.com/cartes-ratifica-apoyo-abdo-y-lo-salva-del-juicio-politico-n2836448.html
“Oposición presenta pedido de juicio político y cartistas frustran intención”,  https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/politica/2019/08/07/oposicion-presenta-pedido-de-juicio-politico-y-cartistas-frustran-intencion/
“Paraguay: un pacto con el expresidente Cartes salva a Abdo del juicio político”, https://www.nodal.am/2019/08/paraguay-un-pacto-con-el-expresidente-cartes-salva-a-abdo-del-juicio-politico/

“Cartes ratifica apoyo a Abdo y lo salva del juicio político”, https://www.aps.org.py/en/cartes-ratifica-apoyo-a-abdo-y-lo-salva-del-juicio-politico/

[20] “Mario Abdo cumple dos años de gobierno y diversos sectores exponen sus falencias”, https://www.ultimahora.com/mario-abdo-cumple-dos-anos-gobierno-y-diversos-sectores-exponen-sus-falencias-n2899951.html
“La corrupción, el virus más letal que enfrenta el Gobierno de Marito”, https://www.ultimahora.com/la-corrupcion-el-virus-mas-letal-que-enfrenta-el-gobierno-marito-n2882060.html

[21] “Senado dilata el tratamiento de desafuero de Rodolfo Friedmann” https://www.ultimahora.com/senado-dilata-el-tratamiento-desafuero-rodolfo-friedmann-n2903062.html
“Rodolfo Friedmann renuncia al MAG tras ser imputado por la Fiscalía”,  https://www.ultimahora.com/rodolfo-friedmann-renuncia-al-mag-ser-imputado-la-fiscalia-n2902564.html
“Samudio renunció a Petropar ante sospechas de corrupción”, https://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2020/04/22/patricia-samudio-renuncio-a-petropar-ante-sospechas-de-corrupcion/

[22] “Lilian Samaniego declara la guerra al canciller nacional”, https://www.ultimahora.com/lilian-samaniego-declara-la-guerra-al-canciller-nacional-n2860897.html
“Senadora denuncia nepotismo en concurso diplomático”, https://cdn-www.lanacionpy.arcpublishing.com/politica/2020/10/02/senadora-denuncia-nepotismo-en-concurso-diplomatico/
“Aguardan destitución del canciller”, https://www.liliansamaniego.com.py/noticias/aguardan-destitucion-del-canciller

[23] “Paraguay’s Curuguaty Case: Forgotten Murders, A Botched Trial, and A Broken Justice System”, https://www.coha.org/paraguays-curuguaty-case-forgotten-murders-a-botched-trial-and-a-broken-justice-system/
 “Afirman que la crítica situación de Abdo lo obliga a pactar con Cartes”, https://www.ultimahora.com/afirman-que-la-critica-situacion-abdo-lo-obliga-pactar-cartes-n2896276.html

“Donald Trump, President of Paraguay Mario Abdo Benítez discuss corruption, Venezuela”, https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/donald-trump-president-of-paraguay-discuss-corruption-venezuela/article30301500.ece
“Joshua Abreu – Yerno de Oro (Opinión)”, https://independiente.com.py/joshua-abreu-yerno-de-oro/
“Abdo afirma que solo en Asunción se lo critica”, https://www.lanacion.com.py/politica_edicion_impresa/2020/08/22/abdo-afirma-que-solo-en-asuncion-se-lo-critica/

]]> COVID-19 in Latin America: Growing Challenges in the World’s Most Unequal Region https://eveningreport.nz/2020/06/20/covid-19-in-latin-america-growing-challenges-in-the-worlds-most-unequal-region/ Fri, 19 Jun 2020 14:18:16 +0000 https://eveningreport.nz/?p=37054 Read more]]> Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage

By Rafael R. Ioris
From Denver, Colorado

Confirming what scientists had been saying for the last several years, a new global pandemic has brought the entire world to a halt in the last three months. The rapid spreading of a new form of Coronavirus, called COVID-19, stalled global commercial chains among countries and forced societies to find new ways to run business, educational systems, and even the very operations of political deliberation. Teleconferencing, online education, and zoom-based legislative sessions became the new normal and no one is certain of when things can go back to the dynamic before the pandemic. Mirroring these events, Latin America has now become the epicenter of the spreading of the new virus, especially in its largest countries, Brazil[1] and Mexico,[2] where contagion rates and death tolls are on the rise.

A continent historically plagued by weak and non-democratic political institutions and entrenched huge socio-economic inequalities, Latin America’s experiences with COVID-19 have been largely defined, very much along the situation unfolding in the US, by political inability and ideological polarization. And even though there are notable exceptions, these factors have mired the region’s ability to cope with the new challenges brought up by the rapid spread of the new virus.

In a general sense, size has mattered in the ways COVID-19 infection rates were manifested in Latin America. Several smaller countries, like Uruguay[3] and Paraguay,[4] managed to almost stop contagion with rigid border controls, something which tragically hardened some nationalist feelings present across the region prior to the arrival of COVID-19. Addition to these strategies, Nicaragua[5] had a different approach, keeping borders open so they could incentivize people coming through border controls and allow examinations by health authorities, something that seems to have been working well so far.

Counter-intuitively, larger countries, like Brazil, which usually possess better public health resources have fared more poorly though it is likely that things would have even worse were it not for institutions such as its Unified System of Public Health (SUS[6]). In effect, conversely to what is undergoing in Argentina,[7] a country with the region’s fourth largest population and where rigid stay-at-home policies were successfully implemented, and echoing events that also hindered the decision-making process in the US, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro at first denied the very threat posed by COVID-19 and then continued to undermine efforts promoted by their country’s important scientific, academic and public health professionals. Also in tandem with experiences of the United States, it is likely that Brazil’s federalist constitutional[8] framework helped minimize the impact of COVID-19 in the country as it allowed local governors to act more assertively in mandating stay-at-home policies Bolsonaro’s efforts to maintain commercial activities open, notwithstanding.

In any event, Brazil faces today its most challenging public health crisis. The country has recorded[9] at least 930,000 coronavirus cases, registered a death toll around 46,000, and displays the steepest curve of ascending cases in the world. Intensifying the regional challenges, a country where COVID-19 cases have taken a bit longer to gain momentum, Mexico now sees a rapid worsening of cases, having recorded[10] its worst week since the outbreak, both in confirmed cases (around 150,000) and deaths (around 18,000).

It should be noted that even though any nation with the social stratification existing in Latin America would equally face tremendous hurdles to attend to the many sanitary crises accentuated by the new coronavirus, the lack of efficient, coherent leadership and inclusive decision-making processes present in Latin American has certainly made things much worse. For one, stay-at-home policies could not be put in place in efficient ways since significant portions of workers simply could not afford to stop working in the streets since their very livelihood would thus be denied.

Regionally the informal sector[11] employs from a third to half of each country’s workforce and, especially where government economic aid was not forthcoming or was otherwise insufficient, it became extremely challenging to many not to venture outside in search of some form of remuneration or gain. Much in the same way, the halting of in-classroom education and its replacement for online education, though present across the region, impacted people differently depending on their socio-economic position. To be sure, the manifestation and especially the impacts of COVID-19 in Latin America varied according to people’s zip codes and racial composition. In effect, facing COVID-19 depended largely on one’s socio-economic reality,[12] i.e. one’s economic means, type of employment, educational background, place and type of residence, etc.

In short, being able to have access to online education, managing social or physical distancing, and following stay-at-home policies, all depended on one’s place in the entrenched stratified societies of Latin America. These challenges have been intensified by both the political fragmentation and economic slowdown most countries in the region faced prior to the arrival of COVID-19. Latin America’s political fragmentation[13] is today at its highest degree since the dawn of the 21st century and their most of the region’s domestic political arenas are largely defined by intense political polarization, which means that the anti-COVID-19 policies have been, in most places, mired in ideological disputes and conflicts. Coronavirus will also worsen the mediocre economic growth[14] most countries in the region have seen in the last five years, thus also intensifying existing regional economic disparities.

Adding to the many existing and growing challenges each country in the region faces, regional political coordination, such as the sharing of successful policies put in place in one country, has become a more difficult, though still a potentially important line of action. In fact, even though Latin America, particularly South America, has experienced its most promising period of regional cooperation in the first two decades of the 21st century, regional multilateralism has rapidly eroded in the last two years.

This was a process involving the coordination of US policies to the region in order to undermine rising levels of autonomy created by new regional agencies, such as UNASUR, including by resorting once again to turning the Organization of American States[15] into a diplomatic instrument for the promotion of US interests in the region. The arrival to power of Jair Bolsonaro and its policy of direct alignment[16] with the US has consolidated these new trends. In effect, deepening his xenophobic isolationism, and mimicking Trump’s views and policies, the Brazilian president has recently accused the World Health Organization of being an ideologically driven organization, from which Brazil could possibly withdraw in the near future.[17]

All in all, Latin America’s landscape in the context of the regional spread of COVID-19 is one defined by growing economic, social, sanitary, and political challenges. It is to be expected that heightened short-sighted nationalist views, deep political polarization, and entrenched economic inequalities will harden across the region, impacting more sharply and painfully historically marginalized social segments, such as afro-descendants and indigenous communities. Reversing these disheartening trends will take continued and asserted mobilization of broad sectors of all regional democratic forces. And it is very unfortunate therefore, that in such a challenging context, Latin America’s burgeoning experiences with regional cooperation in the last decade have been severely reversed in the last few years.[18]

Rafael R. Ioris is Associate Professor of Latin American History at the University of Denver.

Patricio Zamorano, Co-Director of COHA, contributed as Editor of this article

[Main photo-credit: Pixabay, open license]

End notes

[1] “Covid cases in Brazil,” https://www.google.com/search?q=covid+cases+in+brazil&rlz=1C1GCEJ_enUS891US891&oq=covid+cas&aqs=chrome.0.69i59l3j0l2j69i57j0l2.1440j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8.

[2] “Covid cases in Mexico,” https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEJ_enUS891US891&ei=vILiXr3ZEIrbtQar2puoBw&q=covid+cases+in+mexico&oq=covid+cases+in+mexico&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIFCAAQsQMyBQgAEIMBMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADoECAAQR1CLmwVYvqMFYJemBWgAcAF4AIABaYgBvQOSAQM1LjGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwi9p_W6vPrpAhWKbc0KHSvtBnUQ4dUDCAw&uact=5.

[3] “Uruguay quietly beats coronavirus, distinguishing itself from its South American neighbors – yet again,” https://theconversation.com/uruguay-quietly-beats-coronavirus-distinguishing-itself-from-its-south-american-neighbors-yet-again-140037.

[4] “Paraguay Closes Borders and Suspends Flights,” https://www.worldaware.com/covid-19-alert-paraguay-closes-borders-and-suspends-flights-through-april-12.

[5] “Nicaragua battles COVID-19 and a Disinformation Campaign,” http://www.coha.org/nicaragua-battles-covid-19-and-a-disinformation-campaign/.

[6] “While Brazil’s president fights social distancing, its public health system is fighting the pandemic,”  https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/05/04/while-brazils-president-fights-social-distancing-its-public-health-system-is-fighting-pandemic/.

[7] “How Argentina’s Strict Covid-19 Lockdown Saved Lives.” https://www.wired.com/story/how-argentinas-strict-covid-19-lockdown-saved-lives/.

[8] “Brazil’s President Still Insists the Coronavirus is Overblown. These Governors Are Fighting Back,” https://time.com/5816243/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-coronavirus-governors/.

[9] “Brazil: Coronavirus Cases,” https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/brazil/.

[10] “Mexico: Coronavirus Cases,” https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/mexico/.

[11] “It’s time to tackle the informal economy problem in Latin America,” https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/03/it-s-time-to-tackle-informal-economy-problem-latin-america/.

[12] “Covid-19 Exposes Latin America’s Inequality,” https://www.csis.org/analysis/covid-19-exposes-latin-americas-inequality.

[13] “Latin America: political change in volatile and uncertain times,” https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/latin-america-political-change-volatile-and-uncertain-times.

[14] “Latin America faces a second ‘lost decade’,” https://www.ft.com/content/07f0e09e-0795-11ea-9afa-d9e2401fa7ca.

[15] “How the Leader of OAS Became a Right-Wing Hawk – And Paved the Way For Bolivia’s Coup,”  https://inthesetimes.com/article/22181/oas-bolivia-coup-venezuela-maduro-trump-luis-almagro.

[16] “Brazil: From Global Leader to U.S. Follower,” https://fpif.org/brazil-from-global-leader-to-u-s-follower/.

[17] “Brazil could quit WHO, warns Bolsonaro,” https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/brazil-could-quit-who-warns-bolsonaro/article31768510.ece

[18] “Is Regional Cooperation Dead in Latin America?,” https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/is-regional-cooperation-dead-in-latin-america/.

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