In the month after February 26, 2020, when the first case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in Brazil, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean set an erratic and uncoordinated series of courses. Their varying reactions and approaches were determined by their most senior leaders, in particular their heads of state. These leaders’ levels of

As the virus that causes Covid-19 spread across Latin America in late March 2020, most journalists and media outlets developed tunnel vision, and understandably so. They watched as many governments moved in a timely and prudent manner to confront the crisis, but also observed how several of the region’s largest countries were slow to mobilize,

In the second week of March 2020, Latin American countries slowly began stepping up measures to stem the advance of Covid-19, with many announcing restrictions on travelers from the worst-affected countries and shutting down major sports events. Yet the responses were far from uniform, with some governments taking the threat to their citizens much more

International Women’s Day, March 8, 2020, saw millions of women protesters march across Latin America. Of different ages and social statuses, they marched to demand an end to violence and femicide, call for social and economic equity, and promote sane environmental policies, among other things. In Mexico, it was followed by the “Día sin mujeres,”

On Sunday, March 1, 2020, Luis Lacalle Pou took the oath of office as president of Uruguay, demonstrating the business-as-usual nature of Uruguayan democracy. His incoming right-wing coalition and his Partido Nacional (PN) will replace the outgoing center-left government of the Frente Amplio, which has held the presidency for the last three terms. President Lacalle

During Brazil’s carnival parades of February 2020, protesters mocked and satirized what they call the increasingly authoritarian government of President Bolsonaro. Their themes of protest railed against the president’s racism, homophobia, religious intolerance, and attacks on the environment and on indigenous peoples, as well as violence and the militarization of the government. Commentators offered plenty

In mid-February 2020, news of two new femicides shocked Mexicans, and especially Mexican women. The murder, skinning, and dismemberment of 25-year-old Íngrid Escamilla, and the kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Fátima Cecilia Aldrighett, whose body was discovered in a plastic garbage bag in Mexico City’s Tlahuac neighborhood, convulsed the nation. Given that their killings are

On Sunday, February 9, 2020, President Nayib Bukele stormed into in El Salvador’s Congress, accompanied by dozens of soldiers with assault weapons. Entrusting himself to the alleged teachings of God, Bukele threatened the deputies there with a call to the people to mount an insurrection if the legislators would not pass his controversial loan plan

In early February 2020, Mexico continued to grapple with the thousands of Central Americans who are waiting at the U.S. border for some form of asylum, the thousands who are attempting to cross its territory, and the thousands more at its southern border who seek entry for asylum or right of transit. While migrants protest

On Sunday, January 26, 2020, Peru held a legislative election after President Martín Vizcarra used his constitutional power to dissolve Congress at the end of September 2019. The new Congress will finish out the five-year term of the previous Congress, ending in 2021. Vizcarra dissolved the legislative and called elections in a bid to end