Political uproar continued in Brazil following the resignation on April 24, 2020, of Sergio Moro, the notorious anti-corruption crusader and Minister of Justice. Moro left his post complaining of “political interference” from President Bolsonaro, who fired Mauricio Valeixo, the federal police chief. Moro stressed that he could not do his job without “autonomy,” and his

On April 16, 2020, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro fired his Minister of Health, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, after weeks of clashes regarding the need for social distancing to combat Covid-19. Soon thereafter, on April 19, Bolsonaro attended a public rally in front of the main army headquarters in Brasilia and attacked lockdown measures meant to fight

In the second week of April, 2020, Brazilian President Bolsonaro continued to argue that the main challenge for Brazil is the economy and ensuring jobs, while downplaying the threat of coronavirus as a “mild flu.” He flouted rules for social distancing and feuded with his minister of health, despite evidence that a large majority of

In early April 2020, the disturbing sight of abandoned cadavers in the streets of Guayaquil traumatized Latin Americans as pictures and videos went viral around the region. Local authorities struggled to address the crisis, generated by the explosive spread of the Covid-19 virus in Ecuador, while the families of the dead expressed their grief, anguish,

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