Socioeconomic Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic in Latin America: Cases of Brazil and Mexico

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic, which emerged in December 2019, has swiftly affected the whole world. The virus appeared in Latin America at the end of February 2020 when Brazil reported the first case. The rapid increase of the cases in the region made Latin America the hotspot of the Covid-19 pandemic at the end of May 2020. The effects of the pandemic in Latin America have been very grave since the countries could not contain the surge of cases, while some leaders, like Brazilian President Bolsonaro, ignored the severity of the pandemic. The economic, social and political impacts as well as a high number of cases and death rates proved that Latin America is one of the most affected regions in the world. Hence, this study examines the effects of the pandemic in Brazil and Mexico, the former with the highest number of cases and deaths, and the latter with the highest mortality rate in the region as of September 15, 2020. Even though they are at different ends of the political spectrum, the populist right Bolsonaro government of Brazil and the populist left López Obrador government of Mexico have used similar discourses to downplay the pandemic and carried out similar unsuccessful policies regarding public health. Consequently, the assessment of various data showed that Brazil and Mexico, as more developed economies of the region, have been experiencing difficulties in coping with the pandemic and they have been negatively affected in terms of socioeconomic conditions.

Keywords

• Covid-19
• Brazil
• Mexico

Latin Amerika’da Covid-19 Pandemisinin Sosyoekonomik Etkileri: Brezilya ve Meksika Örnekleri

Abstract

Aralık 2019’da ortaya çıkan Covid-19 pandemisi hızlı bir şekilde tüm dünyayı etkisi altına almıştır. Virüs Latin Amerika’da ilk kez Şubat 2020 sonlarında görülmüş, ilk vakanın Brezilya’da bildirilmesinin ardından Covid-19 bölgenin diğer ülkelerine de sıçramıştır. Latin Amerika’da vakaların hızlı bir şekilde artması, bölgeyi Mayıs 2020 sonunda pandeminin o dönemdeki merkezi haline getirmiştir. Pandemi bölgede çok ciddi etkiler yaratırken, birçok Latin Amerika ülkesi virüsle mücadele etmekte yetersiz kalmış, Brezilya Devlet Başkanı Bolsonaro örneğinde görüldüğü üzere pandemiyi umursamayan liderler olmuştur. Bölge ülkelerinde görülen yüksek vaka sayıları ve ölüm oranlarının yanı sıra ekonomik, toplumsal ve siyasi etkiler nedeniyle Latin Amerika Covid-19’dan en fazla zarar gören bölgelerden biri olmuştur. Bu çalışmada, 15 Eylül 2020 tarihi itibariyle bölgede en fazla vaka ve ölüm sayısına sahip Brezilya’da ve en yüksek ölüm oranına sahip olan Meksika’da pandeminin etkileri araştırılmıştır. Brezilya’daki popülist sağ Bolsonaro hükümeti ve Meksika’daki popülist sol López Obrador hükümeti, siyasi yelpazenin farklı noktalarında yer almalarına karşın, Covid-19’u önemsiz göstermeyi amaçlayan benzer söylemleri kullanmışlar ve halk sağlığını koruma konusunda başarısız politikalar izlemişlerdir. Çalışmada kullanılan veriler değerlendirildiğinde, Latin Amerika’nın iki büyük ekonomisi olan Brezilya ve Meksika’nın pandemi ile mücadelede zorlandıkları ve bu süreçte özellikle sosyoekonomik açıdan olumsuz etkilendikleri görülmüştür.

Keywords

• Covid-19
• Brezilya
• Meksika

References

1. Agren, D. (2020a). Coronavirus advice from Mexico’s president: ‘Live life as usual’. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/coronavirus-advice-from-mexicos-president-live-life-as-usual
2. Agren, D. (2020b). Mexico flying blind as lack of Covid-19 testing mystifies experts. Retrived from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/24/mexico-covid-19-testing-coronavirus
3. Ahmed, P. A. and Villegas, P. (2018). López Obrador gana la presidencia de México con una victoria aplastante. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/es/2018/07/02/espanol/america-latina/eleccion-2018-amlo-lopez-obrador.html
4. Alvarado, E. (2008). Poverty and inequality in Mexico after NAFTA: Challenges, setbacks and implications. Estudios fronterizos, 9(17), 73-105. doi:10.21670/ref.2008.17.a03
5. Andrus, J. K., Evans-Gilbert, T., Santos, J. I., Guzman, M. G., Rosenthal, P. J., Toscano, C., … Breman, J. G. (2020). Perspectives on battling COVID-19 in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 103(2), 593–596. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.20-0571
6. Argentina Presidencia Ministerio de Salud. (2020). Reporte diario vespertino nro 370 situación de Covid-19 Argentina. Retrieved from https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/15-09-20-reporte-vespertino-covid-19.pdf
7. Banco Central Do Brasil. (2020). Economic outlook-inflation. Retrieved from https://www.bcb.gov.br/en BBC. (2020). Coronavirus: First Brazil death 'earlier than thought'. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52638352
8. Bedford, J., Enria, D., Giesecke, J., Heymann, D. L., Ihekweazu, C., Kobinger, G., … Wieler, L. H. (2020). COVID-19: towards controlling of a pandemic. The Lancet, 395(10229), 1015-1018. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30673-5

9. Blofield, M., Hoffmann, B. and Llanos, M. (2020). Assessing the political and social impact of the COVID-19 Crisis in Latin America. GIGA Focus | Latin America (3), 1-13. Retrieved from https://www.ssoar.info/
10. Bolivia Ministerio de Salud. (2020). Ministerio de Salud reporta 667 contagios nuevos de COVID-19 y el total sube a 128.286. Retrieved from https://www.minsalud.gob.bo/4616-ministerio-de-salud-reporta-667-contagios-nuevos-de-covid-19-y-el-total-sube-a-128-286
11. Burki, T. (2020). COVID-19 in Latin America several problems undermine the preparedness of countries in Latin America to face the spread of Covid. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 20(5), 547-548. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30303-0
12. Caicedo-Ochoa, Y., Rebellón-Sánchez, D. E., Peñaloza-Rallón, M., Cortés-Motta, H. F. and Méndez-Fandiño, Y. R. (2020). Effective reproductive number estimation for initial stage of COVID-19 pandemic in Latin American countries. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, (96), 316-318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.04.069
13. Castro, J. R. (2020). How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected Brazil's different regions?. Retrieved from https://labsnews.com/en/articles/society/how-has-the-covid-19-pandemic-affected-brazils-different-regions/
14. CDE. (2020). WHO says Latin America has become the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. Retrieved from https://cde.news/who-says-latin-america-has-become-the-epicentre-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
15. Central Intelligence Agency (2020b). The world factbook Mexico. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx.html
16. Central Intelligence Agency. (2020a). The world factbook Brazil. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html
17. Cimerman, S., Chebabob, A. and Rodríguez-Morales, C. A. (2020). Deep impact of COVID-19 in the healthcare of Latin America: The case of Brazil. The Brazilian Journal of Infection Diseases, 24(2), 93-95. doi:10.1016/j.bjid.2020.04.005
18. CNN Español. (2020). México reporta primera muerte por coronavirus. Retrieved from https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2020/03/19/secretaria-de-salud-de-mexico-reporta-primera-muerte-por-coronavirus/
19. CONEVAL. (t.y.). Multidimensional measurement of poverty in Mexico: An economic wellbeing and social rights approach. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional de Evoluacion de la Politica de Desarrollo Social. Retrieved from https://www.coneval.org.mx/InformesPublicaciones/FolletosInstitucionales/Documents/Multidimensional-Measurement-of-poverty-in-Mexico.pdf
20. Croda, J., Oliveira, W. K., Frutuoso, R. L., Mandetta, L. H., Baia-da-Silva, D. C., Brito-Sousa, J. D., ... Lacerda, M. V. (2020). COVID-19 in Brazil: advantages of a socialized unified health system and preparation to contain cases. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, (53), 1-6. doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0167-2020
21. De Souza, D. P. (2019). City of São Paulo has GDP of 4.3 thousand Brazilian municipalities together. Retrieved from https://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/en/agencia-news/2184-news-agency/news/26407-pib-da-cidade-de-sao-paulo-equivale-ao-da-soma-de-4-3-mil-municipios-brasileiros-2
22. Dellanna, A. (2020). Coronavirus: South America 'a new epicentre' of the pandemic, WHO says. Retrieved from https://www.euronews.com/2020/05/23/coronavirus-latin-america-a-new-epicentre-of-the-pandemic-who-says
23. Doğanyılmaz Duman, D. (2020). Popülist söylemin seçmen davranışlarına etkisi: Jair Bolsonaro'nun seçim kampanyasının incelenmesi. Uluslararası İktisadi ve İdari İncelemeler Dergisi, (27), 193-208. https://doi.org/10.18092/ulikidince.649520
24. DW. (2020). México ya es el tercer país con más muertos por COVID. Retrieved from https://www.dw.com/es/m%C3%A9xico-ya-es-el-tercer-pa%C3%ADs-con-m%C3%A1s-muertos-por-covid/a-54399918
25. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. (2020). Report on the economic impact of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on Latin America and the Caribbean. Retrieved from https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/45603/1/S2000312_en.pdf
26. Edwards, T. L. (2008). Brazil: A global studies handbook. California: ABC-CLIO.
27. El Tiempo. (2020). La crisis de los ministros en la era de Jair Bolsonaro en Brasil. Retrieved from https://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/por-que-han-renunciado-cuatro-ministros-al-gobierno-de-bolsonaro-en-brasil-509240
28. Embassy of Mexico United Kingdom. (t.y.). Colonial Mexico. Retrieved from https://embamex.sre.gob.mx/reinounido/images/stories/PDF/Meet_Mexico/9_meetmexico-colonialmexico.pdf
29. Emmerich, G. E. (2010). The state of democracy in Mexico. Norteamérica, 5(1), 247-285. https://doi.org/10.22201/cisan.24487228e.2010.01.17
30. Ersoy, G. ve Cantu Garza, L. (2019). Meksika. C. Uysal Oğuz, S. Atvur, R. İzol (Ed.), 21. Yüzyılda Latin Amerika: Siyaset, Ekonomi, Toplum içinde (s. 441-461). Ankara: Seçkin.
31. Estadísticas Venezuela. (2020). Estadísticas Venezuela. Retrieved from https://covid19.patria.org.ve/estadisticas-venezuela/
32. Euronews. (2020). El presidente de Brasil critica las medidas de prevención adoptadas en Sao Paulo y Río de Janeiro. Retrieved from https://es.euronews.com/2020/03/25/el-presidente-de-brasil-critica-las-medidas-de-prevencion-adoptadas-en-sao-paulo-y-rio-de
33. Felbab-Brown, V. (2020, March 30). AMLO’s feeble response to COVID-19 in Mexico [Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/03/30/amlos-feeble-response-to-covid-19-in-mexico/
34. Filho, J. B. and Horridge, M. J. (2006). Economic integration, poverty and regional inequality in Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Economia, 60(4), 363–387. doi:10.1590/S0034-71402006000400003
35. Foster, L. V. (2007). A brief history of Mexico. New York: Checkmark Books.
36. Gobierno de Mexico. (2020). AMLO. Retrieved from https://lopezobrador.org.mx
37. Hamilton, N. (2015). Mexico. In H. E. Vanden and G. Prevost (Eds.), Politics of Latin America: The power game (pp. 315-341). New York: Oxford University Press.
38. Hamnett, B. (2004). A concise history of Mexico. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
39. Horwitz, L., Nagovitch, P., Sonneland, H. K. and Zissis, C. (2020). The Coronavirus in Latin America. Retrieved from https://www.as-coa.org/articles/coronavirus-latin-america#argentina
40. Hunter, W. and Power, T. J. (2019). Bolsonaro and Brazil’s illiberal backlash. Journal of Democracy, 30(1), 68-82. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/
41. Index of Economic Freedom. (2020). Mexico. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/index/country/mexico
42. INEGI. (2020). Empleo y Ocupacion. Retrieved from https://www.inegi.org.mx/# Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica. (2020). São Paulo. Retrieved from https://www.ibge.gov.br/cidades-e-estados/sp/sao-paulo.html
43. Instituto Igarapé. (2020). Brazil’s Bolsonaro tests positive for Coronavirus. Retrieved from https://igarape.org.br/en/brazils-bolsonaro-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/
44. Investopedia. (2020). Countries by GDP. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/
45. Johns Hopkins University. (2020). Coronavirus research center. Retrieved from https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
46. Kirkwood, B. (2000). The history of Mexico. London: Greenwood Press.
47. Knight, A. (2008). Mexico, c. 1930-46. In L. Bethell (Ed.), Latin America since 1930: Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
48. KPMG. (2020). Brazil - Travel restrictions and other measures to confront COVID-19 crisis. Retrieved from https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/03/flash-alert-2020-119.html
49. Lotta, G., Wenham, C., Nunes, J. and Pimenta, D. N. (2020). Community health workers reveal COVID-19 disaster in Brazil. The Lancet, 396(10248), 365-366. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31521-X
50. Mahiroğulları, A. (2016). Askeri darbeler döneminden sivil demokrasi dönemine Brezilya’da sendikacılık. Sosyal Siyaset Konferansları, 70(1), 81-103. Erişim adresi: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/iusskd
51. Márquez, S. (2020). ¿Es populista López Obrador? Retrieved from https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/opinion/solange-marquez/es-populista-lopez-obrador
52. Meade, T. A. (2004). A brief history of Brazil. New York: Infobase Publishing.
53. Mendonça, R. F. and Lavalle, A. G. (2019). Brazil, 40 Years of struggles over political legitimacy through the lenses of representation. Representation, 55(3), 239-250. doi:10.1080/00344893.2019.1679241
54. Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social. (2020). CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19). Retrieved from https://www.minsalud.gov.co/salud/publica/PET/Paginas/Covid-19_copia.aspx
55. Ministerio de Salud. (2020). Reporte COVID-19 – martes 15 de septiembre 2020. Retrieved from https://www.minsal.cl/reporte-covid-19-martes-15-de-septiembre-2020/
56. Ministerio Salud de Pública. (2020). Coronavirus Covid-19. Retrieved from https://www.salud.gob.ec/coronavirus-covid-19/
57. Minsa. (2020). Casos confirmados por coronavirus Covid-19 ascienden a 744 400 en el Perú (Comunicado N°241). Retrieved from https://www.gob.pe/institucion/minsa/noticias/302869-minsa-casos-confirmados-por-coronavirus-covid-19-ascienden-a-744-400-en-el-peru-comunicado-n-241
58. Navarro, M. F. (2020). Esta es la estrategia de AMLO para no contagiarse de Covid-19, según López-Gatell. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com.mx/politica-estrategia-amlo-no-contagiarse-covid-19-lopez-gatell/
59. Newey, S. (2020). Latin America has become the epicentre of the Coronavirus pandemic, WHO says. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/latin-america-has-become-epicentre-coronavirus-pandemic-says/
60. Özdemir, M. (2020). Corona Virüsü Latin Amerika'da da Etkisini Arttırıyor. Erişim adresi: https://www.amerikaninsesi.com/a/corona-virusu-latin-amerikada-da-etkisini-arttiriyor/5354196.html
61. Panduro-Correa, V., Arteaga-Livias, K. and Rodríguez-Morales, A. J. (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and surgical recommendations in Latin America. The American Surgeon, 86(6), 596-598. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003134820927313
62. Peres, E. (2020). Brazil indigenous group celebrates 6 months without COVID-19. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/article/brazil-virus-outbreak-archive-0d03018fbfbc9a0e4acfb354b2a9c699.
63. Polat, Y. K. (2019). Brezilya. C. Uysal Oğuz, S. Atvur, R. İzol (Ed.), 21. Yüzyılda Latin Amerika: Siyaset, Ekonomi, Toplum içinde (s. 581-604). Ankara: Seçkin.
64. Rodrigues, G. M. (2019). ¿El Trump Del Trópico? Política exterior de ultraderecha en Brasil (Analisis Carolina). Retrieved from https://www.fundacioncarolina.es/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/AC-6.es_.pdf
65. Saad-Filho, A. and Boffo, M. (2020). The corruption of democracy: Corruption scandals, class alliances, and political authoritarianism in Brazil. Geoforum, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.02.003
66. Sakurai, S. N. and Menezes-Filho, N. (2011). Opportunistic and partisan election cycles in Brazil: New evidence at the municipal level. Public Choice, (148), 233–247. doi:10.1007/s11127-010-9654-1
67. Sauer, L. M. (2020). What is Coronavirus?. Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus
68. Scalzaretto, N. (2020). Brazil loses nearly 50,000 tourism companies amid pandemic. Retrieved from https://brazilian.report/coronavirus-brazil-live-blog/
69. Schwartz, S. B. (2010). The historiography of early modern Brazil. Oxford Handbooks Online. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195166217.013.0004
70. Secchi, L. (2016). Policy analysis in Brazil: A comparison of rationalist and argumentative approaches. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 18(1), 88-101. doi:10.1080/13876988.2015.1126972
71. Skidmore, T. E. and Smith, P. H. (2005). Modern Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press.
72. Skynews. (2020). Coronavirus: Brazil's president rejects COVID-19 as a 'little flu' and ignores distancing rules. Retrieved from https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-brazils-president-rejects-covid-19-as-a-little-flu-and-ignores-distancing-rules-11971799
73. Soares, S., Souza, L. D. and Silva, W. J. (2016). Poverty profile: The rural North and Northeast regions of Brazil (Working Paper 138). Retrieved from https://ipcig.org/pub/eng/PRB50_Poverty_profile_the_rural_North_Northeast_regions_of_Brazil.pdf
74. Suárez, V., Quezada, M. S., Ruiz, S. O. and De Jesús, E. R. (2020). Epidemiology of COVID-19 in Mexico: from the 27th of February to the 30th of April 2020. Revista Clínica Española, 220(8), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rce.2020.05.007
75. T. C. Ticaret Bakanlığı. (2020). Meksika ekonomisi 2020 yılının ilk çeyreğinde yıllık bazda %2,4 küçüldü. Retrieved from https://ticaret.gov.tr/blog/ulkelerden-ticari-haberler/meksika/meksika-ekonomisi-2020-yilinin-ilk-ceyreginde-yillik-bazda-2-4-kuculdu
76. Tekin, S. (2017). Latin Amerika'da muhafazakârlık ve dış politika: Brezilya örneği. Muhafazakâr Düşünce, 14(51), 83-105. Erişim adresi: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/muhafazakar
77. The World Bank. (2020). Mexico Overview. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mexico/overview
78. Uysal Oğuz, C. (2020). Latin Amerika’da COVID-19 ve derinleşen sorunlar (DPK Notları). Erişim adresi: http://wfp14.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Ceren-Uysal-O%C4%9Fuz_DPK_Not9.pdf
79. World Health Organization. (2020a). Coronavirus. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
80. World Health Organization. (2020b). WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. Retrieved from https://covid19.who.int/?gclid
81. World Population Review. (2020a). Mexico City Population. Retrieved from https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/mexico-city-population
82. World Population Review. (2020b). Sao Paulo Population. Retrieved from https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/sao-paulo-population
83. Worldometer. (2020). Coronavirus Brazil. Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/brazil/
84. Zanbak, M. (2019). Latin Amerika’nın seçilmiş ülkelerinde gelir dağılımı. C. Uysal Oğuz, S. Atvur, R. İzol (Ed.), 21. Yüzyılda Latin Amerika: Siyaset, Ekonomi, Toplum içinde (s. 253-270). Ankara: Seçkin.