What do you think is the reason why Brazil, Mexico and Argentina reacted differently than any other countries towards Covid-19? Well typically, the response to this question is limited to whether their Jair Bolsonaro, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Alberto Fernández accordingly recognize scientific facts as well as supporting ambitious measures in fighting the pandemic and mitigating its economic impact. On the other hand, there’s a divergence between the three biggest federations in Latin America that has been driven fundamentally by deeper institutional dynamics.
Experts in political science made a research offering clues to understand such developments particularly when reviewing at 3 critical areas:
- Relative power of governors and presidents
- Welfare states and;
- Political party identification
Among Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, it’s the former that offered the fastest and the most comprehensive response to Covid-19. This is partnered with nationwide and mandatory lockdown, as well as a travel ban and generous social policy package for its citizens that have low-income level and also to those who are in the informal sector.
In Brazil, they have exhibited among the worst responses in areas that are on lockdown. Yet, Brazilian Congress passed social policy package and at the same time, boosted the capacity of its health system. By contrast in Mexico, AMLO offered least comprehensive response with the lack of mandatory lockdown and quite limited plan in protecting informal sector of the society and those who are at low-income level.
How Each Country Reacted to Covid-19 Outbreak?
For the fact that quarantine orders are implemented and somehow impacted individual freedom, you may expect that the regime type – authoritarianism vs. democracy may evidently show its differences. Yet, all countries mentioned are democracies and the ideological orientation of its presidents do not seem to have any sort of relevance as well. Brazil as well as Mexico are after all ruled by its parties and both countries have far from satisfactory results with how it responded to the outbreak.
Labor informality may explain as well why other countries have refrained from enforcing nationwide lockdowns that are hard for informal sector workers. Yet such explanation lacks information because the levels of informality are the same in Brazil and Argentina.
A Very Brief Explanation
Political science research showed a handful of explanations. The orientation of the country’s political parties has enabled its presidents to impose somewhat unpopular moves like nationwide lockdowns. These measures have greater territorial uniformity when its governors are enjoying lower fiscal authority. However, it is imperative as well that they impose sms lån på minuttet anmeldelse to those who are planning to open up a business in these trying times.