UNDERSTANDING VARIATIONS OF LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES' RESPONSES TO THE 2019 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
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Authors
Armijos, Julio D.
Subjects
COVID-19
Coronavirus effects
Latin America
LATAM
COVID Chile
COVID Uruguay
Coronavirus effects
Latin America
LATAM
COVID Chile
COVID Uruguay
Advisors
Giusti Rodriguez, Mariana
Date of Issue
2022-03
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
This research reveals why Latin American states failed to control the rapid spread of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) throughout the region. To answer this question, the author studies the policies, government responses, and state capacity to implement those policies, putting emphasis on understanding the role of leadership, welfare state capacity, and inequality in the shaping of pandemic outcomes for Chile and Uruguay. These two countries were chosen as part of the study because of their similarities in terms of economic throughput, health, and social welfare capacity, and for having non-populist leaders in power during the pandemic. The results of the analysis revealed that states with strong, egalitarian welfare systems have a higher success rate at controlling the initial onsets of pandemics. On the other hand, states with strong welfare systems and unequal access to the welfare system are more vulnerable to the effects of pandemics. States with weak welfare systems are not capable of controlling a pandemic, regardless of how equal access to the welfare systems is. As a result, the ineffectiveness of Latin American governments to control the spread of COVID-19 is attributed to the low economic capacity to tend to the financial and health needs of the population in a region where high informal employment is the norm.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
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NPS Report Number
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Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.