The situation in Latin America is serious. Only enough doses are available to vaccinate 5% of the population during a period of high infection rates and a rising death toll that have forced many countries in the region to reimpose confinement orders in the face of a collapse of its hospital services capabilities.
The Escazú Agreement is the first treaty in the world to contain specific provisions on human rights defenders in environmental matters.
On October 18, Bolivia elects its president, vice president, and all the senators and deputies for a term ending in 2025. The election is a repeat of the October 2019 elections, which were annulled after a coup that led to the resignation and flight into exile of President Evo Morales. If everything goes as agreed, the country will regain the democratic path lost last year.
Ecuador’s Electoral Council will convene imminently to announce its final decision on whether to block the Andrés Arauz–Carlos Rabascall presidential ticket from participating in the 2021 Presidential elections. kicking the leadin ticket out of the race would be a violation of law and a betrayal of democracy.
Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico proposed suspending the election for president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), scheduled for September until March 2021, to prevent Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser for Latin America, the Cuban-American Mauricio Claver-Carone, from taking over the powerful regional post.
On May 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the epicenter of COVID-19 had moved to Latin America, particularly South America. The region now has the highest number of new cases and deaths in the world.
Bolsonaro has isolated himself internationally. With approval ratings in free fall, the Brazilian president has increasingly moved to the far right.
After six days of fighting for his life in an intensive care unit in a Amazonas state hospital, a 15-year-old Yanomami teenage boy died in April 9 from complications caused by the coronavirus. The boy’s death sounded the alarm for Brazil’s Indigenous peoples who now face the fear of the virus alongside the stress of increasing criminal activities and government policies.
After the outbreak of the most intense and massive social protests ever recorded in the history of Chile, on November 16 the government and most political parties signed an agreement to restore peace and public order and initiate a process to draft a new constitution.
On November 21 nationwide demonstrations began that drew hundreds of thousands of Colombians into the streets to protest against the Duque government. Just three years after signing the peace accords, more than 23,000 people have been killed in Colombia. Forty-three percent of the victims are under 25.
