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Latin America

Between stagnation and angry streets

Latin America

Special reports -

Latin America is stuck between stagnation and street protest, argues Michael Reid

A woman looks at images of the 551 doctors who died amid the COVID-19 pandemic which are displayed at the so-called "Paseo de los Heroes" outside Peru's Medical College (CMP) in Lima, on December 08, 2021. - In addition to a high number of dead doctors, Peru also has the highest death rate from the pandemic in the world, at 6,111 per million inhabitants, according to AFP, based on official figures. (Photo by Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP) (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images)

Trapped

A region caught between stagnation and angry street protests

Latin America is stuck in a development trap, argues Michael Reid

TOPSHOT - A demonstrator waves a Chilean national flag during a march towards the former Chilean National Congress where the Constituent Assembly will be inaugurated in Santiago, on July 4, 2021. - The 155 elected Convention members, 77 women and 78 men elected in an unprecedented parity vote and which reserved 17 seats for indigenous peoples, will draft a new Constitution, that will replace the current one -initially written by a small commission during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990)- as an institutional response to the crisis that triggered the wave of protests of October 2019 in demand of greater equality of rights and social welfare. (Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP) (Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)

Social trends

Latin American society is modernising, mostly for the better

Universal policies are more important than group rights

2H1D71M Students attend a class on the first day of schools regaining full capacity since the beginning of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil October 18, 2021. REUTERS/Carla Carniel

Education

The high cost of schools closed by covid

Making up for Latin America’s lengthy school closures

TOPSHOT - A demonstrator with the slogan "The Fight Makes Us Free" marches in Santiago on the sixth straight day of street violence which erupted over a now suspended hike in metro ticket prices, on October 23, 2019. - A four-year-old child was killed during the latest round of protests against economic inequality in Chile, raising the death toll from five days of social unrest to 18 as unions launched a general strike on Wednesday. (Photo by Pablo VERA / AFP) (Photo by PABLO VERA/AFP via Getty Images)

The economy

A region that seems unable to reach its potential

How can Latin America become more productive?

2HMFTG9 Police officers escort two men, alleged perpetrators of the murder of journalist Lourdes Maldonado, as they arrive at La Mesa penitentiary, in Tijuana, Mexico February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

The state

The deficiencies of the Latin American state loom large

Enter the political demolition squads

TOPSHOT - Crew members of Chinese Cosco Shipping Rose container ship wave Chinese and Panamenian flag before China's President Xi Jinping and Panama's Juan Carlso Varela, arrive at the Cocoli locks in the expanded Panama Canal, in Panama City, Panama on December 3, 2018. - Chinese President Xi Jinping is on an official visit to Panama after attending the G20 Summit in Argentina. (Photo by LUIS ACOSTA / AFP) (Photo by LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images)

Latin America in the world

The rival influences of the United States and China

A region divided against itself

Several hundred protesters confronted ESMAD officers in a demonstration aimed to garner the attention of CIDH (inter-American commission on human rights). Police deployed heavy teargas, less-lethal munitions and repeatedly used a water canon in an attempt to disperse the crowd. But protesters, most without gas masks or other protection, returned to the primera linea (first line) each time. Colombians have been consistently protesting for 6 weeks against a police force that has killed over 40 people, disappeared hundreds and against a government accused of furthering social and economic inequalities.Credit: Redux / eyevineFor further information please contact eyevinetel: +44 (0) 20 8709 8709e-mail: info@eyevine.comwww.eyevine.com

The future

The urgent need to reform political systems

Politics needs to be rebuilt from the ground up

Latin America

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