Latin America & the Caribbean

Photo: Mass graves – such as these in northern Rio de Janeiro – have been needed to bury the dead during the pandemic. Credit: EPA-EFE

COVID-19: How Brazil Became the World's 2nd Worst Hit Country

Viewpoint by Alfredo Saad Filho*

LONDON (IDN) – The COVID-19 pandemic has stress-tested countries, economies and political systems like never before. Nowhere has the outcome been more devastating than in Brazil, arguably the country with the worst pandemic response in the world.

Brazil’s vulnerabilities are visible in the mass graves in São Paulo and Manaus. The country is competing with the USA for the largest number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases (more than one million) and the highest number of fatalities (above 50,000 – but likely to be a vast undercount). Disturbingly, there is no sign that Brazil’s cases or deaths have peaked yet.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 01 July 2020

Photo: Moruga - Columbus historical monument. Columbus landed here on his third voyage in 1498. This is on the southern coast of the island of Trinidad, West Indies. the sea in the background is named the Columbus channel. it separates the island of Trinidad from Venezuela. Kalamazadkhan CC BY4.0

Black Power Move to Remove Columbus Statue Contravenes Heritage Protection Act

Viewpoint by Dr Kumar Mahabir

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (IDN) – The National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago has been strangely silent on the rowdy and relentless campaign to remove the historical statue of Christopher Columbus in the capital city of Port of Spain. I was the Vice Chairman of the Trust from 2013 to 2015.

The Trust seems to place its current Afro-centric agenda above and beyond the public and national interest.

: Opinion Editor; HUMAN RIGHTS; Racism; 22 June 2020

Caribbean Leaders Urge Global Response to COVID Pandemic

Call for Addressing Inequality, Unsustainable Debt and Socio-Economic Disparities

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS | NAIROBI (IDN) – Caribbean leaders have joined the United Nations in calling for solidarity and increased funding, as some of the world’s most vulnerable countries scale up their efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. At a virtual summit in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, they have highlighted the need for "a truly global response" to the pandemic which is devastating the economic systems around the world, particularly impacting 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states. They also are stressed the need to "strengthen the multilateralism for development", and engage "our institutions to consider innovative solutions".

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 04 June 2020

Examining the Unravelling of Mexico's National Petroleum Company Pemex

Viewpoint by Bill Dahl

The writer is a former Senior Vice President for Bank of America in Los Angeles, CA. He currently resides in Queretaro, MX. His insightful analysis of global economic affairs have been published widely. He is a contributing columnist for Mexico News Daily, IDN-InDepthNews and Wall Street International Magazine.

REDMOND, Oregon, USA (IDN) – Imagine you are the President of a country where the national oil resource is wholly owned, managed and operated by you – on behalf of 130 million of your citizens.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 18 May 2020

Collage with map of Brazilian states by population (from Wikimedia Commons) and Basic Income card (from Vox).

COVID-19: Brazil Implements Basic Income Policy Following Massive Civil Society Campaign

By Pedro Telles

The writer is 2018-19 Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity at the International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics.

SÃO PAULO (IDN) – Tens of millions of Brazilians have begun receiving basic income payments aimed at addressing the economic impact of COVID-19, following Congress' approval of a bill prompted by a country-wide grassroots campaign that began just three weeks ago.

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 17 April 2020

Mexicontagion: Coronavirus & Mexico's Economic Vulnerability

Viewpoint by Bill Dahl

REDMOND, Oregon, USA (IDN) – The Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic has revealed that there are certain human beings more susceptible to heightened risks of infection, serious illness and death.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 29 March 2020

Photo: First unrest in Guyana after announcement of electoral results. Credit: Guyana Standard.

Former ACP Secretary General Appeals for Calm in World's Newest Oil State Guyana

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS | PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (IDN) – Former secretary general of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group, Dr. Patrick I. Gomes whose five-year tenure concluded end of February, has called on "all political leaders to let the rule of law prevail and the country remain calm".

He told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC): "Guyana has always been held in high regard for good governance and respected by the 79-member countries of the ACP family of nations, so it is expected that this will continue in the interest of the good of all, Guyana and the Caribbean."

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 08 March 2020

Photo: An informal settlement in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Credit: UN-Habitat/Julius Mwelu.

UN Concerned About Haiti 10 Years Since Disastrous Earthquake

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Hundreds of thousands of Haitians lost their lives, including 102 UN personnel, and millions were gravely affected by the devastating earthquake that struck the Caribbean nation ten years ago on January 12.

The incident ranks among the top 10 deadliest earthquakes in human history, according to a recent OCHA report. Nevertheless, $126 million humanitarian plan for Haiti, launched in February, was only 32 per cent funded.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 January 2020

Photo: A child stands in front of his house in Cayapas, Ecuador. In this area community schools have been set up by UNICEF in partnership with the local Catholic church, to provide basic quality education to children living in this remote area, where the vast majority of the population is Afro-descendant. Credit: UNICEF | Donata Lodi.

UN Working Group Condemns Racial Discrimination of Ecuadorians of African Descent

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Independent experts of a UN Working Group are “deeply concerned about the human rights situation of people of African descent” in Ecuador. After an official visit, a follow-up of a similar mission in 2009, the experts said, despite the progressive provisions of the Constitution, recognition of the collective rights of people of African descent and several other positive measures, “there has not yet been effective implementation and enforcement of laws and policy to protect the rights of people of African descent”.

: Jaya Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 26 December 2019

Chilean Women Fight for Genuine Gender Equality

By Pía Figueroa

The writer is Co-Director of Pressenza, humanist, author of several monographs and books. This feature appeared first in www.pressenza.com.

SANTIAGO DE CHILE (IDN) – The hashtag #lastesissenior was broadcast on Twitter December 6. It had not been communicated before by social networks. It quickly became a trending topic in Chile. And this came as a surprise, though everything had been organized with a lot of discretion.