Bolivias Perfect Storm: Pandemic, Economic Crisis, Repressive Coup Regime
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- Published on Wednesday, 12 August 2020 04:04
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2167 ... August 12, 2020
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Bolivia’s Perfect Storm: Pandemic, Economic Crisis, Repressive Coup Regime
The rising toll of diseased and deceased from the COVID-19 pandemic has hit Bolivia particularly hard, in a continent that is now in the lead in global contagion rates. As of August 8, more than 100,000 cases were officially confirmed or suspected in that country, with 3,600 deaths among a total population of just over 10 million.
The coup government, installed in November, has mismanaged the crisis from the outset. Hospitals are understaffed and ill-equipped, testing is minimal, and the main response by the de facto authorities is to threaten lengthy jail terms for those who circulate "inaccurate" information about the pandemic -- in a country where only a minority of workers are employed, the vast majority eking out a living in the "informal" economy of street markets and self-employment.
Typical of its approach, the interim regime headed by President Jeanine Añez was quick to expel more than 700 Cuban healthcare workers who, under the previous government, had provided needed services in remote areas and... helped to train new medical staff.
Aggravating the misery is an unprecedented economic crisis. The coup regime paralyzed state development projects initiated by the previous government, privatized key state enterprises, and brought the IMF back with a $327-million loan. These policies, writes Bolivian journalist Oliver Vargas, have had "dramatic consequences for the ability of the country to weather the economic impact of COVID-19. 38% of the country has lost the entirety of their income, while 52% have lost a part of their income. The deliberate retreat of the state has meant that the 90% who are suffering during quarantine haven’t received any income support, the only gesture has been a one-off universal payment of US$70. In April, to last four months of lockdown."
