How to Think About the Lockdown Decision in Latin America
How to Think About the Lockdown Decision in Latin America
Closing a country is a moral dilemma, and it goes deeper than whether we are choosing lives over the economy.
The pandemic is a global crisis, but policy responses have been largely national. Governments can be classified according to their priorities: China has privileged the state; Europe, society; and the United States, at least initially, the market. In the words of the sociologist Federico Zinni, they have given precedence to national security, public health and the economy respectively.
In Latin America, the approach has varied widely. Argentina, for example, reacted as a European country, while Paraguay and Peru went even farther. Chile and Colombia followed a similar, albeit more...
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