Mexico’s Response to COVID-19: How a Comparison with Brazil Explains the Country’s Deficient Response
Social Sciences
POLI 190W: Topics in Latin American Politics
This research paper tackles the question of why Mexico had such a deficient social policy response to COVID-19 despite the leftist rhetoric employed by its president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. A comparative analysis with Brazil is used, since this country represented a political context in which its COVID-19 social policy response was more generous than that of Mexico even though Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, was a conservative. This comparison showcases how the lack of strong left opposition strength in Mexico, coupled with the negative policy legacies of its restrictive Oportunidades program shaped the relatively limited nature of Mexico’s pandemic response.
