The projections of all international organizations and private analysts indicate that Latin America's economy will only partially recover in 2021. As economic growth during the quinquennium prior to the current crisis was close to zero, the region is immersed in a new lost decade.
beyhanyazar/iStock(NEW YORK) In the United States and other Western nations, the toll from COVID-19 is finally beginning to ease, at least in part, because of the rapid rollout of highly effective vaccines. But in parts of Latin America, where health systems are failing and vaccines are relatively scarce, a different story is unfolding, particularly among those in poverty. More than one million people have died from COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean as the virus continues to spread faster there than in any other region, according to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The number of deaths has doubled in just five months. Dr. Jhon Cuenca Vega, a critical care physician from Guayaquil, Ecuador, told ABC News that health care providers throughout Latin America have not had the tools to handle the constant influx of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. "We need to have a better health infrastructure," Cuenca Vega told ABC News in an interview conducted in Spanish. &qu
As the death toll in Latin America continues to climb past one million, some across the region say the pandemic has only exacerbated existing societal issues.
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The Escazú Agreement came into force in April 2021 with 12 ratifications (out of a possible 33) from Latin American and Caribbean countries. Guided by a secretariat at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, it is the first environmental treaty in the region, and affirms Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, resting on critical principles of environmental democracy and human rights. A six-year negotiation process that included States, civil society, environmental, and human rights experts yielded an agreement that enshrines the rights of access to information, citizen participation, and access to justice in environmental matters. As the first legally binding instrument to include provisions and protections for environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs), it has been hailed by its supporters in the region and around the globe as a landmark agreement for countries tha