Link to Article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54522428
In Buenos Aires, angry Argentians take to the streets to voice their disdain for how their government has handled the Covid-19 global pandemic. Many protesters believe that their government is corrupt and the pandemic was very poorly handled. The government lifted their shutdown and safety restrictions prematurely, causing Argentina to be on the shortlist for countries with the most Coronavirus cases. As of Monday, October 12th, Argentina had 903,730 confirmed cases with 24,000 deaths. The numbers continued to rise rapidly and only three days later (October 15, 2020), Argentina rose to fifth place with 949,063 confirmed cases and 25,342 deaths.
This article exhibits the power of the people and how they wish to call out their government for poor behaviour. Although it seems ironic that people are gathering to protest how the lockdown didn’t last long enough, it is most likely the only way for the citizens to show their government and plead for change. The citizens risk catching the virus while demonstrating to their government that they need to reinstate the lockdown. This is also interesting because in some countries, there were anti-lockdown protests where people believed their rights were being stripped from them, all while other citizens were begging for more protection.
Covid-19’s reign over the world has given each country a test of how they can truly handle widespread life-threatening situations. Many countries have demonstrated their preparedness to efficiently manage and mitigate such a crisis by enacting lockdowns and thorough safety precautions in the interest of protecting their citizens, no matter the economical cost. Other countries–such as the United States, Brazil, and Russia–have taken a very different approach in order to mitigate the pandemic’s damage to the economy. These countries have enacted very lenient measures, which have proven to be much less effective and are allowing the pandemic to continue to thrive.