It was only a matter of time: the coronavirus epidemic is now affecting the slums of Latin America where millions of people are unable to comply with preventive measures, risking starvation.
“We are increasingly concerned about the poor and other vulnerable groups, who are more exposed to illness and death as a result of the virus.“, said the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Carissa Etienne recently.
With an infection curve that is skyrocketing in countries like Brazil, Peru and Chile, and a likely underestimation of cases, the situation is explosive.
Authorities in Argentina have sounded the alarm after 84 proven cases of contamination and around 100 other suspects were detected in Villa Azul, a slum on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
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The 3,000 residents were placed in total isolation, barred from leaving the area surrounded by the police. The aim is to prevent the virus from entering a neighboring slum, where 16,000 people are crowded.
But in a region with an average informal employment rate of 54% – a number that is expected to increase in the coming months due to the economic crisis – it is difficult for the poorest to choose between “starve or die from the virus“.
For Dalia Maimon of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the prevailing logic is this: by not working, “I’m sure I’m starving, so I’m taking the risk, trying not to get infected, and I’m going to work“.
“How do we buy food?“
Another difficulty is that the overcrowding of these districts does not facilitate the application of social distancing measures. Locals spend a good part of the day outdoors due to cramped accommodation where several generations often live.
As for teleworking, it is impossible for the vast majority of people, employed in services or the informal sector. And unemployment continues to rise due to the economic downturn.
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“We are construction workers, sellers, we go out every day. With containment, everything has closed and most of us are out of work“Oscar Gonzalez, a 43-year-old Chilean, told AFP.
The welder lives in the Brisas del Sol neighborhood, one of the most populous in the city of Santiago, where hunger riots have escalated to demand state aid. “We don’t even have a little help from the government. They think you can live without money, but how do you buy food?“, gets angry the craftsman.
In other countries, criminal organizations are taking advantage of the state’s vacuum to expand their control. It is “the most alarming trend“According to security expert Douglas Farah, who recently spoke on the subject in a forum in Washington, organized by the Organization of American States.
In Mexico, cartels distribute food and medicine; in Honduras, gangs organize disinfection campaigns in the territories they control.
Silent threat
Faced with the shortcomings of states, churches and associations are also mobilizing by organizing information campaigns, disinfection, and countless soup kitchens.
At 6 de Mayo, on the outskirts of Santiago, the locals know where the sick live and organize to bring them food. “If we don’t help each other, no one will“, says Gloria Reyes, a 62-year-old seamstress.
“We must have our own public policies and imagine alternatives in the absence of government“, confirms Gilson Rodrigues, a district manager in Paraisopolis, the second largest slum in São Paulo (100,000 inhabitants) who is preparing”in the worst case scenario“.
Brazil is now the second country most affected by the pandemic in absolute numbers, after the United States, with more than 25,000 deaths and more than 400,000 infections for 210 million inhabitants.
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Another puzzle is access to water. According to the UN, nearly 89 million people in the region lack basic sanitation services, making regular hand washing difficult, a basic rule to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
In Peru, which has been severely affected by the pandemic, almost a third of the 10 million inhabitants of Lima are thus facing serious problems of access to water, particularly in peripheral areas.
“The Lima water crisis is a silent threat. The most vulnerable populations are those most at risk of being exposed to the pandemic“Mariella Sanchez, director of the NGO Aquafondo, told AFP.
In Venezuela, the epidemic has added to an already dire economic situation, with increasing shortages of electricity and fuel. In San Cristobal, a border town with Colombia, the family of Reinaldo Vega uses daily techniques of “scouts“.
“This is how we survive“, he said to the AFP while going to fetch wood to cook.
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