2022 has been a long one for Brazil and Latin America. In fact, it feels like the entire region has crammed five or six years worth of controversy, intrigue, and crisis into a single 12-month period.
Yet, the temporal disconnect throws up some anomalies. For instance, it feels like yesterday that former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sent to jail. And it certainly does not feel like more than ten years ago that he ran the country. And now, he’s president-elect again, proving that Brazil is not for beginners.
We also had unnerving issues in the country in the last few months. The Amazon (and not just the Brazilian Amazon) is still raising concerns about deforestation numbers, uncontrolled fires, and illegal mining activities. Crimes, violence, elections, and people in the streets watching the World Cup… in just 12 months that feel like one hundred.
Speaking of Latin American countries, Peru lost its president a few days before Christmas, following several months of political conflict. In Colombia, a new president was elected under promises of erasing violence. And while Argentina’s never-ending inflation keeps haunting people’s pockets, in Chile the government has been dealing with a lack of national trust.
In Haiti, the region’s least stable country, a “complete nightmare” caused by a socioeconomic crisis at all levels may well see the UN peacekeepers sent in on another humanitarian mission.. Things have not been easy as well in Central America and the Caribbean, where protests for cheaper fuel, corruption scandals, and climate disasters didn’t make the post-pandemic period a straightforward period.
Still, here we are. Tired of this year, but ready for another.
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