Latin America is facing three crises in 2022. Are we prepared to tackle them?
Latin America will face another complex year. The uncertainty, volatility, political risk, and polarization will remain high. Political Risk Latin America 2022 Index warns of the worsening of existing threats, the bold emergence of others, and the challenge for a region severely affected by the pandemic.
Latin America will face a tough year in 2022.
The combination of uncertainty, volatility, political risk and levels of polarization, plus populism, anti-elite sentiment and xenophobic nativism, will create a complex cocktail. And they will make governance increasingly challenging.
A region that continues to deal with a global health emergency today faces a “triple crisis:”
- a crisis of governance, with democracy under tension,
- a crisis of expectations,
- a crisis of certitudes.
Will governments and businesses be prepared to manage high levels of political risk and navigate uncertain waters?
These were the topics of the Political Risk Latin America Index, a must-read guide second edition of the Center for International Studies at UC Chile for decision-makers in public and private spheres.
In 37 pages, the authors Jorge Sahd, Daniel Zovatto, Diego Rojas, María Paz Fernández delved into the ten political risks that stress the region:
- Democratic erosion.
- Climate change and water scarcity.
- Social protests and violence.
- Migration crisis.
- Illicit economies.
- Political polarization.
- Falling foreign investment.
- Regional irrelevance.
- Cybercrime.
- Rise of China.
Compared to the 2021 report, the authors explained that climate change and cyberattacks appeared as new risks in the region. In addition, the migratory crisis is rising in importance.
And other trends continue growing:
- the deteriorating quality of democracy,
- the lack of incentives for foreign investment,
- the irrelevance of the region at a global level,
- the complexities of the more significant Chinese presence in strategic sectors.
The report also provided the Latin American electoral calendar for 2022, which will reconfigure the political map in the region.
