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The Causes of Disease Impact Denialism in Nicaragua's Response to COVID ‐19
Author(s) -
Buben Radek,
Kouba Karel
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bulletin of latin american research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1470-9856
pISSN - 0261-3050
DOI - 10.1111/blar.13176
Subject(s) - politics , government (linguistics) , covid-19 , political science , public health , disease , political economy , law and economics , sociology , law , medicine , philosophy , infectious disease (medical specialty) , linguistics , nursing , pathology
The response of the Nicaraguan government to the COVID‐19 emergency is an extreme case of disease denialism. Such denialism is a major threat to public health, so understanding the sources of this attitude is paramount. Three explanations are offered: (a) the autonomous logic of a polarised political conflict; (b) an explanation based on an economic rationale; and (c) the regime's mystical and religiously‐inspired discourse. The denialist response of the government is inexplicable without referring to the characteristics of the political regime, its political discourse and its recent developmental trajectories since the massive 2018 protests and the ensuing political conflict.