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After COVID-19, Latin America Braces for ‘Lost Decade’

Already one of the most unequal regions in the world, it may face an unprecedented rise in inequality and poverty due to the economic carnage of the pandemic.

By , a former intern at Foreign Policy, and
Alicia Barcena, chief of the United Nations Economic Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), attends a panel during the U.N. Global Compact for Migration in Marrakesh in 2018.
Alicia Barcena, chief of the United Nations Economic Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), attends a panel during the U.N. Global Compact for Migration in Marrakesh in 2018.
Alicia Barcena, chief of the United Nations Economic Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), attends a panel during the U.N. Global Compact for Migration in Marrakesh in 2018. FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

In 2020 alone, nearly 45 million more Latin Americans will be forced into poverty as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with tens of millions pushed into extreme poverty, a recent study from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) study estimated. More than one-third of the region’s population will face unemployment and food insecurity, threatening dire long-term impacts for Latin America.

Augusta Saraiva is a former intern at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @gutavsaraiva

Darcy Palder is a former intern at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @DPalder

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