Nicaragua's Social Policy Response to Covid-19: Business as Usual at All Costs

Abstract

The social policy response of the Nicaraguan government to the Covid-19 pandemic has been negligible. No significant social policy measures were adopted to alleviate the negative effects that this health crisis has on the general population. No quarantine or state of emergency was declared. The wearing of face masks in public was not made mandatory. On the contrary, the government actively promoted mass gatherings of political supporters and state employees. It even went so far as to prohibit the medical personnel of public hospitals the use of masks. This was severally criticized by the Nicaraguan opposition, media outlets and international human rights organizations. It was seen as a strategy that favored the political and economic interests of the governing party over the lives of the Nicaraguan people. To explain why this course of action was taken, this report looks at the country’s current economic and political conditions. The extremely limited response to the Covid-19 pandemic is seen as the attempt of the ruling party to reduce, as much as possible, the laming or standstill of the Nicaraguan economy, in order to avoid its negative political repercussions.