19-03-2020 Latin American Weekly Report
Weekly Report
As region goes into lockdown, two populists play by own rules
- LatinNews
Bachelet, unlike Rousseff, tries to grasp the nettle
Pushed against the ropes, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet has come out swinging, replacing her most senior cabinet ministers, announcing plans for a constitutional reform and rushing out an anti-corruption initiative. Bachelet could never have predicted such a precipitate fall in popularity, to just 29%, barely a year after taking office with an emphatic 62% of the vote to secure a second term. Bachelet’s proactive response stands in stark contrast, however, to that of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, who is suffering a similar fate – a sharp decline in popularity in the wake of a serious corruption scandal and being beset by economic and political difficulties – but has looked paralysed.