COVID-19 and Indigenous peoples in Chile: vulnerability to contagion and mortality

Millalen, Pablo; Nahuelpán, Héctor; Hofflinger, Alvaro; Martinez, Edgars

Keywords: Indigenous peoples, COVID-19, Latin America, colonialism, neoliberalism

Abstract

This research investigates whether Indigenous Populations are disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and deaths in Chile. To answer this question, we use a regression model to analyze data from the Chilean government. Our analysis indicates that municipalities with a higher proportion of Indigenous people evinced higher rates of infection and deaths to COVID-19. Indigenous groups were not only highly affected at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak; their rate of infection and mortality has increased as the virus has spread to the general population. We argue that the COVID-19 pandemic can have devastating effects on Indigenous communities, mainly because it increases the historically accumulated inequalities and structural racism linked to colonization, neoliberalism, and neo-extractivism in Chile.

Más información

Título de la Revista: AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples
Fecha de publicación: 2020
Idioma: English
URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/UTB6YSSIPECX62HKT4XF/full
Notas: SCOPUS