Protest Potential of the Latin America: Regional Aspect of Global Phenomenon

The world is showing signs of geopolitical and geo-economical imbalance, which threatens the international community with new crisis shocks. This is indicated by a slowdown in the growth of the world economy and trade, neo-protectionism and increasing sanction measures, financial “hand-wringing” of “undesirable” regimes, the incessant military actions in Syria, the “frozen”, but with that not less the destructive conflict in Ukraine, and many other dangerous phenomena of international life. More recently, they have been joined by another “black swan” – the unexpected event that could critically complicate the economic and political environment, both in individual countries and globally. This is certainly the spread of coronavirus (COVID‑19), the various negative effects of which have yet to be fully assessed. But one thing is already clear: coronavirus will have a negative impact on the world economy, “push” its reversal to the next global crisis and, as a result, the deterioration of the social situation. Similarly, the powerful wave of mass sociopolitical protests that swept the world (including a number of Latin American states) requires its comprehensive analysis and reflection. In this case, it is necessary to consider this phenomenon in two dimensions: a) the main causes and country features of protests; b) the conditioning of protests by the megatrends of global development, their connection with the fundamental processes that are changing the world order, formed in the age of neoliberal globalization. This dual task is even more relevant, because, according to experts of the consulting company Eurasia Group, in 2020, new protests, particularly in Latin America, can become one of the main global risks. The facts show that the main reason for the protests in the region has been a growing public discontent with the deepening income gap between the ruling class and the vast majority of the population, rampant corruption, the inability of authorities to resolve accumulated socio-economic problems for the greater public good and overcome the stagnation in which Latin American states live.