The outstanding political scientist and FLACSO Spain Director, Manuel Alcantara Saez, will be in charge of inaugurating the academic year of the Political and Administrative Sciences career of the Universidad de Los Lagos in the Puerto Montt campus.

The master class of the professor at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain, called “Democracies fatigued in times of pandemic”, will address the political and social crises faced by the democracies of Latin American countries and Spain in the midst of the health crisis caused by the coronavirus. The activtiy will be directed by the head of the Political Science and Administrative career, Dr. Gerardo González Águila.

Dr. Manuel Alcántara is an specialist in research and studies of the democracies and political parties of Latin America. When asked about the consequences that the pandemic has had in the fragile democracies of the continent, the doctor was empathic in indicating that “in fact, one of the evidences has been to highlight the weakness and precariousness of health systems both in the prevention phase and in the hospital care phase at the level of intensive care. The privatization of health care and the very small budget allocation to public health (such as education) has been a scenario where the pandemic has been able to develop virtually without any brake. The impact on the popular sectors has been greater, increasing the impact of inequality to unbearable levels”.

The master class of Manuel Alcántara will be held on Monday, April 26, starting at 09:30 hrs through Google Meet of the Universidad de Los Lagos.

The invitation is open to the entire community in order to share and generate critical thinking about the current situation of democracies in Ibero-America.