“The region cannot continue down the path of repressing protests, militarizing borders and public security, environmental destruction and failing to protect historically marginalized communities, such as Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. “The heads of state in the Americas must change course and seek solutions to create a freer and safer continent, with full respect for the human rights of all.”

Amnesty International’s concerns include the excessive use of force to suppress social protests, seen in several countries in the region and most recently in Peru. States in the Americas must ensure that individuals can exercise their right to peaceful protest and that any use of force by the security forces when policing demonstrations is necessary, legitimate and strictly proportionate. The organization also calls on states to end arbitrary detentions, unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, which are frequently committed in much of the region.

Another issue that must be urgently addressed by states in the region is that of human mobility and the need for international protection, specifically in the case of people fleeing human rights crises in countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. It is alarming how restrictive and even inhumane migration policies, such as those of the USA, Mexico, Peru and Chile, have endangered people in need of international protection, rather than seeking cooperation to address the humanitarian crisis at various borders across the continent.

The region cannot continue down the path of repressing protests, militarizing borders and public security, environmental destruction and failing to protect historically marginalized communities, such as Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders 

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Amnesty International also believes that states must find alternatives to address public security crises other than militarization, which has become the norm in several countries in the region. The use of the armed forces for public security tasks has been intensified in countries such as Mexico and Ecuador, which has created contexts that facilitate grave human rights violations without addressing the root causes of criminal violence.

States must take urgent action to protect human rights defenders; the Americas remains the most dangerous region for human rights defenders. According to Front Line Defenders, Colombia was the world’s deadliest country for defenders in 2022, with at least 186 killings, followed by Mexico (45), Brazil (26) and Honduras (17).

The climate crisis is another danger that threatens the region. Although the impacts of climate change on rural and historically marginalized communities are becoming increasingly clear, states’ efforts have been insufficient and have failed to address dependence on fossil fuels, the main factor behind the crisis.

Similarly, states have not done enough to guarantee the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Over the past year, Amnesty International has documented cases of killings of Indigenous leaders in countries including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico in the context of land-related conflicts. Meanwhile, several states have proceeded with or granted concessions to national and multinational companies to implement extractive, agricultural and infrastructure projects without the free, prior and informed consent of the affected Indigenous peoples.

Violence and discrimination against women, girls and LGBTI people is another historical problem that urgently needs a concerted response. States in the region continue to fail to adequately address the very high levels of gender-based violence, including feminicides, and several states have taken measures that endanger people’s sexual and reproductive rights.

Finally, the General Assembly is due to elect four people to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Faced with the withdrawal of nominations from four countries, Amnesty International urges states in the Americas to elect people with the highest credentials, in line with the principles of suitability, impartiality, independence and recognized competence in the field of human rights, and to ensure that nominations and the withdrawal of nominations is firmly based on the inter-American legal framework.

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• The Americas remains the region with most fatalities from Covid, with more than 2.9 million confirmed deaths.

• The United States had more than 102 million confirmed cases and 1,111,000 deaths from Covid as of 14 March 2023, more than any other country on earth. Brazil had the world’s second highest death toll, with more than 699,000 fatalities.

• Peru still has the highest fatality rate in the world from Covid, with 6,481 confirmed deaths per million inhabitants.

• Authorities in El Salvador have detained more than 65,000 people since declaring a state of emergency in March 2022. With nearly 2% of the adult population behind bars, El Salvador has the world’s highest incarceration rate.

• As of last December, Nicaraguan authorities had revoked the legal status of at least 3,144 organizations and closed at least 12 universities. In February 2023 the government forcibly exiled 222 people, and stripped more than 300 of their nationality, including prominent human rights defenders, writers and journalists.

• At least 67 people have died since widespread protests began across Peru in December, including at least 49 deaths from state repression.

• Mexico suffered its deadliest ever year for journalists, with CPJ recording at least 13 killings. Only Ukraine recorded more killings of journalists (15) in 2022, while Haiti was the next deadliest country with seven killings.

• Turks and Caicos Islands recorded the highest murder rate in Latin America and the Caribbean last year (77.6 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by Jamaica (52.9), St. Lucia (42.3) and Venezuela (40.4).

• The Americas accounted for 273 of 327 trans and gender-diverse people reported murdered worldwide between 1 October 2021 and 30 September 2022. Brazil recorded more killings (96) than any other country on earth, followed by Mexico (56), the United States (51) and Colombia (28).

• Mexico recorded 3,754 killings of women in 2022, of which 947 were investigated as feminicides.

• The number of people officially missing in Mexico surpassed 100,000 last year. As of 13 March 2023, the total stood at over 112,000.

• The US Supreme Court overturned a long-standing constitutional guarantee of abortion access last June, threatening critical rights, including the right to life, security and non-discrimination for millions of women, girls, and others. By the end of 2022, several US states had passed laws to ban or curtail access to abortion.

• US federal courts upheld the Migrant Protection Protocols and Title 42 of the US Code in 2022, resulting in irreparable harm to tens of thousands of asylum seekers who were expelled to danger in Mexico.

• Between September 2021 and May 2022, the USA expelled more than 25,000 Haitians without due process, in violation of national and international law.

• Mexican authorities detained at least 281,149 people in overcrowded immigration detention centers last year, and deported at least 98,299 people, mostly from Central America, including thousands of unaccompanied children.

• More than 7.17 million Venezuelans have left the country, mostly since 2015. Of these, over 6 million are living in other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

•     The number of migrant children crossing the dangerous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama on foot hit an all-time high, with UNICEF counting 32,488 children from January to October.

• Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon totalled more than 11,500 km² in the first 11 months of 2022, the second highest figure since 2006.

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“The development of autonomy in weapons is accelerating, and the growing application of new Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technologies is a deeply worrying development. These machines risk automating killing, treating it as a technical undertaking which raises human rights risks as well as humanitarian, legal and ethical concerns. Autonomous machines will make life and death decisions without empathy or compassion.

The development of autonomy in weapons is accelerating, and the growing application of new Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technologies is a deeply worrying development.

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International

“Autonomous weapon systems lack the ability to analyse the intentions behind people’s actions. They cannot make complex decisions about distinction and proportionality, determine the necessity of an attack, refuse an illegal order, or potentially recognize an attempt to surrender, which are vital for compliance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

“These new weapons technologies are at risk of further endangering civilians and civilian infrastructure in conflict. Amnesty International remains concerned about the potential human rights risks that increasing autonomy in policing and security equipment poses too, such as systems which use data and algorithms to predict crime.

“It has never been more urgent to draw legal red lines around the production and use of autonomous weapons systems to ensure we maintain meaningful human control over the use of force.

“Amnesty International supports the call made by governments from Latin American and Caribbean countries today for binding international legal controls on these weapons and welcomes the decision to work in alternative forums, beyond the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) where talks have stalled, to advance this new law.”

Background

The Regional Conference on the Social and Humanitarian Impact of Autonomous Weapons in San José, Costa Rica is the first of its kind and involved regional and observer governments, representatives of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and civil society. Amnesty International is a founding member of Stop Killer Robots, a global coalition of more than 160 organizations working to address autonomy in weapons systems.

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Amnesty International will monitor the federal intervention in public security in the Federal District, decreed today by the President of the Republic, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, in response to what happened.

It is vital that the authorities ensure the complete and immediate evacuation of the Praça dos Três Poderes, including the National Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Federal Supreme Court. The destruction of public buildings representing institutions of the three branches of government should be investigated by the competent bodies and those responsible should be investigated, prosecuted, tried and punished, in accordance with international human rights standards.

The Brazilian state’s obligation to guarantee human rights means the authorities should be prepared to respond to political demonstrations. This requires intelligence, planning, prevention and monitoring of high-risk scenarios and groups that seek to affect the enjoyment of rights, in order to facilitate proportionate institutional reactions. International human rights standards allow the dispersion of demonstrations on specific occasions, including, for example, when they incite discrimination, hostility or violence. Today’s invasion in Brasilia does not meet international standards for a peaceful demonstration.

Today, 8 January 2023, a crowd of at least 3,900 demonstrators from civilian groups contesting the outcome of the 2022 Presidential Elections invaded the National Congress, the Planalto Palace and the headquarters of the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia. In the early hours of Saturday, 7 January, concern was already building over the arrival in Brasilia of more than 100 buses carrying demonstrators, when the Minister of Justice and Public Security authorized the use of the National Force to carry out security at the site. The Federal District government failed to guarantee security and did not take the necessary measures to stop the violent acts and the invasion of public buildings that had already been announced by extremist groups.

Amnesty International has been observing with concern, since the first round of the presidential elections, the escalation of violence and threats to the rule of law by organized groups, in some cases armed, challenging not only the outcome of the electoral process, but also the functioning of state institutions.

It is alarming that authorities such as the Federal Police, Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal District and the Government of the Federal District have not been able to identify the instigators and financiers of the invasion and prevent today’s attacks from taking place. 

Amnesty International demands that the Brazilian state ensure a prompt, impartial, serious and effective investigation into the circumstances that led to the invasion and attacks that took place on 8 January 2023 in Brasilia, in order to identify, prosecute, judge and hold accountable all those involved in these incidents, including the instigators, organizers and financiers, as well as the omissions of state institutions that failed to act to prevent these attacks from taking place.

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Amnesty International warns that human rights must be a priority in the government transition period.  

The election was marked by threats to the civil rights of the Brazilian people. There were serious complaints that the Federal Highway Police did not comply with TSE decisions and carried out at least 560 inspection operations against vehicles carrying out public transportation of voters on Sunday.

In addition to impediments to the free transit of citizens, the elections were marked by the dissemination of false news, statements by President Jair Bolsonaro and the actions of other public authorities that generated fears over the integrity of state institutions and respect for the outcome of the elections. Episodes of political violence were recurrent.

People denounced electoral harassment in their workplaces, members of religious communities denounced situations of coercion for demonstrating in defence of human rights, candidates and ordinary citizens suffered physical aggression or were killed for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Journalists were also assaulted and intimidated, and indigenous communities were deprived of their right to political participation.

This scenario points to challenges that go beyond the electoral period and pose risks to the human rights of citizens in Brazil. Amnesty International monitored and denounced episodes of intimidation and political violence throughout the country during the electoral period and will continue to monitor the transition process of the federal government. This process must take place in accordance with the Federal Constitution, rule of law institutions and international human rights standards.

During this period, two documents were published that reveal the political violence to which the Brazilian population was subjected. On the eve of the first round of the 2022 elections, Amnesty International presented the document “Political violence: human rights violations in the 2022 electoral period.” The organization collected 42 human rights violations that occurred in the 90 days leading up to the first day of voting.

In the campaign period preceding the second round of the elections, Amnesty International identified two cases of political violence per day. The cases are collected in the document “Intimidation as a method: violence and threats against male and female voters in 2022“.

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“The news of escalating violence and threats against people exercising their civil and political rights is alarming. Among them, the exponential increase in reports of electoral harassment against working people who are under pressure to define or declare their vote, including threats of losing their jobs if they fail to do so, is very worrying.”  

“Electoral intimidation has been particularly prominent in religious centers and it has flooded social media, where more and more people, including public figures, assault and persecute those who express an opinion different from their own.”

The news of escalating violence and threats against people exercising their civil and political rights is alarming

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

“President Jair Bolsonaro and his administration must ensure that they disseminate reliable information, counter false statements and do everything in their power to prevent and condemn any attacks and intimidation in the days leading up to the presidential runoff vote.”

“It’s also imperative that all state institutions function properly and with complete respect for human rights, including the public security forces and the justice system, to guarantee that the Brazilian population can fully exercise their civil and political rights before, during and after the 30 October presidential elections.”

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In Brazil, this right to information is under attack when one of the candidates – the current President – has consistently used an anti-human rights discourse ever since the previous elections. It is even more at risk given that Jair Bolsonaro is running for re-election and has not only persisted in making such speeches, but has intensified the impact through his actions in government and has used a discourse that questions the legitimacy of other fundamental public institutions in ensuring people’s rights and the guarantees of due process, such as the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court.

Candidates are free to express their ideas and mobilize those who support them, but this freedom of expression carries obligations and has limits and this is particularly important in the case of senior public officials. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, for example, has determined that when senior public officials issue statements with regard to matters of public interest, they are “submitted to certain limitations since they must verify in a reasonable, but not necessarily exhaustive, manner the facts on which they base their opinions”. Therefore, those who hold public office “should do so with a diligence even greater to the one employed by individuals due to their high investiture, the ample scope and possible effects their expressions may have on certain sectors of the population, and in order to avoid that citizens and other interested people receive a manipulated version of specific facts.”

In addition, the Court has stated that those who hold public office must take into consideration that “as public officials they have a position of guarantor of the fundamental rights of people and, therefore, their statements cannot ignore those rights or constitute forms of direct or indirect interference or harmful pressure on the rights of those who seek to contribute with public deliberation through the expression and diffusion of their thoughts. This duty of special care is specifically true in situations of greater social conflict, alterations of public order or social or political polarization, precisely because of the set of risks they may imply for certain people or groups at a given time.”

As public officials, They have a position of guarantor of the fundamental rights of people and, therefore, their statements cannot ignore those rights 

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

In the highly polarized context, which is clearly present in Brazil, it is therefore the responsibility of all candidates, and especially those who currently hold the office of president, to live up to this responsibility. They must ensure that both their government proposals and their public discourse are in line with human rights and set out advances – never setbacks – in this area.

We continue to accompany human rights defenders, activists and journalists who have paid a high price for defending human rights in recent years, as well as people who, in one way or another, have been the victims of hate speech and anti-rights statements. And we call on the current President and other candidates not to waste time on controversies and attacks, but to take this opportunity to focus their efforts on discussing human rights issues that will be key for the country in the next four years, such as measures for a just recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, police violence, the rights of Indigenous peoples, urgent measures to guarantee climate justice and ensure freedom of expression for all people, as well as the protection of human rights defenders and environmentalists.

The elections must not be used as a pretext for carrying out or promoting human rights violations.

Jurema Werneck is executive director of Amnesty International Brazil. Erika Guevara-Rosas is Americas director at Amnesty International.

This article was originally published in O Globo

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The murders of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips are unacceptable, but they are not isolated cases in Brazil. Amnesty International will continue to investigate and demand clarity over the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and murder of these defenders of human rights and the Amazon, as well as accountability for all those involved in this crime. The Amazon must be a safe place for all people. Amnesty International demands protection and freedom in the defense of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the right to press freedom throughout Brazil.   

Amnesty International demands justice for Bruno and Dom. Their families must have access to truth and reparations

Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil

“Brazil is one of the world’s most lethal countries for human rights defenders and environmentalists, and this reality is the consequence of a policy that promotes attacks on environmental legislation, dismantles institutions for the promotion and protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and criminalizes social movements and community organizations,” said Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil. 

“Amnesty International demands justice for Bruno and Dom. Their families must have access to truth and reparations. Brazilian society needs to see an end to impunity and the absence of public policies that promote and guarantee rights. President Jair Bolsonaro’s government cannot turn a blind eye to the crimes occurring in the Amazon, nor be complicit in them. All possible measures must be urgently taken to put an end to this cycle of violence in the Amazon. Who protects those who defend the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Amazon? It is the Brazilian state that has this duty.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Amnesty International press office (Amnesty International Americas: press@amnesty.org

Matheus Vieira (Amnesty International Brazil): imprensa@anistia.org.br

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“The Brazilian authorities must ensure complete transparency in the search for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira through an exhaustive, impartial and independent investigation and full compliance with due process at all times.”  

“President Bolsonaro’s appalling and unsympathetic comments are examples of the insensitivity of the authorities’ handling of the search for the two men. His callous remarks and the uncertainty fueled by the lack of clear, consistent and credible information from the Brazilian authorities only revictimize Dom and Bruno’s families. Instead of further deepening their suffering, the authorities must do everything in the power to uphold their rights to truth and justice.”

The Brazilian authorities must ensure complete transparency in the search for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira through an exhaustive, impartial and independent investigation and full compliance with due process at all times

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Amnesty International calls on the Brazilian authorities to provide a comprehensive update on the investigation. From the outset, the authorities have been slow to answer questions about the case, with most of the available information coming from the media.

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“The Brazilian authorities must not waste another second in the search for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira. We urge President Bolsonaro to deploy every available resource into finding them alive. Every second could prove crucial to bringing them back safely to their loved ones.”

“We also call on the Peruvian and Colombian authorities to urgently deploy search and rescue teams to their respective regions that border the area of Brazil where Dom and Bruno went missing. International cooperation is more vital than ever in crisis situations like this.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Amnesty International press office (Amnesty International Americas): press@amnesty.org

Matheus Vieira (Amnesty International Brazil): imprensa@anistia.org.br

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Similar scenes unfurled across much of Latin America and the Caribbean: the virus spreading like wildfire and affecting the most vulnerable because governments did not do enough to protect them. As Amnesty International and the Center for Economic and Social Rights noted in the report “Unequal and Lethal” last month, the region has accounted for almost a third of the global deaths from Covid-19, despite only representing about 8% of the world’s population.

Of course, it is far from the only region to have been ravaged by the pandemic and rampant inequalities. Leaders all over the world have failed to deliver on promises to “build back better” or oversee a “global reset” of the economy, thus entrenching the systemic inequalities that have exacerbated the impact of the pandemic – instead of reducing them.

But as the world’s most unequal region, the devastation in Latin America and the Caribbean has been particularly pronounced. Structural inequalities and systemic discrimination have afflicted the region for far too long, with the richest 1% holding almost a quarter of total income, while the poorest 20% hold less than 5%. The pandemic has further jeopardized access to economic and social rights, including the right to health and a decent standard of living, with an additional 16 million people falling into extreme poverty in the region in the last two years.

Deeply ingrained and intersecting forms of discrimination, such as racism and sexism, mean that certain groups who have been historically and systematically denied their rights have also borne the brunt of the pandemic. Women are enduring the worst part of the labor crisis that has left millions without means of subsistence: besides having more precarious jobs without social security, many women have also had to undertake significantly more unpaid care and domestic work due to the closure of schools and other spaces. Meanwhile, in the face of decades of negligence from the region’s governments to provide essential, culturally acceptable health services, Indigenous peoples have had to resort to community-based solutions to protect themselves from the health and social crises.

Being born with a certain skin colour or growing up in a particular postcode should not condemn you to a life of poverty or determine your chances of dying from Covid. Overturning the legacy of hundreds of years of colonial injustices is not a simple task, but governments can take an important step towards equality through more progressive taxation models and guaranteeing universal access to health care.

Being born with a certain skin colour or growing up in a particular postcode should not condemn you to a life of poverty or determine your chances of dying from Covid

Agnes Callamard and Erika Guevara-Rosas

According to the Pan American Health Organization, states must invest at least 6% of GDP in health to achieve universal coverage. Besides Uruguay and Argentina, none of the other 15 countries analysed in “Unequal and Lethal” achieve this minimum. As a result, more than a third of total health expenditure in the region comes from out-of-pocket expenditure from households. For millions of people, a serious disease or health-related problem could endanger their livelihood and push them to the brink of poverty.

State investment in public health must also include comprehensive action to eradicate the endemic corruption that undermines the sector. In Peru – which has the world’s highest rate of deaths per capita from Covid-19 – one in five people have paid bribes in hospitals and clinics to receive treatment.

Most countries will not be able to fulfil their obligations on social and economic rights without major tax reforms to fund their policies. Taxes – and the accountability that must come with them – are crucial to providing the tools for governments to respect, protect and guarantee human rights.

According to international law, states must seek the maximum available resources to gradually achieve the full realization of economic and social rights. Yet, on average, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean collect just 18% of their GDP in taxes, compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s average of 33%. Moreover, a significant proportion of this this already relatively low revenue comes from regressive indirect taxes, such as value-added tax, which disproportionately impact poorer sectors of the population.

Against this backdrop it’s no surprise that in much of the region fiscal policy does little or nothing to lessen income inequality. A bolder, fairer approach to taxation would not only enable Latin America and the Caribbean to redress the socioeconomic crises that devastate those who are most vulnerable; it would also provide a pathway out of the health crisis that has gripped the region and futureproof it against future catastrophes.

Every crisis brings an opportunity for change. Last year should have been a time of healing and recuperation all over the world. Instead, through government inaction, it became an incubator for greater inequality and instability that will plague us for many years to come.

For Latin America and the Caribbean, to avoid continuing to be at the epicenter of global disasters – and the extinction of other Indigenous peoples like the Juma tribe – governments must implement an economic recovery that is rights based, inclusive and fair, and address the structural inequality hurting the region.  Decisive actions are urgently needed. Not empty slogans.

Agnes Callamard is the Secretary General of Amnesty International. Erika Guevara-Rosas is Americas Director at Amnesty International.

This article was originally published in Newsweek

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• The region has accounted for 28% of all COVID-19 deaths in the world, despite having only 8.4% of the global population.
• Since the start of the pandemic, the number of people living in poverty remains 14 million higher compared to 2019.
• Since the start of the pandemic, the number of people living in extreme poverty in LAC has risen by 16 million.
• LAC was the region that experienced the most drastic drop in employment in 2020. Women, young people and people working in the informal sector have been the most impacted.
• Almost 60% of the children who missed an entire school year in the world were in LAC.
• 44 million people became food insecure, of which 21 million became severely food insecure.

COVID-19 Exacerbated by Inequality

• LAC continues to be the world’s most unequal region. In 2019, the richest 20% of the population held almost half of total income, while the poorest 20% held less than 5% of total income.
• The richest 1% in the region holds almost one quarter of total income.
• There is a link between higher levels of income inequality and the impact of the pandemic in terms of lives lost. The most unequal countries in the region (such as Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay) had very high numbers of COVID-19 deaths per million people.
• In 2019, 30% of homes in the region were considered overcrowded. 50% of homes of people living in poverty were overcrowded.
• Less than a third of vulnerable households have access to a computer at home.

Social Protection Responses and Health during COVID-19

• In 2019, only 47.2% of employed persons were affiliated or contributed to pension systems. One in four people aged 65 or over did not receive a pension.
• In most LAC countries, emergency social protection measures adopted covered less than two thirds of the population.
• A total of 64 cash transfer programs were implemented in 24 of 33 countries. However, more than half of the interventions directly benefited less than 10% of the population, and consisted of additional amounts of less than a minimum monthly wage.
• In LAC, 30% of people do not have access to free public health care, due to the lack of health insurance coverage.
• Not one country in the LAC region expanded health insurance or enabled emergency insurance during the pandemic.
• Except from Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay, no other country in the region spends 6% of their GDP in public health, the minimum amount to secure universal healthcare established by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
• Due to the lack of effective access to free and public health, millions of families cover their health expenditures from their savings. Out-of-pocket expenses represent 28% of the total health spending in the region

Taxation and Inequality in LAC

• LAC countries collect less taxes as a percentage of GDP compared to countries with a similar level of development. On average, the region only collects 22% of GDP in taxes, compared to 33% for OECD countries
• In LAC, collection depends heavily on indirect taxes, such as consumption taxes, which disproportionately affect women and other groups who are overrepresented among the poor.
• In 2019, countries in the region collected, on average, 46% of their total tax revenues from indirect taxes, compared to only one third from direct taxes.
• Tax evasion in LAC has led to hundreds of billions of dollars of lost public revenue each year. In 2018, LAC lost approximately US$350 billion, 6.1% of GDP the region’s GDP. This amount would be sufficient to cover the minimum resources to secure universal health in the region.
• LAC countries are estimated to lose annually US$40.1 billion to corporate tax abuse. It is estimated that with the income that has been lost over the last 10 years, the region could have guaranteed access to drinking water to 492,632 people or have prevented the death of 42,281 children.

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