ВОЕННЫЕ «ОТВЕТЫ» В СТРАНАХ ЛАТИНСКОЙ АМЕРИКИ И ЕВРОПЫ НА ВЫЗОВЫ ПАНДЕМИИ COVID-19: СРАВНИТЕЛЬНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ

Abstract

The article explores the global phenomenon of using armed forces institution in the COVID-19 pandemic prevention, from the perspectives of Latin America and Europe, selected as research objects, because both regions had suffered the strongest pandemic «blows» in terms of mortality. Using the methodology of comparative analysis, the author considers the main parameters of the Latin American and European countries military strategies to combat the spread of coronavirus infection. He detects tendencies of militarization of political leaders` discourse, most vividly manifested in official statements of European politicians. One of the basic distinctive features of Latin American experience is massive mobilization of military contingent in order to complete sanitary and epidemiological tasks in key Latin American countries, such as Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, etc., while in European countries it was moderate. The article gives an overview of the key missions and activities of armed forces on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The analysis reveals that Latin American military activities have been dominated by the repressive component, expressed in the missions to ensure social and spatial control. European security institutions concentrated on solving humanitarian, logistic and medical problems. The author shows that in the New World, the military received expanded administrative powers in order to resolve the sanitary crisis. In European countries, the civilian control level turned out to be higher, and administrative functions were delegated in Italy alone. The author compares international communication styles in the two regions, and considers the cases of mutual assistance through the military department. European countries have demonstrated much higher level of coordination and interstate interaction, in contrast to Latin American states.