Economic, Political and Health Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean at the Beginning of The COVID-19 Pandemic

This article seeks to reduce the dimensionality of a group of economic, health, social and political variables of Latin American and Caribbean countries through the application ofprincipal components (PC) and cluster, to acquire a better perception regarding the conditions under which counted the region to face the first moment ofthe COVID-19 pandemic with cut-offto April 10, 2020. Among the main results is that the countries that have better social, political stability and corruption indicators not only have superior health infrastructures, but they were also the ones that best managed the first phase of the pandemic. However, if good conditions are not combined with mitigation strategies, the virus tends to spread further. On the other hand, there are also typical characteristics in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as little investment in health; low amount of COVID-19 testing and limited financial maneuvering. In summary, the economic, political, and social panorama of the region shows the great challenges that will persist during and after the pandemic.