Times of change and pandemics in Latin America. Perspectives and challenges of Uruguayan cultural policies

Abstract

This article aims to give an account of the challenges and perspectives of Uruguayan cultural policies in the face of two recent factors of change in Latin America:changes in the political sign of governments and the covid-19 pandemic. In this text there is an analysis through the approach to theoretical concepts of policies and cultural rights, the inaugural speeches of the Uruguayan presidents Vázquez (progressive) and Lacalle Pou (liberal), their programs, and the current budgetary project; as well as an additional analysis of the regional situation and the pandemic through press articles. Considering the current moment of Latin American, from the Uruguayan case we could point out that the government’s new orientation would seem to face a paradigm shift in the conception of cultural policies and rights. In that sense, in the institutional changes proposed by the government, its cultural conception seems to be weighed against the consolidation of tools that – in this context of uncertainty and pandemic – strengthen the sector.