MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latin American leaders concerned and uneasy with the Venezuelan situation

Mercosur partners of Venezuela feel that the ongoing protests and demonstrations create economic and investment uncertainty

Most presidents of Latin America and particularly those from Mercosur are concerned with the Venezuelan situation, which generates uneasiness among opposition parties, mass media, corporations and citizens, the International Prospective Institute (IPI) states in a report.

 Venezuela's protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro have been ongoing for over two months leaving at least 41 people killed, hundreds injured, dozens of arrests and claims of human rights violations. And according to IPI the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Panama, Nicaragua, Cuba and obviously Venezuela are the most concerned, fearing the daily reports on street fighting and barricades, scarcity of staples and inflation could be 'contagious'.

In a scale from minus five to positive five, the average concern stands at 2.7 points. Among which the governments of Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela figure with five points, the highest possible. At the other extreme Peru and Guatemala rank with minus 2 and minus 1.

The uneasiness tendency is also present in opposition parties, 3.2 points; the media, 3.8 points and citizens from the region, 2 points. Opposition parties in Peru and Uruguay figure among the most concerned.

Regarding media, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Uruguay are showing great interest on what is happening in Venezuela. As to citizens, Cuba, Nicaraguay and Panama seem the most concerned in the region with 5 points, compared to Chile that ranks with a minus 4.

The business community in Chile and Haiti are not concerned about the Venezuelan protests and stand at minus one point, followed by Peru, zero, but in the rest of the region the business community and corporations feel uneasy and there is growing uncertainty about the future.

The report was elaborated with Mapi methodology which includes multiple opinion polls and comments from experts in different fields who are aware of the scenarios they are assessing. The study collected information from 27 March to April 13.

The IPI analyzes world affairs through diagnosis 'maps' for which it has a network of experts, including the Spanish news agency EFE correspondents which helps to feed results. Communications company Prestomedia Grupo als contributes with the multiple polls in different fields.