Sanções econômicas internacionais e protestos populares: do incentivo à repressão

Abstract

International economic sanctions are tools used by a state to exert pressure onto another as a way to achieve a political goal. In parallel, they are also sociopolitical constructs, which are imposed and received through a discursive process that aims the citizens within the country. This study will observe the existing literature in order to identify the effects of the narrative construction around sanctions and its consequences upon popular protests and state-lead repression against them. By inducing economic deprivation in a nation, the senders want to create incentives for the people and the opposition to take the streets demanding cooperation from the ruler, as seen in Malawi in 1992. At the same time, sanctions may backfire and be manipulated by the targeted-state to cause a nationalist wave against the senders, a rally-‘round-the-flag – scenario pursued by Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. These two outcomes alter the repressive nature of the state, causing it to become, generally, more violent and paranoid