Avianca

An aerial view shows Colombian airline Avianca's planes parked at El Dorado International Airport amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bogota, Colombia, April 7, 2020.

Colombian airlines face controversy over loans to survive pandemic crisis

Governments worldwide — from Singapore to the Netherlands and the US — have devoted more than $85 billion to prop up airlines during the coronavirus pandemic. But airlines’ requests for aid are controversial in less rich Latin American economies, where millions live in poverty and public health systems are ill-equipped to respond to a large-scale health crisis.