As Lenin said, society is only three meals away from chaos.
Dr Clare Wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics, adds that the pandemic has highlighted underlying tensions.
“None of the recent protests are about the pandemic, but the pandemic fuels the fire,” she says.
In Cuba, the largest protests in close to three decades have erupted as the country – already economically stifled by US sanctions – struggles to combat a surge in new coronavirus infections.
“The protests are not about the pandemic – it’s about the fact there’s a blockade and people have not been able to access drugs and there have been food shortages. The pandemic amplifies this and acts as a catalyst,” says Dr Wenham.
Although the country maintained very low Covid cases throughout 2020 – and is the first country in Latin America to develop its own vaccine – infections have been rising for most of this year. And the pandemic has wrought havoc on the country’s tourism-reliant economy.
“The pandemic has compounded frustrations, Cuba is a very sociable society and epidemiological restrictions have been strict,” says Dr Helen Yaffe, a Cuba expert at Glasgow University.
“Essentially, Cuba has been hit with a double whammy of suffocating tightened sanctions and the pandemic which affected tourism income, Cuba’s second most important source of revenue.”
Meanwhile in Thailand, anger over the government’s poor handling of the pandemic amid spiralling infections and a lack of vaccines has led to renewed unrest on the streets of Bangkok.
On Sunday, the Thai police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters who defied Covid-19 restrictions on gathering to demand the government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha step down.
However, a tanking economy and a festering anger over a government crackdown on democracy are important factors.
The Southeast Asian nation was gripped by mass pro-democracy rallies last year, but the momentum stalled when authorities cracked down and arrested protest leaders and a new wave of Covid-19 infections broke out.
The violence of Thailand’s demonstrations was unusual, says Mr Killelea. Out of the 102 instances of protest since the beginning of 2020, just two were violent.