In recent years, the state of democratic governance in Latin America has been decidedly mixed. Discussion has turned away from elections and the leftward swings in several countries. Electoral contests are increasingly a matter of routine, and ideology has become notably less salient. The debate now centers on how leaders and institutions confront the complicated tasks of managing their economic and social affairs while representing heterogeneous societies with heightened demands and expectations.
The Inter-American Dialogue closely monitors the state of democratic governance and the rule of law in the countries of the Western Hemisphere. Our analysis, reports, and exchanges serve to encourage compliance with regional and international democratic commitments. In recent years, the Dialogue has placed emphasis on elections, press freedom, public opinion within Latin America’s growing middle class, and the implications of political shifts.
On May 2, 2024, the Dialogue’s Rule of Law Program, the Stanford Law School’s Rule of Law Impact Lab, and the Mexican Bar Association released a report analyzing the constitutional reform proposals presented by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the Mexican Congress in February 2024. The report concludes that the proposals directed at the federal judiciary constitute a direct threat to judicial independence.
The Inter-American Dialogue mourns the loss of Bob Graham, who passed away on April 16, 2024 at the age of 87. Bob Graham was governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and served 18 years in the US Senate as a representative of the state. Graham began his career in public service in 1966, when he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. He served two terms in the House before running for the state’s Senate and eventually governor.
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Tamara Taraciuk Broner, director of the Rule of Law program, participated in the podcast “Where Did the Migrant Crisis Come From?” on In the Room with Peter Bergen. She discussed the context and causes of the Venezuelan humanitarian and migration crisis, as well as the use of the lifting of US sanctions as leverage for fair elections.
[Nicaragua] went from a political crisis of struggling for democratization, and to dismantle the clientelist scaffolding, to a regime with a tropicalized Taliban-style radicalization, underpinned by a criminalization of democracy, state capture, fear of violence, international isolation, and post-truth.
Es un autoaislamiento táctico alineado con estados agresores y su sostenimiento ha sido accidental: endeudamiento y remesas. Ambos suman el 35 por ciento del ingreso nacional [de Nicaragua], más un comercio exterior que no afecta a los capitales transnacionales.
