América latina: el reto de matar o revivir

Abstract

The article reflects upon the recent report “Democracy in Latin America” launched by the UNPD, which warns that Latin American democracies are suffering from a deep crisis of confidence. This innovative report seeks to move beyond a simple diagnosis of existing problems and proposes new approaches to tackling many of the challenges that now put at risk many of the region’s successes of the last two decades. The region has made enormous strides towards democracy with almost all Latin Americans now living under elected civilian governments. This progress is reflected in the Electoral Democracy Index (EDI), a compound measurement prepared for the report. But the report also documents, that the region faces severe social challenges that have led to a deep sense of popular dissatisfaction with its democratically chosen leaders.