51吃瓜

After a decade of relative stability, South America experiences political turmoil and social unrest.

Not long ago, South America was a promising continent. Economic growth and unparalleled political stability offered good reasons for optimism. Gone were the coups, and the region welcomed transitions of power through elections.聽Now, however, this era of hopefulness feels like a distant memory.

South America鈥檚 largest country, Brazil, has gone from boom to bust thanks to years of poor economic decisions. Brazil is battling its worst recession ever. And, in the meantime, congress impeached a president and the electoral justice could oust聽.

Meanwhile, Paraguay and Venezuela are experiencing even worse political crises. Currently,聽. Facing an economic crisis far worse than Brazil鈥檚, the country witnessed a聽聽over parliament.

In Paraguay, violent protests erupted in the capital city, Asunci贸n. On March 31, demonstrators stormed congress and聽聽after the senate held a vote behind closed doors to allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election. One activist was shot dead as the police reclaimed control of the building.

And in Ecuador, a highly disputed presidential election recently聽created turmoil. Len铆n Moreno, who enjoys the current administration鈥檚 support, won a tight race with 51% of votes. His opposition accused his campaign of fraud and demanded a recount.

South America鈥檚 Crisis of Representation

Researcher Jorge I. Dom铆nguez, from Johns Hopkins University,聽聽as 鈥渢he land of the unfree and the home of the coup.鈥� Virtually all countries in the region have experienced a coup d鈥櫭﹖at and lived under dictatorial rule.

There鈥檚 a sense that the levels of official corruption are intolerably high, as evidenced by Brazil鈥檚 Operation Car Wash. Every major party has been implicated in the Petrobras scandal, as are most candidates from the 2014 presidential election. And not even our meat, one of Brazil鈥檚 most important exports, has been untarnished by plutocratic corruption.

During the 1990s, the impeachments of President Fernando Collor in Brazil and President Carlos Andres Perez in Venezuela enforced the notion of widespread corruption. So did the drug money-laundering accusations against former Colombian President Ernesto Samper.

It is only natural, then, that the region would have a cynical relationship with democracy. The fact these fallen leaders presented themselves as 鈥渞eformists鈥� has only fueled skepticism about new leaders seeking change.

Since 1995, the nonprofit organization聽聽has conducted surveys in Latin America concerning democracy and representation. At first glance, the 2016 report reveals a deep crisis in the region鈥檚 democratic regimes.

The organization highlights the problem in the report鈥檚 title: 鈥淭he Decline of Democracy.鈥� Apparently, just one-third of Brazilians prefer democracy to other forms of power. The truth, however, is more nuanced than that.

鈥淔or several years, the research we have conducted at USP [University of S茫o Paulo] shows that more than 70 percent of Brazilians want democratic governments. What the聽聽is a deep disenchantment with how the institutions work 鈥� especially Congress,鈥� says聽Jos茅 Alv谩ro Mois茅s, a professor at USP.

Can you blame them?

*[This article was originally published by聽, a partner institution of聽51吃瓜.]

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

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