The dispute over Pedro Castillo’s removal as president in Peru is the latest messy transfer of power in Latin America and another instance when regional governments could not agree on a basic interpretation of events. More broadly, the region’s democracies face two related challenges: creeping authoritarianism and election denial.
Mexico’s Congress voted yesterday to reject a sweeping reform of its electoral system that triggered massive protests and a counterdemonstration by supporters of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador last month. The episode highlights several features of AMLO’s presidency that will continue to present challenges to Mexico’s democracy.
In the countries where they have gained power, Latin America’s left-leaning leaders have usually won by campaigning on economic and social issues. Now that they are in power, they must deal with the region’s security challenges—and the political fallout for the failures that occur, whether or not they are to blame for them.