Juan Forero has a front page story in today's New York Times about the weakening of democracy in Latin America. I've written about this here and here among other places and have butted heads on the issue with David Adesnik of Oxblog who thinks it's much ado about nothing.
What is compelling about this article are two points:
1.) It focuses on the Andes region.2.) Forero moved into small town Latin America and spoke with average citizens.
It also echoes issues that I've heard before and are best encapsulated (as fellow LatAm-phile, David Holliday also noted) in these comments:
"I believe in an authoritarian government, if it works. They do this in other countries and it works. Look at Cuba, that works. Look at Pinochet in Chile, that worked." -- Daniel Vargas, 24, a university student from Ilave, Peru, whose father was accused with six others of having orchestrated the lynching of the mayor, Fernando Cirilo Robles.
Scary and worrisome, indeed. When mayors are being burned alive by angry citizens in two different countries, this speaks to a larger problem.
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