Large-scale popular protests are often lauded as a positive sign in Brazil, which suffered through 21 years of dictatorship. But the growing pressure on Rousseff and calls for her ouster are raising concerns about potential political upheaval and the strength of Brazil’s 30-year-old democracy.

A corruption scandal reaching up to outgoing President Otto Pérez Molina threatens to derail democratic rule in Guatemala ahead of the presidential election scheduled for September 6. Having announced on national television that he will not resign, Pérez Molina is resisting popular protests demanding that anticorruption reforms be passed before the next election is held.