China’s efforts to increase its global influence are no surprise. But the devil’s in the details, in how and with whom it seeks to strengthen ties—in this case, with Mexican government officials.
In a democracy, policymaking at the local level is a privileged space for citizen participation. But in autocracies like Cuba’s, the one-party regime takes control of social mobilization at every level.
The Cuban government’s ideologically-driven operating principle has always been that only the state can define and promote minority interests. The independent LGBTI+ marches in May demonstrated the government’s fear of its citizens’ growing sense of autonomy.
On May 11, Cuba’s LGBTQI community took to the streets of Havana for the island’s annual gay pride parade, despite the government’s ban. But, in responding to protestors with its usual counteroffensive, the state was met with a sort of tropical Stonewall.
Despite ongoing mass mobilizations, Venezuela will likely remain in flux for the foreseeable future. Backed by powerful external (illiberal) allies, the Maduro regime doesn’t have to play by the rules.
Countering democratic backsliding driven by powerful executives is as relevant as eliminating corruption, the deficit of the rule of law and the scourges of inequality and violence that plague Latin America’s democracies. Yet the latter issues still dominate public debate.
Since the mid-nineties, a majority of established democracies have fallen victim to an autocratic wave. And while each country’s trajectory to autocracy is different, the tactical model of the aspiring dictator is evident in all of them.
Russian-Nicaraguan military cooperation through training and weapons sales started to deepen in early 2008. Now that relationship is in full swing after years of planning.
Latin America needs to forge alliances in a complex, changing world, but betting on extra-continental autocracies will not bring greater social equity and respect for human rights to the Americas.
