Analysis and Policy

Cooperation on democracy building with the European Union: the perceptions of Latin America and the Caribbean

Excerpt from the regional chapter

This chapter examines the main challenges for democracy building in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) states, and the manner in which the present role of the European Union (EU) is perceived. Policy proposals and recommendations for consideration by the EU are presented with a view to addressing the gap between policy intentions and LAC perceptions of the EU’s ambitions in promoting democracy building. The chapter is based on consultations and research on the EU’s role in democracy building in the LAC states conducted by International IDEA during 2008 and 2009.

The differences between Latin America and the Caribbean go beyond the linguistic, historical and cultural aspects and extend to the system of government and the inception of democracy. Countries in the region are also divided according to their stage of development, their style of leadership and their priorities in the democratic field.

In spite of the unprecedented extension of democracy, all the LAC regional institutions exhibit some form of fragility and progress seems not unlikely to be reversed. Governments are not delivering the results expected in many areas of concern and priority for citizens, and ‘personality-based’ leadership overshadows the institutional veneer in many countries. Integration processes are stalled or threatened by conflicts between member states.

Latin Americans are legitimately proud of the gains made in recent years in the recovery and consolidation of representative democracy, but admit that the intrinsic shortcomings and fragilities are as real as the electoral progress and that their persistence may undermine the genuine foundations of the new systems. Disenchantment and disillusion among the citizens are linked to the inability of governments to demonstrate that democracy is resolving the economic, social and security issues that affect the vast majority of the population.

A dilemma arises: how to preserve and consolidate electoral democracy while at the same time moving towards a better democracy in the material sense. It is a legitimate concern in the region, and it should also influence the design and implementation of the EU’s cooperation on democracy building. Latin Americans perceive such cooperation as conceptually compatible with the doctrines established at the inter-American level, although more elaboration is needed to make better use of the relations between democracy, governance and human rights, particularly their translation into tools to measure and assess results in plans for democracy building. The EU’s intervention is welcomed and well received, being considered relatively respectful of the region’s priorities and at least partially founded on dialogue.

In assessing EU-LAC cooperation and planning for the future, there is a need to find new ideas and approaches that, while ensuring such cooperation remains important, relevant and mutually respectful, find ways to improve their sense of timing and its comprehensiveness and diversity, and provide real guidance based on consistency and geared to exchange and feedback with both recipients and other cooperation agencies.