Designing resistance to democratic backsliding in Latin America
Luis Guillermo Solís (left), former president of Costa Rica; Antón Leis, director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID); Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile; Francisco Sagasti, former president of Peru; Marcela Ríos Tobar, regional director of International IDEA for Latin America and the Caribbean and Jesús Molina Vázquez, director of the Spanish Cooperation Training Center in La Antigua Guatemala. Credit: International IDEA/Manuel Rodríguez
Despite these gains, some countries continue to suffer from high levels of inequality, while also experiencing democratic setbacks and confronting new challenges that are straining governance, stability and the possibility of equitable growth and well-being for their citizens.
International IDEA partnered with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and its training centre in Antigua, Guatemala, to organize a conference to analyse the causes of democratic backsliding and outline possible strategies to strengthen democratic resilience in the region. Participants included representatives from across Latin America, Spain and the USA, including academics, legislators, non-governmental organizations, youth and women’s organizations, journalists and other media professionals as well as intergovernmental and international cooperation institutions.
The AECID worked on the methodology for the dialogue, together with international IDEA. The dialogue provided a space for exploring the causes of democratic deterioration in Latin America and the Caribbean and addressing how these setbacks could be reversed.
The conference enabled participants to identify common challenges and strategies to support democratic resilience. The final plenary and group discussions unanimously reaffirmed that collective efforts can, and must, prevent backsliding and protect democratic gains in the region
‘This dialogue was a crucial space to explore practical solutions that strengthen our institutions and reinforce democratic resilience in the region.’
| Funding | Core and Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) |
|---|---|
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