Democratic challenges in Latin America are debated by U.S. think tank

On September 29, Professor Oliver Stuenkel, from FGV’s Center for International Relations, attended a conference in Washington D.C. (United States) on the challenges for democracy in Latin America. The event titled ‘Resilient or In Decline?: Current Trends in Latin American Democracy’, was held by Brookings Institution, one of the world’s main think tanks, in partnership with International IDEA, bringing together a select group of specialized scholars and professionals.

From the perspective of the next wave of presidential elections (14 of the countries in the region should elect a new President by 2019, including Brazil), the conference proposed to examine the global trends that affect Latin America, the events that can cause democratic erosion, and the role of the media and social movements in politics.

Stuenkel presented the results of his research on the current Venezuelan crisis that stretches from 2013 and the aftermath of this event in the region. The collapse of democracy in the neighboring country creates, for instance, complications in border management — and this is a particularly sensitive topic for Brazil.

The discussions will be used to draft a report with the guests’ main findings, as well as policy recommendations to examine the benefits and challenges that the entire hemisphere should consider in the process of strengthening democracy.

FGV’s Center for International Relations is based at the School of Social Sciences (CPDOC).