The risk in Latin America is not just that democracies devolve into dictatorships, but that the region drifts away from the orbit of the West, towards China
). This downward spiral is accelerated by the malign influence of social media and the import of identity politics from the north. Technocrats are discredited and jobs in government are increasingly seen, on both the left and the right, as perks to be doled out rather than crucial responsibilities to be reserved for capable administrators. Organised crime, already a big factor in the region’s epidemic of violence, is starting to taint its politics, too.
Many of these are ills of the democratic world in general, but they are particularly acute and dangerous in Latin America. Most Latin Americans still want democracy, albeit a better version than they have. But there is a growing audience for those advocating the supposedly effective hand of autocracy. Venezuela and Nicaragua have become left-wing dictatorships like Cuba. In El Salvador, Nayib Bukele has centralised power and locked up some 40,000 people in a draconian war on gangs.
. In much of the region, China is now the main trade partner and is investing in infrastructure. Some of the region’s left-wing governments seem keen to return to the non-alignment of the cold-war era. Five of the region’s presidents, including Mr López Obrador, chose to boycott this month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The United States—and Europe—could do more to engage Latin America, through trade, investment and technology.
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