In recent months, various Latin American presidents have made headlines for defending democracy, denouncing war crimes in Gaza and standing up to Donald Trump. An onlooker might think the region is a stronghold against the authoritarianism popping up around the world – but they’d be wrong.
It’s true that Latin America still has some governments that respect the rule of law and the separation of powers, several of them progressive or centre-left, such as the administrations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay.
But elsewhere in the region, far-right forces and authoritarian impulses have grown in recent years, and their influence is continuing to spread.
