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The prestigious British magazine revealed that there is only a complete guarantee of democracy in Uruguay and Costa Rica.
Latin America had a strong electoral agenda in 2021, although the fragility of the democratic institutions of these countries was also exposed.
In this regard, the Index prepared annually by the magazine The Economistannounced that: “around 80% of the region’s population lives under a democratic regime, but only 1.3% (the inhabitants of Uruguay and Costa Rica) do so under a complete democracy.”
Countries like Chile and Honduras have had historic changes in their governments, and elections were held in Peru and Ecuador, but according to the European media, “voters were presented with candidates representing very different agendas, unleashing the collapse of centrist politics and the growing polarization.
So if you take into account the skepticism about the management of administrations, the authoritarianism allowed by the pandemic and the wear and tear on institutions due to “illiberal populists”, The Economist describes a “greater reduction” in Latin American democracies, compared to those of the rest of the world, in the index since it began to be published in 2006.
Thus, the media described that in Colombia, Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Brazil, Panama, Suriname, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Guyana and Peru, there are defective democracies.
While in Paraguay, El Salvador, Ecuador, Mexico, Honduras, Bolivia and Guatemala, they were classified as hybrid regimes.
In turn, Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela are seen as countries with authoritarian regimes.
Colombia received recognition from the OAS for strengthening youth democracy
The youth of Colombia is giving more and more to talk about and leaves the country high in terms of issues of leadership and exercise of democracy in front of the Organization of American States (OAS). Its participation in the elections of the Municipal Youth Councils and the commitment it shows to society, through support for organizational processes or practices, some platforms and the conviction of change in the face of political parties and movements, make it a benchmark in Latin America.
On December 5, the first elections of the Youth Councils were held, in which young people between the ages of 14 and 28 were able to exercise their right to vote and elect their 10,824 representatives. in these elections 523,110 votes were registered for political parties and movements, 269,613 votes for independent youth lists and 134,860 for the organizational processes and practices sector.
In addition, gender parity and female participation stood out in those elections in which 52% of the candidates were women and 48% men. Even minors, between 14 and 17 years old, made history by representing 68% of the total number of voters.
At that time, the President of the Republic, Iván Duque, stated that Colombian democracy thus empowers young people, who are active and participatory. “What better than doing it with a methodology in which there are no winners or losers: more than 41,000 candidates, more than 7,500 closed lists, parity, where 30% corresponds to the Youth Platforms”, he said.
This February 9, the visibility of this process that Colombia has been carrying out to promote and strengthen youth democracy, in particular through the municipal youth councils, was achieved, as it was highlighted by the OAS after María Juliana Ruiz, first lady of the Nation, will present it in Washington (United States) in the company of the presidential adviser for Youth, Juan Sebastián Arango, and the presidential adviser for Children and Adolescents, Carolina Salgado.
Roberto Menéndez, the head of the OAS Support Mission for the Peace Process in Colombia, highlighted after the meeting the work that the country has been carrying out with the councils and their elections, as well as reiterated its support to continue working on actions that contribute to the strengthening of these public policies in all national territories.
“We have had the opportunity to listen to the breadth and depth that Colombia has been giving to the youth of that country, with timely, updated, detailed information, and it allowed us to reflect together on how the Organization of American States can broaden and deepen the accompaniment and the support that we have already been giving from the OAS Mission in the territories”, were the words of Menéndez.
And it is that the Mission to Support the Peace Process of the Organization of American States has been characterized since 2004, at the request of the Colombian government, for offering a broad and flexible accompaniment to the peace policy in the country, approaching the territories, especially those affected by the armed conflict, understanding the different dynamics of each one.
In this way, it has created bridges between communities, local and national institutions, thus contributing to the generation of favorable environments for the construction of a stable and lasting peace. Y For this reason, it is important that Menéndez emphasized this Wednesday, February 9, the commitment to that mission. for contributing to the strengthening of youth democracy in the territories in which it is present.
For this reason, the First Lady of the Nation reiterated that the meeting was the opportunity to make visible those actions that have been carried out, in order to strengthen the commitment that the State has to work for the youth of Colombia.