The indifference to democracy that has grown over the past two years increases the risk of populist governments in Latin America, and Brazil is one of the countries where this threat is greatest. The conclusion is the annual report of the Chilean non-governmental organization Latinobarómetro, released Thursday. A poll in 18 Latin American countries shows that 13% of the population still prefer an authoritarian government 40 years after the start of the regional transition to democracy. In addition, 27% are indifferent to the government regime that runs the country – a number that has grown by 11 percentage points since 2019.

Only three countries in the region, Argentina, Costa Rica and Uruguay, achieved less than 20% political indifference (excluding Venezuela and Nicaragua, which are not considered democracies in the study). Honduras leads as the country with the greatest indifference – 42%; it is followed by Panama with 39%; Ecuador – 38%; and Brazil – 36%.

Brazil: After warning about the risk to democracy, the Brazilian ambassador said that US senators were “misinformed” about Bolsonaro.

The figures show how much Latin Americans have moved away from politics, the document says.

“While support for authoritarian regimes has not increased with the pandemic, we are seeing that in Central America and Brazil we are in a situation where a cultural soup for populist governments is beginning to form,” says the director of Latinobarometer. Martha Lagos. – The conclusion is that Latin Americans want to live in a democracy, with elections, even if they become populist or autocratic governments along the way.

Overall, less than half of respondents, 49%, support democracy, which is in line with 2018, the worst year in the region since the launch of the Latin American Barometer in 1995. The countries with the highest level of support for democracy are Uruguay (74%). ), Costa Rica (67%), Chile (60%), Argentina (55%), Bolivia (54%) and the Dominican Republic (50%). The countries with the lowest levels are Brazil (40%), Guatemala (37%), Panama (35%), Ecuador (33%) and Honduras (30%).

In the case of Brazil, classified as a “fragile democracy,” the report highlights President Jair Bolsonaro’s call for his supporters to defend the government in the September 7 protests, which “sounded undemocratic slogans and coup warnings”. … A few days later, Bolsonaro guaranteed that he would respect the 2022 elections.

“Bolsonaro has already demonstrated the use of populism throughout the pandemic,” emphasizes Lagos.

Context: With Delta vaccinations and low exposure, South America is no longer the region in the world with a high number of Covid cases and deaths.

Moments of greater support for democracy in the country occurred during the Lula administration, from 2003 to 2010, as the document shows, when the index reached 55%, which contrasts with the current 40%. However, historically, the country has never exceeded the 60% mark, unlike other countries in South America. “Brazil is experiencing a complex institutional weakness under the Bolsonaro government,” warns the annual Latinobarómetro study.

Another important point is that most of the countries in the region reject military governments, on average 62% – 14 countries reject this type of government with rates above 50%. At the same time, the average number of those who do not object to undemocratic rule is growing from 44% to 51%.

– If coups d’etat are discredited, the threat of populist governments is worrying.

Chile: “Social discontent is accumulating” in Chile, says the director of Latinobarómetro.

The situation in Brazil is almost comparable to that in Central America, where Guatemala and Honduras have the worst rates of democratic instability – nearly a decade with rates below 40%. In the case of El Salvador, since President Nayib Bukele came to power in 2019, the country has lived in limbo between democracy and dictatorship, “a possible trend in the region,” warns the director of Latinobarómetro. Last month, Bukele changed his Twitter biography and described himself as “the coolest dictator in the world.”

While the numbers are worrisome, the document emphasizes that the pandemic has not deteriorated, which is notable given the impact that the health crisis has had in Latin America. As of early 2021, more than 20% of those infected with coronavirus and 30% of deaths were registered in the region, where 8% of the world population lives. However, with the development of vaccination, Latin America has ceased to be one of the peaks of the disease in recent weeks.

Between October and December 2020, the study personally heard from citizens of 17 countries; in Argentina, surveys were conducted virtually due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. A total of 20,204 interviews were conducted.