/389/ Betting on Bukele (II) ft. Juan Rojas

Aufhebunga Bunga

On security and democracy in Latin America.

[Patreon Exclusive]

We continue our conversation with Juan Rojas, Latin America columnist at Compact Magazine, by looking at how the 'Bukele model' would work – and not work – across the region: Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and beyond.

There is less and less support for democracy in Latin America, which is seen not to deliver the goods. Much of the Left lacks a serious security policy in a context of rising crime. And evangelical Christianity's growth seems to favour harder law-and-order policies. Is the future of politics ideology-lite "efficracy"?

Readings:

• El Salvador’s Bitcoin Paradise Is a Mirage, Nelson Rauda, NYT
• Behind Bukele's Revolution, Juan Rojas & Geoff Shullenberger, Compact
• On Security, Bukele and Petro Have a Problem in Common, Juan Rojas, Americas Quarterly
• In response to killings, El Salvador’s bitcoin president attacks civil liberties, Nelson Rauda, LA Times
• The Rise of Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's Authoritarian President, Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker
• Chaos in Ecuador, Guillaume Long, Sidecar/NLR
• ¡Viva la ‘eficracia’!, Martin Caparrós, El País