CONCLUSION

The author concludes that against colossal odds, Latin America was able to transition to region wide democratization. He argues that despite: economic underdevelopment, inhospitable international environments, and state-sponsored violence; the region has taken huge steps towards transitioning to electoral democracies since the beginning of the 20th century. Additionally, the number of oligarchic or autocratic regimes has been significantly reduced; despite the “left turn” in some countries that were not with agreement of trickle down, liberal economics; these leftist movements have been mainly supported by the marginalized majority, which seek social justice rather than capitalist agendas.

I agree with the author in that the transition towards democratization in the region has been impressive and difficult, due to the many socio-economic obstacles faced. The oligarchic history of the region can be accredited for the lack of development for strong political and non-government institutions to be formed which has caused great complications for the region to transition to democracy. My main disagreement with the author is that some “semi-democratic” regimes, I would consider to be autocratic. He explained that Venezuela was a semi-democracy under Hugo Chavez but failed to mention the repeated violations of human rights and legitimate democratic governance by Maduro and Chavez’ final years in power; perhaps due to the date of the book. It seems that in the 2010s democratic consolidation is eroding in some Latin American countries, but flourishing in others like: Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica. It seems that the new obstacle for democratic consolidation in the region is the leftist ideals supported by the uneducated lower class majority which has resulted from decades of corruption, oligarchy, and underdevelopment.