Dictatorships in Twenty-First-Century Latin America

Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and El Salvador

Osvaldo Hurtado, Barbara Sipe

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9798881852658
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Written by former President of Ecuador Osvaldo Hurtado, Dictatorships in Twenty-First-Century Latin America explores the most important Latin American political phenomenon to emerge in the first two decades of the twenty-first century: democratic governments elected by citizens have become autocratic governments through the manipulation of the constitutional order and the legislative and judicial functions. Unlike traditional Latin American dictatorships, those of the twenty-first century have not been established by the military but by civilian politicians who were voted into power by the people to govern their countries subject to the provisions of the constitution and the law. Once the leaders assumed the presidency, however, they ignored the constitution under which they were elected and replaced it with one tailored to their political ambitions, using the broad powers assigned to them to remain in power indefinitely. This is what Presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador have all done. Hurtado explains the paradox of this new Latin American authoritarian trend occurring when, for the first time in the history of the subcontinent, democratic institutions governed in all countries, with the sole exception of Cuba.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• New Forms of Dictatorship
• The Concept of Democracy
• From Military Dictatorships to Civilian Dictatorships
• Dictatorships of the Twenty-First Century
• The Governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro
• The Government of Evo Morales
• The Government of Daniel Ortega
• The Government of Nayib Bukele
• The Government of Rafael Correa
• The Correa-Tailored Constitution of 2008
• The Process of Concentrating Power
• The Ruse of Citizen Participation
• Democratic Institutions in an Autocratic Regime
• The Rule of Law
• The Division of Power
• The Independence of the Justice System
• Freedoms, Guarantees, and Rights
• Government Transparency
• Political Pluralism
• Alternation in Power
• Free Elections
• Perspectives on Authoritarianism
• The International Community
• Causes of the Dictatorial Drift
• The Arduous Path of Democracy
• References
• Index
• About the Author