OPINION: Troubling Unrest in Latin America

The pattern of political discontent in Latin America proves to be worrying (Wikimedia)

After nearly 14 years in power, Bolivian President Evo Morales abandoned his position in what he has called a “coup-d'etat” by the armed forces, according to the Economist. He has fled to Mexico following accusations of election fraud. However, despite perhaps being the host of the most dramatic turn of events, Bolivia is far from being the only country in Latin America involved in political turmoil at the end of the year.

Chileans have also taken to the streets for the past two months, leading to 2,500 injured and at least 20 dead in weeks of unrest, reports the Washington Post. In Ecuador, two weeks of protests paralyzed the country and left seven dead, according to the Guardian; and in Brazil, citizens have taken to both protesting President Jair Bolsonaro’s family’s supposed involvement with the murder of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco, as well as both celebrating and lamenting the fact that former-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been released from jail and eyes a possible 2022 electoral campaign.

The Washington Post has mentioned that some experts have begun to call this unrest a “Latin Spring” following the trend in Arab countries nearly a decade ago. However, it also notes that the reasons behind the uprisings are “as varied as the countries themselves.”

Conflicts are still developing, and it remains unclear whether solutions will be delivered in a timely manner. With concerns rising about the region’s possible leanings into populism, with hyperpolarized leftist and rightist administrations in Venezuela and Brazil, respectively, Latin America is set against a bleak backdrop. In a continent in which the majority of democracies are still relatively new and unsteady following the wave of authoritarian military regimes that swept the region in the 1970s to 1990s, any sort of instability generates warning flags.