Measures taken by various governments against organized crime and the suppression of civil rights are among the main threats to democracy in Latin America, the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) noted this Thursday in its annual report.

The Global State of Democracy Report, produced annually by the Stockholm-based organization, highlights that The region scores average on many democratic indices. despite an overall decline over the past five years, especially in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, with rapid declines in El Salvador and Guatemala.

“In recent years, elected leaders in the Americas have undermined democracy by using government institutions to legitimize restrictions on rights, civic space and electoral competition”says IDEA.

Latin America retains high level of participation in elections and solid numbers in the representation section: thirteen countries are among the world’s top fifty in this final section, but responses to the problem of organized crime challenge the rule of law.

“Insecurity continues to be a major challenge to the rule of law. Governments have failed to adequately respond to the root causes of the rise in violent crime, and many have resorted to enforcing “more powers for the armed forces, increased defense spending and increased militarization in the areas of public security and immigration,” noted in the report.

These measures had negative impact on civil liberties and personal integrityamong other rights, and have been applied in countries such as Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico or Peru.

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“The region still faces a huge deficit in terms of the rule of law. The independence of the judiciary continues to be an unresolved issue. Another problem, and one that is becoming more serious, is the violence caused by the presence of organized crime,” he explains to the agency. EFE IDEA Secretary General Kevin Casas-Zamora.

Casas-Zamora argues that if a democracy cannot guarantee the physical safety of its citizens, its “days are numbered,” citing El Salvador as an example. Citizens are willing to sacrifice their rights to solve the crime problem.

“It is extremely important for us to propose public policy options to solve the problem of citizen safety. options compatible with democracy and the rule of law, But the temptation for Bukele to appear is too great,” he says.

Nicaragua, according to the report, is country in the region with the worst rights record, because the government “put an end to opposition and dissent, including repression of members of the Catholic Church and the media.”

The report confirms that liberal democracies are suffering from a general negative trend at the global level. clear failures in areas such as representation and rights.

(according to information from EFE)