Latin American Democracy: How is it Viewed From the North?

If one gazes southward toward contemporary Latin America with an inquiring eye, democracy is actually one concept which comes easily to the northern mind. That wasn’t always so, obviously, but Latin American democracy has now been accepted as a reality for well over a decade by the knowledgeable public. It is not, however, the only thought about Latin reality that comes to mind. Nor is it necessarily regarded as a feature of the landscape with the permanence of the Andes. In fact, even to some who most earnestly celebrate Latin American democracy, it may look more like the Amazon rainforest; green and magnificent but withering under serious attack by macheteros.