Despite political challenges and even during the COVID crisis, Latin American countries have demonstrated a commitment to their robust democracies and to continue improving the lives of their citizens, said Professor Cynthia McClintock on the most recent episode of Scotiabank’s Focus Americas podcast.
“There’s this desire to reform, to figure out from global norms and practices what they could adapt that will work for them and allow them to move forward despite the challenges of the last year,” said Prof. McClintock, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D. C., who specializes in Latin American politics. She was speaking to podcast host Phil Smith, head of Investor Relations at Scotiabank.
Prof. McClintock said Latin American countries – especially the Pacific Alliance countries of Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico – emerged from the aftermath of the Cold War with relatively robust democracies, even though they faced serious challenges and deep inequality along the way. “That led the Latin American countries again to say, hey, you know, if we want to move ahead at all, if we want to resolve these conflicts, we’re going to have to have a legitimate government that’s recognized as the government of the people.
“It has been a difficult year with COVID, but definitely in Latin American countries there is a commitment to doing better.”
