Miami Beach, FL, January 10, 2023 --  

Populists across the Americas are losing their faith in democracy. Their alternative future has ruinous ends.

When Brazil's anti-government protesters smashed into the House of Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, comparisons of the breach of America's capitol two years earlier came quickly.¹ Both attacks were perpetrated by angry citizens who refuse to accept the electoral defeat of a populist presidential candidate. Both attacks featured rioters waving the national flag, many modified with the face of their leader. And both attacks featured incidents of sympathetic police forces taking pictures with rioters rather than repelling them.²

Despite the similarities, the events in Brazil were far less serious than those in America. Unlike America's capitol invasion, no deaths were reported in Brazil. And unlike in America, Brazil's invasion took place on a Sunday when the government buildings were closed and no official business was in progress. America's invasion took place on the day of the certification of the presidential election, and the attempt to disrupt it was effectively a ham-fisted coup attempt. Nothing of that magnitude happened in Brazil.

But that's where the good news ends. 1,400 miles west of Brasilia, in the highlands of Peru, 17 demonstrators were reportedly shot by police yesterday after a violent invasion of the Juliaca airport by supporters of ousted president Pedro Castillo.³ Horrific political violence has been rocking Peru since last month's impeachment and jailing of the former leftist president by a Congress that he illegally tried to dissolve in an attempted coup just hours earlier. Despite his jailing, Castillo enjoys unwavering support of the mostly indigenous people in highlands Peru, opening a huge rift between them and the ethically mixed and European coastal Peruvians who largely oppose Castillo. Thirty years of progress toward democracy and reconciliation after the end of Peru's civil war are now at risk.

The common thread between Peru, Brazil and the United States is flagging faith in democracy to fairly settle political disputes. Supporters of former populist presidents Castillo, Bolsonaro and Trump largely believe that the democratic process works against them. They believe democratic institutions unfairly removed their leader from power through a deep state conspiracy serving the elite. Any tiny spark of truth beneath these outrageously false grand claims are strategically fanned by social media to a raging wildfire of division and hate.

In each of the cases of Castillo, Bolsonaro and Trump, supporters base their beliefs on unfounded claims of illegal ouster -- allegations that are not backed by evidence, purported facts that have been debunked, and wild conspiracy theories not based in reality. It is impossible to convince true believers otherwise because their beliefs are not based on any objective source of truth, but rather on an echo chamber of lies and falsehoods repeated by other true believers. Seeking common knowledge for the common good does not exist for such zealots, leaving no recourse for preserving democracy other than containing them until passions subside, conditions change, or they age out of the electorate.

Unfortunately, Peru, Brazil and America are not alone in suffering this kind of political trauma. In the Americas, onetime democracies in Venezuela, Guatemala and Nicaragua have already been destroyed by these kinds of lies that fueled violent divisions and degraded democracy into dictatorship. Bolivia and Colombia remain on the edge.

If only objective reality existed, the specter of devolving into Venezuela should scare the bejesus out of everyone in Peru, Brazil and America. Democratic elections brought populist outsider Hugo Chávez to power in 1998, and he proceeded to use the state to reward his supporters and punish his opponents. Deciding they could not win at the ballot box, his opponents staged a coup that ultimately failed, heightening divisions. As the years went by, democratic institutions were dismantled in the name of populist goals. Chavez and his successor Nicolás Maduro became dictators as their supporters looked the other way. Economic decline started to accelerate in 2014 until the economy declined by a stunning 75 percent -- leading to hyperinflation, empty store shelves and widespread hunger. Over 7 million hungry and desperate Venezuelans fled the country -- nearly a quarter of the population. -- spreading across the Americas and Europe in search of a better life.⁴

If there is any case to be for the value of democracy, it is that the alternative to the ballot box is personified by Venezuela. The same lesson is true for all of us -- Peruvians, Brazilians and Americans alike. We must all realize that dogmatic belief in a single politician is not worth throwing away democracy. Given that some of us insist on ignoring objective reality in favor of poisonous illusions, it is all the more important that the rest of us stand strong in democracy's defense.

Related Web Columns:

The Anti-Democratic Tempest, July 27, 2021

Dictator's Daughter, January 19, 2016

Notes:

1. CNN, The Violent Attack on Brazil’s Government was Months in the Making. Here’s What You Need to Know, January 9, 2023

2. BBC News, Brazil Congress: How Police Failed to Stop the Protest, January 9, 2023

3. Sky News, At Least 17 Killed in Peru as Anti-Government Protests Escalate Near Airport, January 10, 2023

4. Financial Times, Has Venezuela’s economy bottomed out? May 5, 2021