U.S.-Style Gun Politics Are Spreading in Latin America
As crime levels rise, pro-gun positions are gaining strength in conservative movements across the region, worrying security experts.
It was one of the last major actions by Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso before he called snap elections earlier this year: signing a decree allowing civilians to own and carry guns legally. Lasso justified the move as empowering citizens to defend themselves against a terrifying surge in violence. Ecuador’s murder rate has quintupled since 2016. But his response wasn’t unique: Lasso’s decree represented another victory for a growing movement on the Latin American right, which looks to the U.S.’s looser gun laws as a model for arming civilians to defend themselves against...
Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.
