Democracy Dialogues: A Conversation with Brian Winter

Speakers

• Brian Winter, Vice President of Policy, AS/COA; Editor-in-Chief, Americas Quarterly
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, AS/COA

Brian Winter, a leading voice on Latin American issues, spoke to Eric Farnsworth about the complex political scenarios in Brazil and Peru as part of an effort to describe the trend of democratic backsliding occurring across the region. Indeed, recent events in both countries have demonstrated that longstanding democracies are increasingly coming under pressure.

The long-time journalist covered what was behind the January 8 events in Brasília and the difficult road ahead for the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Winter outlined important lessons to be learned from other countries in the region. For example, he believes it was members of civil society who were able to protect the institutional stability of the country. In the future, he highlights, the main risk for Brazil lies in “governability complications.”

Regarding Peru, Winter believes the country is likely to continue facing instability in the short term. He explained that stagnant economies are likely to continue inciting mass discontent and destabilization throughout the region.

Democracy Dialogues is a series of conversations we need to be having now on the state of democracy in the Americas. Hosted by Eric Farnsworth, these one-on-one interviews with leading democracy practitioners explore the most difficult issues of regional democratic governance with an eye toward pragmatic, deeply-considered solutions.

Past featured guests have included Colombia’s then-President Ivan Duque, NBA Basketball Star Enes Kanter Freedom, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, CubaDecide founder Rosa Maria Paya, and founder and Editor of Nicaragua’s Confidential Carlos Fernando Chamorro.

Follow the conversation: #DemocracyDialogues | @ASCOA