Populism Looms Over Latin America's Election Year

In 2018, nearly two out of every three Latin Americans will head to the polls to elect new leaders, and the fight against corruption will be high on their agenda. The surge to throw the bums out could be a harbinger of cleaner politics. But a revival of the region’s tradition of populism could also threaten the nascent institutions and mechanisms that are Latin America’s best hope for a more honest tomorrow.

Voters are rightly enraged about corruption. Nearly every country has seen its share of high-profile scandals. In Mexico, governors have allegedly stolen land, pilfered workers’ social security contributions, received public contract kickbacks, and even replaced children’s chemotherapy medicine with water to make a buck. In Honduras, tens of millions of dollars have vanished from the social security system under the president’s watch. In Brazil a third of the congress, five former presidents, eight cabinet ministers and scores of other officials are under investigation or indictment for bribery and other crimes. Even the supposedly pristine nations of Chile and Costa Rica have been drawn into the muck: President Michelle Bachelet’s son was part of a shady real estate deal and all three branches of the Central American government were rocked by a cement import scandal.