The Economist published the results of the annual Latinobarómetro poll yesterday. There's lots to analyze within those numbers, but I want to start with Paraguay, which is the easiest to understand and also a piece of good news in the region.
On the question of "Is democracy preferable to any other type of government?" 53% said yes, a 20 point increase from last year. This is clearly due to the election of Lugo and it is great news for Paraguay, which had among the lowest levels of support for democracy in the region prior to this year. After years under the Colorado Party rule, it's good to see Paraguayans optimistic about democracy again.
The reason for the jump in other countries is a bit more questionable. Did Colombia's support for democracy increase because people are happy with Uribe or because they see their judicial system working to stop corruption? Did Venezuela increase because people are happy with Chavez or happy that the constitutional reform failed last December? Why did Costa Rica's support for democracy drop 16 points in the past year? I'm hoping to see more numbers from each of those countries before I can answer those questions.
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