individual records could compromise the ballot’s secrecy, since gangs or local bigwigs could ask voters for proof of their vote. “In the Brazilian experience, the individual paper receipt has opened the door to coercion and control over voters, which undermines the process’s legitimacy,” says Ms Lúcia. On May 12th Kassio Nunes Marques, who was appointed by Jair Bolsonaro to the Supreme Court, took charge of the TSE. Of the two other Supreme Court justices on the TSE, one is also a Bolsonaro appointee and the other has become closer to Flávio in recent years. Whereas Mr Moraes was accused of overreach, Mr Nunes Marques has said the TSE will interfere as little as possible this time around. That may assuage the bolsonaristas—for now. ■ Sign up to El Boletín, our subscriber-only newsletter on Latin America, to understand the forces shaping a fascinating and complex region. This article was downloaded by zlibrary from https://www.economist.com//the-americas/2026/05/31/brazils-high-tech-voting-system- is-losing-voters-trust
Protesters have controlled Bolivia’s capital for a month To lift their blockades, they want the centrist president, Rodrigo Paz, to resign June 4th 2026 When Túpac Katari, an indigenous leader, laid siege to La Paz for more than 100 days in 1781, the city folk were reduced to eating cats and dogs. La Paz today is not there yet. But its people are becoming increasingly desperate. For a month protesters have blocked the roads into Bolivia’s seat of government. They are demanding that President Rodrigo Paz resign. The price of fresh food has doubled. Petrol stations have run dry. Businesses are closing. Hospitals are running out of oxygen. But the blockaders have refused even to sit down with the government. The calls for Mr Paz to impose order are growing.
Mr Paz came to power seven months ago, ending 20 years of almost uninterrupted rule by the Movement to Socialism (MAS). Voters ejected that party because of economic mismanagement that led to biting inflation and fuel shortages. Many former MAS voters were wooed by Mr Paz’s promise of gradual reform. But the economic problems have persisted. And those voters accuse Mr Paz of ignoring them since he took office. As The Economist was published there were more than 80 blockades across the country. They are manned by the general workers’ union, peasant federations and followers of Evo Morales, a former president and a founding member of the MAS. Blockades are a controversial political tradition in Bolivia. The blockaders inflict pain on everyone to make themselves heard. And they have mechanisms that help them keep going. “They’re experts at cycling people in and out,” says María Teresa Zegada, a political analyst. If Mr Paz can convince them to talk, he might make concessions. But he has little room for manoeuvre. Offering cabinet posts to their organisations would anger the middle class, who would see it as a return to the old ways of the MAS. Wage rises would add to the fiscal deficit, which is set to hit 9% of GDP this year. Bolivians fear a repeat of the 1980s, when the government printed money to meet union demands, triggering hyperinflation. “The
dilemma is between inflation and governability,” says Gonzalo Chávez, an economist. But at least the more radical protesters are refusing to engage in dialogue. At a meeting on June 2nd in El Alto, the largely working-class city adjacent to La Paz, their leaders slammed those suggesting negotiations as “traitors”, saying that the blockades would continue until Mr Paz resigns. Exasperated citizens are starting to demand that Mr Paz use force. Some have taken it upon themselves to remove blockades, raising the possibility of street battles. Mr Paz sent police to clear the blockades around La Paz two weeks ago, but they were back the following day. The next move could be to declare a state of emergency and send in the army. The defence minister resigned on June 2nd without providing an official statement. But there are unhappy precedents for breaking blockades with military force. When President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada sent soldiers to clear blockades in El Alto in 2003 and dozens of civilians were killed, it sparked a general strike that led to his resignation and exile. That is surely on Mr Paz’s mind. “They must have doubts,” says Gonzalo Colque, an economist. “Because the resistance of the people in the blockades would likely be iron.” ■ Sign up to El Boletín, our subscriber-only newsletter on Latin America, to understand the forces shaping a fascinating and complex region. This article was downloaded by zlibrary from https://www.economist.com//the-americas/2026/06/04/protesters-have-controlled- bolivias-capital-for-a-month
Abelardo de la Espriella is now the front-runner in Colombia The right-wing populist outperformed in the first round of a deeply divisive election June 4th 2026 PITY THE traditional centrist politician in Latin America. Time and again they campaign claiming that voters are tired of extremes. And time and again, from Argentina to Chile and now in Colombia, they get hammered. In the first round of Colombia’s presidential election on May 31st nearly 85% of voters chose either the right-wing populist Abelardo de la Espriella or the deeply leftist Iván Cepeda. Mr de la Espriella is now the favourite to win the run-off on June 21st. He surprised pollsters by winning almost three percentage points more of the vote than Mr Cepeda, who had been leading in the polls. The establishment centre-right candidate, Paloma Valencia, who was polling close to Mr de la Espriella a few weeks ago, crashed out, taking
less than 7% of the ballot. Far from being tired of extremes, Colombians seem tired of the traditional centre. Ms Valencia and her centrist ilk deserve much of the blame. Across Latin America they have spent years in power but have made little progress in solving the problems that most worry voters. Violence, insecurity and drug- trafficking are a scourge, and getting worse. Centrist failings have opened a gaping window for right-wingers inspired, as Mr de la Espriella is, by Nayib Bukele, the authoritarian president of El Salvador. (He has crushed gang violence by locking up a staggering 2% of the adult population.) Centrists have also done little to reduce the region’s vast inequality, a gift to the hard left. And economic growth has been woefully slow: real GDP growth per person in Latin America in the decade to 2024 was just 4%—in total, not per year. Politicians of the extreme and populist variety have seized upon all these failures with exaggerations, sweeping denunciations and tall promises. Colombia exemplifies much of this. It is one of the world’s most unequal countries, marred by the violence of rebel groups. It produces about two- thirds of the world’s cocaine. Colombians now have a stark choice in the run-off. Mr Cepeda promises left-wing economics, which is unlikely to solve Colombia’s fiscal woes, and to double down on the policy of Paz Total, an effort to negotiate with all rebel groups at once. It has been failing under Gustavo Petro, the outgoing leftist president. Mr de la Espriella promises free markets, but has worryingly populist economic policies. He also plans a heavily militarised response to the rebels and to build ten mega- prisons in the jungle in the style of Mr Bukele. Election night witnessed deep polarisation. Shamefully, Mr Cepeda and his ally Mr Petro both cast doubt on the results without providing evidence. Mr Petro claimed that “hundreds of thousands of votes were added” at some polling stations. Mr Cepeda warned of an alleged discrepancy involving 885,000 people and “atypical voting patterns”. Mr de la Espriella was typically hot-headed in response. He called Mr Petro a coup plotter and said that Mr Cepeda was “disabled”. He promised to defend democracy “by reason or force”, adding that he is willing to “be killed for Colombia” if necessary. On June 1st Mr Cepeda changed his tune and said there had been “no irregularities big enough to speak of fraud.”
The short run-off campaign ahead will probably be nasty. Both sides will try to convince voters the other is an existential danger to Colombia while trying to persuade the small pool of centrist voters that they can be trusted. Mr Cepeda will relentlessly highlight Mr de la Espriella’s past as a criminal- defence lawyer who has associated with former paramilitary leaders and defended a man who ran a notorious pyramid scheme in Colombia. On election night Mr Cepeda said his rival represented “mafia-style fascism”. Mr Petro, who has already been pumping up the economy to try to help his ally, will probably splurge even more. Mr de la Espriella will continue to puff his claims that Mr Cepeda is a threat to democracy who wants to take Colombia on the same path as Cuba and Venezuela, calling him the candidate of drug-traffickers and rebels. Mr de la Espriella is now the firm favourite. This has cheered markets nervous of Mr Cepeda. Colombian shares surged on the news of Mr de la Espriella’s win. But the run-off could be tight. Mr Cepeda also outperformed recent opinion polls and won slightly more of the first-round vote than Mr Petro did four years ago. Back then Mr Petro went on to win the run-off, in part by boosting turnout. But most expect Mr de la Espriella to buck that precedent. The latest polling gives him an eight-point lead in the run-off. Donald Trump has interfered in order to endorse him. If Mr de la Espriella wins he will have to deal with a congress where the left has a lot of influence. That confrontation could make his campaign look like an easy prelude. ■ Sign up to El Boletín, our subscriber-only newsletter on Latin America, to understand the forces shaping a fascinating and complex region. This article was downloaded by zlibrary from https://www.economist.com//the-americas/2026/06/01/abelardo-de-la-espriella-is-now- the-front-runner-in-colombia
Donald Trump could be the man to save Cuba Ideological certainties have hurt Cubans for 70 years. Time to give cynicism a chance June 4th 2026 FOR TOO long, dreams of heroic purity have harmed ordinary Cubans, both on the island and in exile. Cuba’s dwindling population of perhaps 9m rose this morning to yet another day of sweltering, man-made misery. With food, medicine, electrical power and clean water in short supply, Cubans can expect no swift relief from the ruling Communist Party. The island’s leaders are stubborn, lonely men. Fearing that openness will cost them control of their failed revolutionary project, they are trapped in a stance of fist-shaking resistance towards the world’s richest country, less than 200km away. At the same time, islanders may justly blame another group in thrall to dreams of unyielding defiance, namely, hardline Cuban-Americans. Cuba’s