Is it convenient to maintain a Constitution that has been systematically patched but without deeply reflecting on its democraticity? Perhaps there is a better time to change it, but neither should we postpone a profound update that really involves the citizenry.

Most Latin American governments opt for silence before the atrocities in other regions, such as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, either because of the 19th-century "self-determination of peoples" or the fear of being judged internationally by the same yardstick.

The case of Venezuela is an example that manipulating elections is always feasible, even with electronic ballot boxes.

As long as state weakness persists and economies do not progress, the region will be condemned to a seesawing between authoritarianism and democracy.