In Latin America, the absence of state control—or, if preferred, the state’s precarious capacity to delineate its territory and exercise sovereignty under international treaties—is stark.

There is a consensus. Rescuing democracy requires strengthening the institutions that are its pillars, which in turn depend on a society that trusts them.

The centrality and control that political parties have over the decisions made in the executive, legislative and judicial branches makes it difficult for them to receive the respective corrective measures.

It's not just democracy versus dictatorship at stake in the Venezuelan crisis. It encompasses the trajectories of the region as a theater for great power competition or as a collective of countries and governments capable of unified action.

Voting is mainly influenced by resentments, lies about opponents, ideological-cultural affinities, or clientelistic transactions—none of which are related to the aspirations of the majority.

Current problems in the region show that the territorial dimension, social heterogeneity, and the scope of state efficiency in Latin America maintain this structural duality.