How Big Business Enables Authoritarianism In Central America

Authoritarian leaders are making a comeback around the world. And Central America, a region marred in past decades by civil wars, military coups, widespread violence, and an absolute lack of government accountability is not the exception.

In recent months, three of the sub-region's governments have actively repressed protests or disobeyed courts' orders, damaging institutions and altering democratic processes in their advantage. 

In this piece, however, Global Americans' Javier Gutiérrez takes a look at how big business has more than a fair share of responsibility. 

In Nicaragua, the powerful private sector co-governed with Daniel Ortega's regime over the past decade. Unrepentant, its head has announced that while the private sector does not consent to the current levels of violence, he does not rule out looking for ways to guarantee "stability" for companies operating in the country. 

In Honduras, the private sector has for long occupied positions of power. But over the past few years, Honduras and its neighbors have seen elites building "established connections with the 'out-and-out criminal networks' that run the drug business and other smuggling operations". 

The main question is thus outlined: "How, then, can we ensure that the private sector does not take part in a system in which corruption is not a bug, but a feature?"

Covering Guatemala, Gutiérrez explains how a novel experiment to root out corruption, an independent anti-graft body sponsored by the United Nations, is now under attack by the government – with consent from the private sector. 

These countries, taken together, are a good example of how hard it is to get institutions right when politics – including big interest groups – won't allow for a more democratic system to flourish.