Mexico’s corrupt military enjoys unlimited power and near total impunity. Review: Generals at the Gates: Military Power and Social Change in Mexico, Dawn Marie Paley, 2026, Verso
Categories: Mexico
Rot in the barracks
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Tag: Democracy
Brazil’s illiberal love affair
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Populist ambitions to ‘reform’ democracy have corporatist antecedents. Review: A Third Path: Corporatism in Brazil and Portugal, Melissa Teixeira, 2024, Princeton University Press
Backlash of the bigots
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A rejection of the left’s inclusivity is fuelling the right-wing reaction. Review: The Far Right in Latin America, edited by Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Carlos Meléndez, Talita Tanscheit and Lisa Zanotti, 2026, Cambridge University Press
Categories: Central America, South America
Liberal limits
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El Salvador reveals the failure of a dominant idea. Review: Indignant Liberalism: Political Protest and Generational Change in El Salvador, Ellen Moodie, 2026, University of Texas Press
Categories: Central America, El Salvador
Roots of the right
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Authoritarian populism in Brazil is both new—and old. Review: The Faces of Authoritarianism and Strategies of Dissent in Contemporary Brazil, edited by Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos and Katerina Hatzikidi, 2025, UCL Press
Categories: Brazil, South America
Back to México bronco
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An old US predilection for finger-pointing underpins a new study of its neighbour. Review: The Making of Mexico: Revolution, Reform, and Transformation, Pamela K Starr, 2026, Polity Press
Categories: Mexico, North America, United States
Khaki democrats
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Hard as it is to swallow, militaries have at times been the midwives of democracy. Review: The Birth of Democracy in South America, Raúl L Madrid, 2025, Cambridge University Press
Soldiers of the sub-empire
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Brazil’s role in Pinochet’s coup has disturbing modern echoes. Dictatorship Across Borders: Brazil, Chile, and The South American Cold War, Mila Burns, 2025, University Of North Carolina Press
Categories: Brazil, Chile, North America, South America, United States
Metaphors of resistance
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Italy’s original sin
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Jair Bolsonaro’s racism did not come from thin air. The Italian Colony of São Paulo: Race, Class, and Cultural Capital in Brazil, Giulia Riccò, 2025, Fordham University Press
Categories: Brazil, South America