Democracy is best — perhaps 

<a href=www.lapress.org>You must register to see the full version on this article Friday,  March 28,  2003 LATIN AMERICA Barbara Fraser.  Mar 27, 2003

Studies find that attitudes toward democracy are closely linked to people’s economic stability.

Latin America’s movement along the road to democracy, though undeniable, is not without detours. In 1997, Bolivians elected Hugo Bánzer (1997-2001), a former dictator, to the presidency. Venezuela and Ecuador are now governed by former military men who were once involved in plotting or carrying out coups. Nor are political parties a constant. In various countries, including Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador, the parties that carried the president to power were relatively new political groups formed for that purpose.

Ambiguity about democracy is also evident in the attitudes of Latin Americans. In a survey last year, about 57 percent of Latin Americans said they preferred democracy to other forms of government. While that was a significant increase over the 48 percent registered in 2001, it is lower than in any other part of the world, according to María Lagos of Latinobarómetro, the Chilean-based polling organization that conducted the survey.