Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

Oct 10, 2024 | journalofdemocracy.org | Javier Corrales |Will Freeman |Scott Mainwaring |Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

On Sunday, the new mayor of Chilpancingo, the crime-ridden capital of Mexico’s Guerrero State, was gruesomely murdered after just six days in office. Guerrero is one of the places worst affected by drug smuggling, cartel violence, and turf warfare. As Javier Corrales and Will Freeman argue in the newest issue of the Journal of Democracy, organized criminal groups in Latin America have money, firepower, and a stranglehold on political life — making them incredibly difficult to defeat.

Mar 14, 2024 | journalofdemocracy.org | Mateo Jarquín |Rachel Schwartz |Kai Thaler |Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

Of course not. But the region’s democratic hopes are fighting an uphill battle against corruption, crime, and a violent past. By Mateo Jarquín, Rachel A. Schwartz, and Kai M. ThalerMarch 2024On March 8, former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted in a New York court in a major drug-smuggling case.

Feb 12, 2024 | journalofdemocracy.org | Ayesha Jalal |Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

The country’s polls were marred by delayed results and charges of rigging. Worse, they might plunge Pakistan into an even deeper political crisis. By Ayesha JalalFebruary 2024Pakistanis went to the polls on 8 February 2024 to elect all 265 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of Pakistan’s Parliament, as well as the legislatures of four provinces.

Dec 11, 2023 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

BOOK REVIEW Violent victors: Why bloodstained parties win postwar electionsBy Sarah Zukerman Daly, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022 First published: 11 December 2023 No abstract is available for this article.

Nov 2, 2023 | revista.drclas.harvard.edu | Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez

La noche que Semilla sorprendió a GuatemalaPor Manuel Meléndez-SánchezEstamos sentados en un restaurante vacío de la Ciudad de Guatemala cuando nuestro mesero lanza una pregunta bastante razonable: “¿Quién diablos es ese tal Arévalo?” De inmediato alguien le responde desde la cocina: “Otro corrupto, de seguro”. Está equivocado, pero prefiero quedarme callado. Al fin y al cabo, ¿quién se va a acordar de Bernardo Arévalo de acá a un par de semanas?