Unlikely eruptions of democracy

In this moment when we're forced to watch the laughably undemocratic (small "d") U.S. Senate thwart the will of a sizable majority of us, it's worth recalling that the democratic impulse is astonishingly resilient -- and on the move in unlikely places.

Honduras: In 2009, the U.S.-backed a military coup ousted the more or less legitimate government of President Manuel Zelaya. That unfortunate country has been governed (and misgoverned) by a series of unpopular violent kleptocrats ever since. At times, narco traffickers seemed to own the state. The 2017 election was a violent mess; 23 people died and protesters filled the streets, protesting electoral manipulation which kept the ruling party in power. Even the Organization of American States called that "election" a fraud.

But this November, Hondurans gave Xiomara Castro 51 percent of their vote to only 37 percent for the previous ruling party's candidate. Somewhat remarkably the losing candidate conceded. Castro brings her own baggage -- she's the wife of the deposed Manuel Zelaya and governing Honduras involves overwhelming challenges and opportunities for corruption. But the people are getting what they chose, democratically.

Chile: On December 19, it was that Latin American country's turn to endorse a democratic triumph:

SANTIAGO, Chile — Gabriel Boric, a tattooed 35-year-old former student leader from the far south of Patagonia, has secured a crushing victory to become Chile’s president-elect.

Chile was Latin America's most stable democracy until the U.S.-backed a coup in 973 overthrew its elected socialist government. U.S. rightwing economists used the unfortunate country as a playground for trying out their exploitative theories. Chile then suffered under a vicious fascist military dictatorship until 1990. It seemed to have established a viable constitutional system including peaceful transitions of power, but popular fury over remnants of the dictatorship and economic inequity has been rising.

The election was a runoff between Boric, representing younger people and the impoverished, against the rightwing populist José Antonio Kast. The coalition of the left was broad and held together, proving simply larger than the opposing coalition of the right. Kast conceded within 24 hours.