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Economist Podcasts

Ballot bonanza: Latin America’s year of elections

Economist Podcasts

The Economist

News & Politics, News

4.35K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2021

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ecuador’s elections on Sunday kick off a packed year of polls in the region. Democracy’s foothold in South America looks assured; in Central America, less so. Engineers are vastly improving the core technologies in televisions. We preview the viewing pleasure to come. And remembering Nikolai Antoshkin, a Soviet general who faced unknowable danger to save untold lives.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello and welcome to The Intelligence on Economist Radio.

0:07.8

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

0:10.0

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

0:17.6

Shopping for a television these days means swimming in a sea of letters.

0:22.6

LEDs, O-L-E-Ds, Q-L-EDs.

0:26.6

Each of these core technologies is improving.

0:29.6

We go behind the acronyms to find out how a better generation of goggle boxes is being developed.

0:35.6

And a look back on the life of Nikolai Antoshkin, a Soviet Air Force

0:40.6

General who, when confronted with a huge but unknowable danger, saved an uncountable

0:46.2

number of lives.

0:57.0

But first... On Sunday, Ecuadorians will head to the polls to elect a new president and legislature.

1:07.0

It's the start of what will be a busy political year across Latin America.

1:11.8

Chile, Haiti, Honduras, Peru, and Nicaragua are all due to hold national elections.

1:18.0

Argentina, El Salvador, and Mexico will have legislative and regional votes.

1:22.7

This frenetic election year comes at a delicate moment.

1:26.9

In 2019 and 2020, mass protests erupted in several of these countries, over corruption,

1:33.3

inequality, and price rises.

1:37.3

Since then, the pandemic might have quieted the streets, but it's also raised the stress,

1:43.3

as economies contracted and poverty

1:45.8

rose. This year, all those strains may come to bear on the region's political systems.

1:52.4

Latin America is about to have sort of a bumper year of elections.

1:56.3

Brooke Unger is our America's editor.

...

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