In 2014, WOLA joined with three partner organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to launch the Central America Monitor. This successful program gathers hard-to-find information about governance indicators throughout the region, and evaluates what is progressing and what is not.
Those indicators include justice and the rule of law, combatting corruption, tackling violent crime, protecting human rights, improving police capacities, limiting military roles, and improving access to information.
Troublingly, progress along many of these indicators has been complicated in recent years by a weakening of democratic norms and institutions. Concerns about the integrity of Guatemala’s 2023 elections are one of many examples.
The Monitor will soon be launching its latest edition with a major information update and an interactive website. WOLA will add a link to this page when that happens.
To introduce the Monitor’s new edition, WOLA hosted Central American partners in Washington in mid-July. Two of them joined the podcast to discuss their findings and upcoming challenges: WOLA’s Central America research specialist, Elizabeth Kennedy, and the executive director of Guatemala’s Myrna Mack Foundation, Lissette Vásquez.
Download the podcast .mp3 file here. Listen to WOLA’s Latin America Today podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you subscribe to podcasts. The main feed is here.