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In Latin America in the first decade of the new century, a region of the world that was once synonymous with dictatorship and repression has emerged as place of rich new democracies. Democracy is on the rise, especially here in South America. Countries that passed from authoritarian regimes, elected governments obedient to the forced economics of the Washington Consensus are paving their own way. Social movements have become a driving force – from the streets to the halls of power.

But there is one aspect of democracy in Latin America that remains a point of struggle. Former heads of state that robbed their countries through corruption and killed their peoples in their efforts to hold onto power, have been allowed to live happy lives in exile. From Pinochet to Fujimori, Latin Americans are demanding an end to impunity.

Today Bolivia, where The Democracy Center is based, marks the fourth anniversary of the ouster of its former President, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. "Goni" as he is nicknamed here, was forced to flee to the U.S. on October 17, 2003 following his brutal repression of protests challenging his market-driven economic policies. More than sixty people were killed. Today Mr. Sanchez de Lozada is under an arrest and extradition order for murder from the Bolivian Supreme Court, yet he remains in happy exile in suburban Maryland, protected by the Bush administration.

In addition to the 10 Why Democracy? feature films, we have also developed 15 short films.

The short films are from all over the world: DR Congo, South Africa, Croatia, Iran and Cuba, to name a few.

They have now been made available online right here on whydemocracy.net.

We hope you enjoy them!

Can terrorism destroy democracy?
I believe in one way terrorism can really destroy the principles of democracy, we all really see the difficulties for example in Afghanistan where Taliban is actually harming the whole political process of the country.

We asked all sorts of people -- authors, athletes, movie stars, politicians, thinkers, workers, dreamers -- ten tough questions about democracy. We will publish many of the answers on this page, with new ones every day. Be sure to tell us what you think in the forums.

See today also:
10 Questions video file: Jan Pronk - Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Sudan
10 Questions video file Hany Abu-Assad: Palestinian-Dutch filmmaker, Republic (1986/1996),

Can Terrorism Destroy Democracy?

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It's hard to imagine that a country that promotes democracy and freedom at every opportunity has become the center of the debacle on human rights abuses. But such is the paradox of democracy, that those who strive to make the world a democratic union, often cause more damage than good.

The subject of terrorism has captivated much of the global political discourse since September 11, 2001. In a world that now fights an unrecognizable enemy, practices such as the torture of terrorist suspects has plunged human rights abuses to a new low. Today's feature film, Taxi To The Dark Side, investigates how the United States has blurred the line between interrogation and torture.

According to leaders from New Zealand, Australia and Tonga Fiji's military leader Commodore Bainimarama has promised to return democracy to Fiji by March 2008.

Commodore Bainimarama signed an agreement at the Pacific Island Forum. The interesting thing about the agreement is that it promises to return democracy to Fiji unconditionally.