Democracy Defense: Lessons from Latin America

Join Minnesota Democracy Defense Table (MNDDT) and Participatory International Policy (P-PIP) for the Democracy Defenders Roadshow on June 26th for the kick-off event. The lunchtime event will include a panel with experts from Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, including Alí Bantu Ashanti, lawyer and Executive Director of the Racial Justice Collective, Mynor Alonzo, political analyst, strategist, and co-founder of FOCO, and Elena Gutiérrez, Mexico Program Director for Global Exchange and collaborator with the People’s Movement for Peace and Justice.

The Democracy Defenders Roadshow is designed to create a practical conversation between U.S. community organizations and Latin American democracy and human rights activists based on shared democratic values and real-world experience, not ideology or party politics.

This exchange starts from a simple premise: people across the Americas are facing similar challenges to democracy — pressure on courts and elections, rising fear and division, growing inequality, and the use of force or intimidation to resolve political conflict. These conditions show up differently in each country, but their impact is familiar: less trust, less safety, and fewer peaceful ways to resolve differences.

The common ground for this work is:

• A belief in fair rules and accountable institutions;
• A commitment to nonviolent and lawful civic action;
• Respect for human dignity and equal voice;
• The idea that disagreements should be handled through dialogue and participation, not force or exclusion;
• A shared concern for community safety, opportunity, and stability.

Latin American participants bring experience from societies where democratic institutions have been under far greater strain, and where communities have had to organize to defend basic rights and peaceful participation. U.S. host organizations bring deep knowledge of local concerns — from schools and jobs to safety and civic trust.

The purpose of this exchange is not to compare countries, but to ask together:

• What helps people keep participating when trust is low?
• How do communities protect fair elections and peaceful civic space?
• How do we reduce fear and violence while strengthening cooperation?
• What does democracy look like in daily life, not just at the ballot box?

This defines the project as a shared effort to strengthen peaceful problem-solving, community responsibility, and democratic participation across borders. It is grounded in the idea that democracy works best when people feel heard, safe, and able to act together — even when they disagree.

Minnesota, and specifically the Twin Cities, has a long history of community organizing and the highest voter turnout in the country. It has also been the center of a variety of attacks by the Trump administration, culminating in early 2026 with the unprecedented Operation Metro Surge. The clear and collective response of the people of the Twin Cities was also unprecedented, as small leaderless neighborhood groups formed into a city-wide network of trained human rights observers and mutual aid coordination. As Operation Metro Surge wound down with the departure of more than 85% of immigration officials, much of the neighborhood and city-wide organizing shifted to election defense. While Minnesota has been a leader in election turnout and new models of cogovernance for years, the people here understand that the country is facing an authoritarian and corrupt government like never before.