Want to beat authoritarianism? Look to Latin America | Greg Grandin

Frida Ghitis: For all its faults, Latin America's democratic spirit is surprisingly vital.

She says for all its maladies, it is associated with coups, death squads, dictatorships, inequality, drug violence and now a country, El Salvador , offering itself up to Donald Trump as an offshore prison colony for deportees.

Ghitis says Latin America has had as much experience beating back fascists, long after the second world had ended, than Latin America .

Julian Zelizer : Nationalism in Latin America has long been understood as a gateway to universalism.

When it comes to interstate relations, Latin America is one of the most peaceful regions, Zelizer writes.

Zelizer says the region’s leaders insisted that nations should be organized around the premise of cooperation, not competition, that diplomacy should be used to settle differences, and that war should be a last resort.

Social democrats in Latin America are the true heirs of FDR ’s vision, writes Greg Grandin .

They know that if democracy is to be something more than a heraldic device, it must confront entrenched power.

What gives me hope is that in a place like Latin America , where the forces of reaction are so fierce, social movements continue to fight back against fierce repression.