The emergence of powerful indigenous parties in Latin America has been greeted by some observers with trepidation. National security analysts in Washington and elsewhere have feared that such movements will be a breeding ground for extremist, anti-capitalist, and racially exclusionary ideas (“A political awakening” 2004, 37; Madrid 2005b; Oppenheimer 2003, 16A). Peruvian novelist and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa has gone so far as to argue that Latin American indigenous movements have disturbing elements that “appeal to base instincts, to the worst instincts of people, like distrust of people who are different” (Olmos 2003). These attitudes, he suggests, “sooner or later will drag us to barbarism.” Indeed, there is an extensive academic literature that suggests that ethnic parties lead to ethnic conflict and the breakdown of democracy.

What impact has the rise of indigenous parties in Latin America had on democracy in the region? Have indigenous parties led to ethnic conflict and exclusion or have they deepened democracy in the region, as some of their supporters would expect?