Indigenous Political Representation in Latin America: Problems and Perspectives

In many Latin American countries, indigenous peoples make up a significant part of the electorate, thus creating potential opportunities for their active participation in the formation of power structures. However, for a long time, the ruling elites have sought to limit their representation at all levels of government and local self-government. The situation began to change only after the process of democratization of political systems and regimes began in the 1980s. Based on the methodology of comparative analysis, the article assesses the successes and failures of indigenous peoples' movements seeking adequate representation of their interests in various Latin American countries. Special attention is paid to the problem of creating their own political parties capable of representing and defending not only the rights of indigenous people, but also, in general, contributing to the democratization of political processes in the region, expanding the boundaries of representative democracy in fairly complicated socio-economic and institutional conditions.