Thanks for that link, even though I think your quote is a bit out of context. I read it to say that in 2010 governments were a lot better than the 'bad old days' but still had a ways to go. What was your take on it?

My take from The Economist article, in what corresponds to your first post, is that there are (almost) no latin american countries run by dictators. The article then goes on to describe the political problems of Latin America. You might have confused those political problems with having dictatorships.

Fair enough. For what its worth I personally don't hold much of an opinion one way or the other. As I said in original comment this perception originates in story bias. I love the Economist and they do a pretty good job of putting the facts in there but having read it now three times, two of them critically, I still come away with the impression that they are "damning with faint praise" these governments.