The Peruvian right-wing politician Keiko Fujimori looked focused, surrounded by TV cameras on a podium in central Lima.
The result has been announced today by the electoral authority. However, what matters most is the evaluation of the ballot boxes, she said to cheers.
We trust the authorities, but we trust the people's will even more.
Fujimori had repeatedly claimed that the election nine days earlier was marred by fraud. She loudly demanded that half a million ballots be declared invalid or scrutinized, although observers had stated that no significant irregularities had occurred.
From Myanmar to Israel
The scene in Lima unfolded in June 2021, more than a year after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC. Many of them had been egged on by Donald Trump's repeated claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost.
Trump still had to see Democrat Joe Biden move into the White House, and Keiko Fujimori had to swallow her electoral defeat. However, the phenomenon of candidates and parties refusing to accept defeat and questioning election results without evidence continues to spread.
Election denial is spreading across the world, and it has a direct connection to Donald Trump, says Casas-Zamora, who is the secretary-general of Ideas, firmly.
We saw it when the military junta in Myanmar cancelled the election before the latest coup. And (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu has used the same rhetoric when he lost elections in Israel.
Divisive Messages
Global media have been dominated by news about Donald Trump ever since the president moved back to the White House in January. It's about trade wars, deportations, efforts to end wars in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as threats to annex the Panama Canal, Greenland, and Canada.
But it's also being reported that liberal politicians in countries like Australia and Canada have gained ground, as a form of counter-reaction to him. And in some places, like Romania where presidential elections were recently held, it's said that right-wing populists have received a boost from the Magyar movement. The latter is something that Kevin Casas-Zamora is not entirely convinced about, despite the fact that the far-right party AUR's presidential candidate George Simion is an outspoken Trump supporter.
Both Australia and Canada have centrist electorates that can be expected to react to what's happening in the USA. But in Romania, other forces have polarized voters to move towards the extreme right, notes he.
The election result in Canada is, however, difficult to explain without taking into account Trump's divisive political message.
Trump has repeatedly made statements about Canada becoming the "51st state" of the USA. And Canada, along with Mexico and China, were the countries that the president initiated his global trade war against. The Conservative Party was the favourite to win the election there in April, but the dynamics of the election campaign changed due to Trump-induced anxiety. This led to the Liberal Party winning and Mark Carney continuing as prime minister.
Canada is not for sale and will never be, said Carney during a visit to the White House recently.
New Tone
When Republican Donald Trump rode down the golden escalator in Trump Tower in 2015 to launch his presidential candidacy, he did something else that has had global consequences: He lowered the bar for what is considered acceptable for politicians to say.
In his first campaign speech, Trump claimed that the USA had become a "dumping ground" for other countries' problems. He accused migrants from Mexico of being rapists who brought drugs and crime. Shortly thereafter, Trump began setting derogatory nicknames for his opponents, names that were often written in capital letters on social media.
Such rhetoric had hardly ever been heard in the world's democracies, hardly even among authoritarian leaders or populists. But many took after him.
He has changed the political tone. With that, it's important to distinguish between cause and symptom. On one level, Trump is a genius, his language is so adapted to today's political communication, says Casas-Zamora.
On social media, subtle, thoughtful messages have given way to a harsher tone, reasons the Ideas chief. Trump can be seen as a product of that development. And the former reality TV star knows how to use the media.
Everyone who has been on social media knows that the sensational works. The algorithms like it.
Erdogan is Watching
In a time of profound changes – such as the climate crisis, the digital transformation, and migration – voters historically tend to seek out "strong men" who claim to be able to maintain order. From that perspective, it's not surprising that Donald Trump appears to be acting to strengthen the presidency by taking control of courts, universities, and organizations. But is he thereby a democratic threat?
Political scientist Dr. Casas-Zamora, who was the deputy vice president of Costa Rica and has taught at Georgetown University in the USA, draws on the answer.
Much of what's happening in the USA is deeply problematic. The notion that one can act without accountability strengthens autocratic leaders worldwide. (Turkish President) Erdogan is following the development closely.
2024 was a "super election year" when more than half of the world's population went to the polls. But democracy as such continued to erode. The average in the annual ranking Democracy Index by The Economist Intelligence Unit fell to 5.17 on a ten-point scale. That's the lowest average since the measurement began in 2006. In 2023, the average was 5.23.
Currently, 45 percent of the world's population lives in a democracy, 39 percent under authoritarian rule, and 15 percent in "hybrid regimes", according to the report.
The most democratic country is Norway (9.81), followed by New Zealand (9.61), Sweden (9.39), Iceland (9.38), and Switzerland (9.32).
At the bottom of the list are Afghanistan (0.25), Myanmar (0.96), and North Korea (1.08).
The USA (7.85) is 28th and is classified as a "flawed democracy".
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
Born in 1946 in Queens, New York, where he also grew up. Has an economics degree with a focus on real estate from the University of Pennsylvania.
When Trump was 25, he took over as CEO of the family company Elizabeth Trump & Son, which was later renamed The Trump Organization. The business empire is primarily focused on the construction industry, real estate, and media.
Is the father of five children and is married for the third time. His current wife is Melania Trump, who was born in Novo Mesto in what was then Yugoslavia, now Slovenia.
The outspoken Republican won the presidential election with the promise to "make the USA great again", he was the country's 45th president from 2017 to 2021. Failed to be re-elected in November 2020, but won the election in 2024 and is now the USA's 47th president.
Donald Trump was the first president who did not have prior experience as an elected politician or military officer.
