Support for democracy in Panama fell nine percentage points to 45%, according to Latinobarómetro’s latest regional public-opinion survey.
The result is down from 54% in 2024 and places Panama seven points below the 2026 Latin American average of 52%.
Latinobarómetro conducted 1,000 face-to-face interviews in Panama between May 7 and June 17. The organization reports a margin of error of three percentage points for individual countries.
Panama recorded the largest decline among three countries where support fell following a recent change in government. Uruguay declined by six points and Bolivia by two.
The report links Panama’s result to diminished expectations following the 2024 election and wider dissatisfaction with the state’s ability to respond to public needs. That interpretation describes an association found by the researchers; the survey does not establish a single cause for the decline.
Only 14% of Panamanian respondents said the state had done “much or something” for them and their families during the preceding three years. That was the joint-lowest result in the region and below the Latin American average of 26%.
Distrust also extended to public spending and political representation. Eighty-six percent said they did not trust the state to spend tax revenue properly, while 78% said they did not feel represented by the National Assembly.
The survey found potentially significant tolerance for alternatives to democratic government. Fifty-five percent said they would not object to a non-democratic government taking power if it solved the country’s problems, while 64% supported the idea that some governmental “firmness” or “strong-handed” leadership could be beneficial.
Those responses do not mean that the same percentage actively supports dictatorship. They indicate a willingness to place problem-solving above democratic procedure under the wording used by the survey.
The findings also capture opinion at a particular moment. Interviews ended in June, before the current dispute between Panama’s Electoral Tribunal and National Assembly over proposed changes to election rules.
Sources: Latinobarometro 2026
