Pink tide 2.0 in Latin America? Not so fast…
When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat incumbent far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s elections last year, something seemed to be brewing in Latin America.
With Lula’s victory, the continent was on the verge of having left or center-left governments in at least six different nations in South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela).
The left contingent was bolstered further around the region with governments in Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras. And it was the first time all the region’s five biggest economies had been ruled by left-leaning leaders at the same time.
The success of various leftist agendas made it impossible to avoid comparing the current moment to the region’s Pink Tide of the early 2000s. But beyond the stark economic differences between the two periods (one had a commodities boom, the other a pandemic bust), it is fair to say that the Latin American right is not exactly defeated.
In Paraguay, the center-right Santiago Peña was elected this year. Uruguay is also no longer under left-wing control. In Chile, too, the right is dominating the debate over a new draft constitution, while Peru will have a conservative leader until at least 2026.
And now, in a possible sign that a shift may be coming, the latest piece of bad news for the left in Latin America comes from Argentina, where libertarian economist Javier Milei came out on top in the country’s presidential primaries.
A victory for Mr. Milei, which is now far from mere speculation, would mean a major Latin American decision-maker coming under right-wing control, becoming a solid replacement to the departed Mr. Bolsonaro, just across the border.
So, yes, the left still has the upper hand throughout the continent. But things may soon change.
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