Reactionary Tide in Latin America

[Judi Lynn]

Reactionary Tide in Latin America

Michael Löwy Latin America and the Caribbean July 17, 2016

Since the beginning of the 21st cen­tury, the Left has won elections in most Latin American countries, in a powerful wave of popular rejection of the disastrous neoliberal policies of the previous regimes. One must however distinguish between two quite different sorts of left governments:

•Social-liberal coalitions, which do not break with the fundamental “Washington Consensus” but implement several progressive social measures. The basic principle of this sort of government is to do what is possible to improve the situation of the poor – on the condition not to touch the privileges of the rich. The left, or center-left governments of Brazil, Uruguay and Chile are the most obvious examples.

•Anti-oligarchic, anti-neoliberal and anti-imperialist governments, who set as their historical horizon “Socialism of the 21st Century.” Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador belong to this category.

Other leftist governments, in Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador or Argentina, seem to be somewhere in between, or on the margins, of these two types. Substantial gains were made by the popular layers in most of these countries, thanks to the social redistribution of the rent, particularly from oil and gas extraction (Venezuela and Bolivia). But none of these governments effectively confronted the basic structures of the capitalist system, and no real attempt was made toward a transition to socialism. So far, socialist Cuba with all its shortcomings remains the only such experience.

More:
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/reactionary-tide-in-latin-america

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