The Latin American Left

Twelve of the nineteen countries of Latin America are now run by “leftist” governments.

The so-called “pink tide” is really not a shift to what used to be the left. Three (Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua) are repressive far left dictatorships with militaries that run the economies and, in the case of Venezuela and Nicaragua, significant private sector interests that share economic power with the military and the political establishment.

Other “leftist” governments, such as Argentina and Bolivia, are more populist than truly leftist. Most of their leaders are demagogic and prisoners of an ideology that has never produced the wealth necessary to create economies that can truly lift their people out of poverty and bless them with excellent health and educational systems and true freedoms of expression, assembly, and a free and fair electoral system.

The Russo-Ukrainian war has brought out in sharp relief the trend for “leftist” Latin American governments to support Russia and Iran – a religious theocracy with little leftist ideology.

Russian President Putin is a role model for any would-be autocrat. He runs Russia with the same iron grip as Maduro runs Venezuela, Diaz-Canel runs Cuba, and Ortega runs Nicaragua. He oppresses and jails opposition leaders much like they do, and wins “election” after “election” with massive majorities – all rigged and devoid of any strong opposition leaders.

What is strange is that Putin is a right-wing dictator who runs Russia with a compliant oligarchy – yet these leaders treat him like a kindred soul. 

Putin leads the anti-Western world against the United States and its allies, and the United States is the Latin American left’s historical enemy. As well, Russia is a cheap source for weapons, technology, and energy. Latin American governments are used to dealing with Western boycotts as they have demonstrated by their trade with Cuba and Venezuela.

Putin also doesn’t demand democratic institutions or respect for human rights and freedom of expression. On the contrary, it provides a model that many of the leaders seek to implement in their own countries.

Not all Latin American leftists support the dictatorships. At a recent meeting of Latin American leaders, Brazilian president Lula da Silva said that Venezuela must disseminate its “narrative” on the political and economic situation to counteract the negative narratives made by opponents in the international scenario.

This was immediately repudiated by Chile’s Socialist President Gabriel Boric who said that “… the human rights situation in Venezuela is not a narrative construction, it is a reality, it is serious, and I had the opportunity to see, I saw the horror of Venezuelans. This issue requires a firm position”. He was followed by Uruguay’s centrist President Luis LaCalle Pou who said “I was surprised when it was said that what is happening in Venezuela is a narrative. You already know what we think about Venezuela and the Venezuelan government”.

Chile’s Boric is probably the only leftist leader who operates in the 21st century. Latin America’s left appears stuck in the sixties when the Soviet Union was the prime model for leftist revolutionaries, and they marched lockstep with Moscow. He governs with a Pinochet era constitution and his recent effort to change it was rebuffed in a referendum that he did not try to control and whose outcome he respected.

Can the Latin American left create governance models that respect human rights and democratic freedoms as well as lift the marginalized out of poverty? Can they follow Boric and create a new leftist narrative, or will they forever be trapped in the amber of their highly discredited 20th century Marxist ideology?

For now, the answer appears to be a resounding “no!”.

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Edition: Estefanía Cardeña