The Rise of the Left in Latin America

During the late 20th century, politics in Latin America as a whole saw a dramatic shift to the left, ultimately surpassing the center and the right in free and fair elections. Latina American countries were one by one making the shift to the left, and this collective shift came to be known as the Pink Tide. The Pink Tide started in Venezuela in 1998 and it started as a protest movement in Latina America, fighting against the horrible conditions of poverty, inequality and corruption. This movement came about from within the communities, because the poor believed that the Washington Consensus was a free market policy that only supported the elites, so they all wanted their voices to be heard and they were demanding the promotion of their interests as well as their protection.

 

Within the Pink Tide, there were two sides that split the left, the moderate versus the radical approach. The moderate was more concerned with working through the preexisting democratic institutions whereas the radical approach aimed to replace them. The article by Levitsky goes into depth about the rise of the left in Latin America and there are three main topics that help strengthen his argument. The first is that the article explains the sudden rise of the left nearing the end of the 1990s. The second explains the different variations of the leftist groups and the third explains the implications of this left turn for development and democracy throughout the region.

 

I find it interesting how both Levitsky and the article by Holzner from last week both talk about the inequality and how the lower class were being unfairly treated and had very limited political engagement. The article by Holzner explains the effects of the neoliberal reforms in Latin America, more specifically in Mexico, and how the transition to a free market was ideally going to support the total population, yet it became apparent that it favored the elites. Due to the level of poverty that consumed the lower class, the poor had little opportunities to participate politically. Whether there are issues with the division of organizations or whether there is a problem of having to spend the money to travel to the polls and spending a day to travel from rural Mexico and to sacrifice a day of work. This sacrifice can cost a day’s worth of pay and even food to provide for their families. Also, even after making the trip, the lower class still felt like their voices would not be heard.  Holzner talks about the problems that the lower class faced during the transition and I find it interesting how Levitsky picks up afterwards and explains how the poor collectively came together to demand equality, resulting in the rise of the left throughout the region and the ways that the leftists addressed issue of severe social and economic inequalities.