Latin America is experiencing the second pink ola of its life. The first had been at the turn of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, with the election of Chavez in Venezuela in 1998, followed by those of Lula and Morales (Brazil in 2003 and Bolivia in 2006 respectively). Latin America is experiencing the second pink ola of its life. The first had been at the turn of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, with the election of Chavez in Venezuela in 1998, followed by those of Lula and Morales (Brazil in 2003 and Bolivia in 2006 respectively). These were followed by Michelle Bachelet's Chile, Ecuador with the election of Correa, and many other countries. This parenthesis lasted in the region until the mid-2010s: after Chavez's death, Macri's victory in Argentina and the impeachment of Dilma Roussef, by 2015/2016 the pink tide had come to a halt.
In the years between 2015 and today, Latin America has entrusted its fate to neoliberal politics, which has been presented as the solution to the deep economic and social problems that afflict the region almost structurally. After years of entrenched neo-liberalism and right-wing and centre-right governments, a new pink wave seems to be opening up in Latin America: the process starts with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is elected in Mexico in 2018. Nobody suspected it, but with him began a slow and powerful pink tide that would advance through Latin America over the years. Indeed, he was followed by Alberto Fernández in Argentina, in 2019; Pedro Castillo in Peru, in 2021; Gabriel Boric and Gustavo Petro in Chile and Colombia respectively in 2022. It can already be assumed that Lula will also join this list, after the Brazilian presidential elections scheduled for October this year. His victory would consecrate the new pink ola, delivering Latin America's seven most populated nations into the hands of left- and centre-left governments.
One might ask what has changed and what new horizons the region might have imagined: it is not an ideological factor and a revival of trust in the left, but a disillusionment with the pillar of the centre-right: economic neoliberalism. The pink wave is advancing because of the exhaustion of neoliberalism as a proposal for the region.
The neoliberal promise to multiply wealth is fulfilled, but the complementary promise to distribute this wealth is not. On the contrary, abysmal inequality, exacerbated in times of pandemic, is the norm in Latin American countries. What in fact all these new presidents have in common is the fight against economic inequality. Today's problems cannot be solved with the ideas that caused them yesterday. This is what Latin American voters have concluded. Especially young people, who turned out in unprecedented numbers to vote for the left at the polls. Today, the Left parties, despite their historical complexities in the region, represent the only alternative project to neoliberalism that exists. And it is also a renewed Left: a New Left that has learnt its lesson from the economic failures of Leftist dictatorships. Neither Cuba nor Venezuela nor Nicaragua are a reference for the new rulers, but on the contrary, they are leaders who declare themselves democratic from the start and interested in the prosperity of local free enterprise.
More than radically different from the neo-liberals, the new left-wing governments are seen as their correctives. The promise is different: to strengthen free health and education services and, in some cases, to renationalise other essential services for the population, such as electricity, water distribution or public transport. In other words, the promise is to walk towards a Welfare State, where no inhabitant lacks a minimum for a dignified life. And they embrace the causes of women and sexual and racial minorities, not as a concession to outside groups, but as their own causes.
Boric introduced his administration, declaring it feminist, in his first speech as president. Petro followed the same path and chose a woman activist and black woman as vice-president, Francia Marquez. Castillo vowed that his priority would be the indigenous Peruvians. And Lula continues to embody the exact opposite of Bolsonaro's fascism, with the 'Partido dos Trabalhadores' behind him and a history of left-wing activism that has led him to presidential office in the past.
'The first wave, which lasted from 2003 to 2014, coincided with a great commodity cycle that completely defined the successes and failures of these governments,' says Mathias Alencastro, researcher at the Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning. Nevertheless, Alencastro is optimistic. He argues that Latin America's previous progressive turn was retrospective, fighting the remnants of military dictatorships and US influence in the region. Today, the Latin American left will be pushed to prioritise sustainable development, he says. ‘Climate policy is exactly what differentiates the first and second waves. Without a positive commodity cycle, the left will be forced to be bolder. The green economy bridges this gap'. The differences with the historical left, as well as with the right and centre-right, are numerous and obvious: the progressive governments of the new Latin American left have renewed agendas and different needs, which could be the new strength of the regional left, or what will bring them down again.
How long this hope-fuelled pink wave will last will depend on two factors. The first is the power that the local right will demonstrate in its attempt to undermine its political counterpart. But above all, what will be in the public eye will be the ability of each government to deliver on its promises.
Translated by Margherita Folci
Sources consulted for this article:
https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-61977393
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/opinion/sabina-berman/la-ola-rosa-avanza-por-america-latina
https://unsplash.com/photos/T9CXBZLUvic
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