Latin American politics over the past decade has been defined by a plethora of leftist leaders who have been elected to the presidency in what some have deemed the “pink tide”. These government chiefs range from the socialist/populist (Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega) to the more moderate/pragmatic (Uruguay’s Tab Vasquez, Brazil’s Lula). Yet several emerging center-right figures may help send the “pink tide” out to sea.Take the case of Chile. Center-left President Michelle Bachelet leads the governing Concertación coalition which has won all four presidential elections since the country’s return to democracy in 1990. With Bachelet unable to run for a second straight term, the Concertación is pinning its hope on former president Eduardo Frei. But with five months before the presidential election it’s conservative opposition leader Sebastian Piñera (image) who holds a big lead over Frei. According to a survey released last week pollster MORI, Piñera would get 43% of the vote compared to Frei’s 21%. Should there be a second round, Piñera would win 46% versus 30% for Frei according to the MORI poll.
The Concertación alliance isn’t the only moderate-left government in danger of being voted out, wrote Rodrigo Orihuela in last week’s Guardian UK. Uruguay and Brazil are two other countries where “the mellow, well-behaved left that the international right is willing to praise from time to time” may be out of power within the next 14 months. Orihuela believes that this could occur due to the status quo ruling at a time of economic hardship and “the difficulty popular regional leaders have finding younger and charismatic heirs.”
Should center-right candidates win the presidency then other moderate leaders on the left may become less centrist in order to consolidate their power. Barry Goldwater famously said that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” yet the last thing Latin America could afford are a set of leaders amassed on the far part of either side of the political spectrum.
What do you think, fair reader?
Image- La Opinion
Online Sources- NACLA, Reuters, NASDAQ, Guardian UK, Thinkexsist.com
4 comments:
Panama appears to be on the right track. The new president, Ricardo Martinelli, took office on July 1st. He has make some smart moves in his first month.
"Smart moves" such as what?
1. The curfew on the street kids. There is a problem with youth gangs. 2. Raising the wages of the police. 3.Taking a re-look at past scandals which were swept under the rug. 4. Giving a $100 a month pension to those over 70 who do not have any pension money. 4. Retiring the presidential airplane which is too expensive to maintain. He is using his own plane and not charging the country. 5. He has donated his $4,000 a month salary to NGOs.
He is a wealthy guy and since he already has his money he is not looking at Panama as his personal cookie jar.
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