Are Liberal Democracies at Risk? The New and the Old in Latin America's Right-Wing Revival Joshua Frens-String and Alejandro Velasco - NACLA
go to original December 9, 2016

Are liberal democracies around the world at risk? Harvard University lecturer Yascha Mounk joins CBSN to explain why he believes democratic values around the world are in jeopardy, including in the U.S. (CBS News)
 

By now it’s undeniable: After over a decade of leftist governance, Latin America is in the midst of a major shift right. The evidence is everywhere, and striking.

In Brazil, conservative elites capitalized on rising discontent over corruption and economic malaise to oust Dilma Rousseff under the thinnest of legal pretexts. In Argentina, a technocratic coalition stunned a long entrenched Peronism to handily win the presidency, and has since moved steadily to remake the country’s social and economic landscape in ways that threaten gains won by progressive social movements, labor activists, and the human rights community. In Colombia, former president Álvaro Uribe led an alliance of religious, economic, and political reactionaries to scuttle an historic chance at peace after decades of civil war - as clear an indication as any that the Right’s power is real and growing.

Less clear is what is new, and what is different, about this moment of right-wing ascendance from previous eras of conservative rule in the region. How, if at all, have right-wing politics adapted to changes in Latin America’s social landscape since the “pink tide” generated massive expectations of economic and political inclusion? What links together right-wing movements region wide, and what sets them apart from one country to the next? Ultimately, what does the Right mean today, and how can a better appraisal of its contours help the Left in Latin America and beyond organize in response?

These questions inform our latest NACLA Report. Our contributors consider both national-level experiences and regional implications of Latin America’s current right turn. We begin by probing the ideological foundations of the Right today. Despite more than a decade of policies privileging state-led development and social welfare, writes Barry Cannon, free market thinking thrives among regional elites. Moreover, its embrace by business leaders and politicians is primed to undo the policies progressive governments have advocated over the last decade.

Read the rest at Taylor & Francis Online

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