This era of plenty was coined the “Pink Tide” – (a reference of the leftist movement’s political philosophy) as Leftist governments took advantage of an already sustained commodities boom after blaming the market oriented policies of their predecessors for economical challenges they were facing at the time.
As a result, a host of left leaning politicians rose to power in a dozen Latin American countries. From Fidel Castro to Kirchner, Da Silva, Morales to Correa and the most bombastic character of them all, the late Hugo Chavez; the first generation of the left was iconic.
The pink tide was fueled by good times, as high global prices for commodity exports, such as soybeans in Brazil, oil and gas in …show more content…
Some expert economists cite economic failures like overdependence on commodities and income inequality; others say cultural failures like corruption in Brazil and Chile or the paternity scandal plaguing Morales in Bolivia, or perhaps the ideological excesses of zealots like Maduro, or their enemies. At the other end of extreme measures, Evo Morales recently echoed the sentiments of Fidel Castro in blaming American scheming for the string of leftwing defeats, and calling for a counter revolution to save communism in Latin America.
No matter how “TRUE” this might appear, a counter revolution may not be feasible judging by the magnitude of the economic crisis that is already ravaging Latin American strongholds.
Last year’s devastating defeat of the socialist Chavista government in Venezuela’s parliamentary elections, together with the end of 12 years of Peronist rule in Argentina, has been deemed an introduction to the end of a long phase of left-wing hegemony in much of Latin