Corruption scandals, the fall of commodity prices, and recent electoral outcomes in Latin America have given rise to the thesis that the left is in decline throughout Latin America. Argentina’s November elections overturned the ruling Peronist coalition, bringing the center-right pragmatist Mauricio Macri to power on December 10. In Brazil, almost daily arrests and revelations in the massive Petrobras corruption scandal threaten the government of President Dilma Rousseff, while Chile’s reputation for good governance has been eroded by graft charges around and within the government of President Michele Bachelet. Meanwhile, polls point toward a historic loss for chavismo in Venezuela’s legislative elections on December 6.
Are we witnessing the end of the so-called “left turn” in Latin America, and is the right poised for a comeback? How might the right’s experience in the political wilderness since 2000 shape what happens next? What does the possible resurgence of the right mean for individual countries and for the future of democratic governance across the region?
