Латиноамериканский исторический альманах (Aug 2022)

“Right Drift” in Latin America: Causes, Outcomes, and Prospects

  • Zbigniew W. Iwanowski

DOI
https://doi.org/10.32608/2305-8773-2022-35-1-133-160
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 35
pp. 133 – 160

Abstract

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After the "golden decade" (2003 - 2013) in Latin America came the pe-riod of economic stagnation and the deterioration of the social situa-tion, aggravated by the pandemic. The author analyzes the reasons for the defeat of the left political forces in the elections and the onset of the so-called "right drift". Special attention is paid to the ideology and practical activities of the governments of the right spectrum, to the par-ticularities of various case studies and to the negative consequences of the “right turn” for the region. The return to the corrected neo-liberal model did not lead to the expected economic efficiency and did not contribute to the solution of accumulated social problems. That is why at the beginning of the new electoral cycle, protest voting again plays a key role. The traditional and new left, having strengthened their posi-tions, received another chance to restrain centrifugal tendencies in the sphere of economic and political integration, to restore “unity in diver-sity” of Latin America and to contribute to the creation of a polycentric world. If the leftist governments do not realize these opportunities, in the future the political pendulum may again swing to the right.

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