RFI asked two specialists if Lula da Silva’s victory in Sunday’s Brazilian presidential election was confirmed a left turn in Latin America and whether it is possible to speak of a homogeneous progressive block in the region. Interviewees, Carlos Malamud, of the Elcano Royal Institute, and Franklin Ramírez of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Latin America (FLACSO), expressed their views.
With Lula’s victory in the presidential election, Brazil joins the group of progressively oriented nations that lead executive powers in Latin America, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico.
But you can talk about it a real left turn of the region? Carlos Malamud is skeptical on this analysis.
“More than looking at the color of the president’s shirt, you have to look at other important issues such as the composition of parliamentfor example, “he explains.
“Many of those (progressive) presidents are in a frank minority. Or they have had to forge alliances with other parties of the center or even of the right “, he points out.
“Moreover, in a context of great economic crisis with difficulties due to the pandemic first, and then to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it seems to me that this talk of progressive alliances helps little to understand the complex reality what’s happening in Latin America, “says Malamud, principal researcher for Latin America at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid.
There are numerous differences in the Latin American left, and not just on economic issues. Here because it’s impossible for those governments to speak with one voice, Malamud points out.
Heterogeneity
“In the group of countries considered progressive there is heterogeneity”, adds the historian.
“There is the elusive government of Daniel Ortega, which is authoritarian, dictatorial. There are other authoritarian governments like that of Cuba or Venezuela, which coexist with others that we could call, with many quotessocial democratic, like Chile and Colombia, “he lists.
“There are others clearly populist or with different populist shades, as in the case of Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia and Honduras. This fragmentation in Latin America prevents those leftist governments from speaking with one voice, ”says Malamud.
“Lula does not win by left”
The political sociologist of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) Franklin Ramírez speaks on the same line, calling the election result in Brazil a victory of a “democratic” leader rather than a “left” leader.
“(In this election) the same conditions do not exist as in 2002, when Lula won,” he says.
“The dynamics of the political confrontation in the region are different. There is a growth of the strong radical right. Lula does not win on the left. It seems to me that it wins for democracy, for civilization, for a certain common sense “, he adds.
And it ends. “So it seems to me that their bets will be very measured, very realistic, but they will mark an axis of integration and regional sovereignty. By playing hard on integration and building a space of open regionalism”.
By Carlos Pizzaro, RFI
Source: Clarin
