A critical analysis of 21st century progressive Latin American governments in “Latin America’s Pink Tide: Breakthroughs and Shortcomings”

ZNET has just posted excerpts of my introduction to the book “Latin America’s Pink Tide: Breakthroughs and Shortcomings.” One of the points I make is the criticism of Pink Tide governments for often not having taken advantage of moments in which their parties were in a position of strength in order to deepen the process of change and take harsh measures to combat corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency. An example was Maduro’s strong position vis-à-vis the opposition following the Chavista handsome victory in the municipal elections of December 2013 and then the defeat of the opposition-led “guarimba” protests of 2014. That moment stands in sharp contrast with his current situation in which his back is up against the wall. A similar propitious moment was in Brazil after Lula won the 2006 presidential elections with over 60 percent of the vote. These and other criticisms (and “self-criticisms”) need to be widely discussed and assimilated on the left.

https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/excerpts-from-the-introduction-by-steve-ellner-of-latin-americas-pink-tide/