At the turn of the century, a political phenomenon known as the Pink Tide occurred in numerous countries across Latin America. It signified a shift from the previously dominant neoliberal and Washington-oriented parties towards a more left-wing form of leadership. The tide was referred to as pink due to the association of the colour red with communism. These governments, however, were often much less hardline and focused more on moderate socialist policies. Thus, the tide was considered pink and not red. These new Latin American governments were often characterized as being anti-American and populist. During the 2010s, following this shift in politics, a conservative wave spread, and right-wing leaders began replacing left-wing governments across Latin America. Viewed as a direct reaction to the Pink Tide, this conservative wave resulted in an increase of hardliner nationalist governments being elected to power. In recent years, however, a new trend has been noticed, dubbed by some as the Second Pink Tide. Starting in 2018 with the election of AMLO in Mexico, the Latin American left has achieved significant electoral victories that surpass what was accomplished during the First Pink Tide.
During the Cold War, left-wing governments elected to power were, without exception, targeted by military coups backed by the United States. Following the end of the Cold War and the breakdown of the US-backed military dictatorships that had ruled many countries, the populations of these countries began turning left once more. The First Pink Tide began with the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 1998 and was followed by notable leaders such as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, elected in 2002 in Brazil, and Evo Morales, elected in 2005 in Bolivia. These three leaders became the main faces of the Latin American left, and other Pink Tide candidates often looked to them as examples to follow. Another Pink Tide leader, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was elected in Argentina in 2007, stated that Chavez, Lula, and Morales were “the three musketeers” of the Latin American left. These governments harnessed popular disapproval and rejected neoliberal economics and the Washington Consensus. They instead focused on tackling inequality and injustice. Many of these governments targeted the dispossessed indigenous populations in their messaging, pushing forward the fight for social justice for these populations. Several leaders, including Chavez and Morales, were indigenous themselves, which lent more credence to their rhetoric of social justice and equality.
Nevertheless, every action has a reaction, and the shift did not maintain itself forever. Following the Pink Tide, some populations in certain countries started to become dissatisfied with their left-wing governments. Rising inflation and perceptions of corruption resulted in many people wanting a change to the status quo. Additionally, a new wave of nationalism became intertwined with perceived Chinese interference in Latin America and right-wing political parties were quick to seize on this feeling among the populace. Because of the association with reactionary elements of society during this political change and the focus on extreme nationalism, this conservative wave is sometimes called the Brown Tide, due to the colour brown being associated with fascism. The Brown Tide culminated in the election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil in 2018. His campaign as a far-right candidate used an image of himself comparable to that of Donald Trump in the United States. The election of Bolsonaro showed that right-wing nationalism was gaining ground in Latin America.
The Brown Tide did not last, however, and soon the left was back on the rise in Latin America. The same year that Bolsonaro was elected, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also known as AMLO, won the election in Mexico by a landslide and unseated the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party that had held power for the previous 71 years. AMLO’s victory was soon followed by more left-wing victories in Argentina in 2019, Bolivia in 2020, and Peru, Honduras, and Chile in 2021. Bolivia in particular was notable, as it had recently undergone a political crisis in 2019 in which President Evo Morales was forced to resign in what was commonly accepted as a coup backed by facets of the United States. After a year under the right-wing leadership of the unelected Jeanine Áñez, the party of Evo Morales, Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), won by a landslide in the 2020 election and Luis Arce, also known as Lucho, became the President of Bolivia.
Following this series of left-wing victories, 2022 arrived with two highly anticipated elections in Colombia and Brazil. In Colombia, the election began with the previously dominant conservative candidates losing in the first round; resulting in a runoff between former left-wing guerilla fighter Gustavo Petro and businessman Rudolfo Hernández whose campaign had primarily focused solely on anti-corruption messaging. After a relatively close race, Petro beat Hernández. This victory was notable because Colombia had never before elected a leftist. As Petro was the first left-wing leader in the country’s history, his victory further cemented the resurgence of the Pink Tide as a real political phenomenon that wasn’t showing any sign of slowing down.
The Colombian election was followed by the Brazilian election between far-right nationalist Jair Bolsonaro and former left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who had previously been arrested under corruption charges which were later overturned and widely viewed as having been politically motivated. This election was watched closely by international observers, not just because the candidates represented two vehemently opposing worldviews but also because Bolsonaro, taking a page out of Donald Trump’s book, had spent much of his campaign spouting claims of potential election fraud, leading many to question whether he would accept defeat. As October rolled in, extremely high dissatisfaction with the Bolsonaro government tied in with a failing economy led to Lula leading heavily in the polls, with some even assuming that he might win the election outright in the first round. However, such was not the case. Although Lula did win the first round, he fell just shy of the necessary 50%. Bolsonaro, on the other hand, overperformed, and the election went to a runoff. The runoff, held a month later, also became extremely close, with Lula just barely managing to beat Bolsonaro. After multiple days of silence from the Bolsonaro campaign, with many fearful that he might outright deny the election, Bolsonaro eventually came forward and allowed for the transfer of power to commence. However, despite allowing the transition to begin, Bolsonaro still has yet to actually concede the election and has still left open the possibility for himself to claim election fraud. In a similar fashion to Republicans after the 2020 election in the United States, Bolsonaro supporters have also been protesting the election, claiming fraud and demanding Bolsonaro remain as president.
With the victory of Lula in Brazil, the future of the Latin American left looks secure. A glance at a map shows that the vast majority of countries in Latin America now have left-leaning governments. Whether or not it remains this way is another question. As seen before, left-wing elections are often met with fierce resistance from reactionary sectors of society and can result in pushback in the form of nationalist and conservative victories. Nonetheless, the victories of the Latin American left show a vehement rejection of the Washington Consensus and a desire to move even further away from the neoliberal status quo.
Edited by Alyana Satchu
Alexander Morris-Schwarz is a third-year student at McGill University where he is majoring in Political Science with a minor in Communication Studies. Alexander is currently a staff writer for Catalyst and he is interested in international relations and imperialism.