In October of last year, after the victory of Lula da Silva in the presidential elections in Brazil, the idea became significant that the Latin American left managed to retake power in several countries after a short time, setting a course that would be permanent and inexorable, allowing the consolidation of the progressive left throughout the region. In accordance with this logic, it was also argued that the discrediting of the right was of such a magnitude that it would hardly have new options for coming to power in the countries of Latin America, mentioning that Mexico in 2018 was the country that gave the first sign of the new bright stage of the left in Latin America.

a big empty place

In this scenario, although some analysts warned that there was no real ideological change among voters in the region, many expected that the electoral victories of the left incorporate a true belief in the benefits of this trend and a complete rejection of the basic principles of the right. But, as is often the case, political analyzes characterized by prejudice and arrogance usually fall into distortions, one of which is the failure to understand that regardless of any ideology, voters are currently voting for options that represent the opposite of the rulers in each country, a phenomenon that is connected to a general feeling of resentment which exists in different societies. In other words, the political preference of voters in the region is more related to the circumstances of each country, than to an idealized ideological belief under the symbolism of a great homeland.

morning agenda

There are very clear examples of what was said. In Argentina, the presidential elections will be held in October 2023 and if surprises are excluded, which do happen, the party Juntos por el Cambio will most likely win, which will have Horacio Rodríguez Larreta or Patricia Bullrich as presidential candidates; For various reasons, the elections in Argentina have a special meaning in the imagination of the Latin American left, which will certainly see the defeat of Cristina Kirchner’s party as a severe setback. In Venezuela, although presidential elections are scheduled for next year, the country’s authoritarian government did not hesitate to maneuver to try to remove María Corina Machado from the electoral arena, who has so far emerged as the most serious candidate for president. .. mentioned countries, and keep in mind that Machado’s victory would also mean a very strong blow to the narrative of the left marching victoriously through Latin America.

limits of power

Here in Ecuador, there is a possibility of victory in the upcoming elections for the candidate of the Civil Revolution, a movement immersed in the so-called left of the region. An inexorable ideological change by the Ecuadorian voter who is now and forever convinced that the left is the only possible alternative or simply a categorical rejection of what the current government represents? You don’t have to be a political soothsayer to know that. (OR)