The victory of Mauricio Macri in Argentina\u2019s recent presidential election, and the overwhelming support the Venezuelan opposition appears to enjoy going into next Sunday\u2019s congressional elections, confirm the wave of anti-populist sentiment in Latin America. What a pity that few outside of Latin America seem to be paying attention.
\nUnlike the United States, where populism is seen as the antithesis of cronyism and elitism, in Latin America it has been propping up the politically powerful for decades, making pawns of the urban and rural poor. Under various \u201ccaudillos,\u201d both military and civilian strongmen, it has eroded democratic institutions and led to massive government intervention, concentrating political and economic power in the hands of the few. The last wave, driven by left-wing caudillos, started in 1999 with the ascent of Hugo Ch\u00e1vez in Venezuela. Ch\u00e1vez was followed by the Kirchners (first N\u00e9stor, then his widow Cristina) in Argentina, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n
Although Brazil\u2019s Workers\u2019 Party government\u2014led by Lula da Silva from 2003 to 2010 and by Dilma Rousseff since then\u2014does not share the authoritarian dimension common to the other governments, it too has been, in economic terms and foreign policy, a bastion of Latin American populism.<\/p>\n
Now, the proverbial chickens are coming home to roost. Brazil\u2019s economy (the largest in Latin America) is in free-fall, due to the decline in commodity prices and the country\u2019s protectionist policies. Venezuela\u2019s economy, dependent on energy prices, is on life support. Argentina\u2019s and Ecuador\u2019s economies are sputtering. Thanks to crony populism in major parts of the region, Latin America as a whole will barely grow this year. And it is the poor, of course, who will suffer the most, not the elites.<\/p>\n
The great news, a decade and a half after Ch\u00e1vez inaugurated this populist era south of the Rio Grande, is that the people are saying basta\u2014enough\u2014to the demagoguery, abuse of power and economic diktats.<\/p>\n
The defeat of the Kirchner government in Argentina was the first strong sign of the new Latin American zeitgeist. Next Sunday Venezuelan voters, the polls tell us, will strongly repudiate the Hugo Ch\u00e1vez legacy, although widespread election fraud is likely. Chavisimo won\u2019t go quietly.<\/p>\n
Similar stories are emerging elsewhere. Barely 10 percent of Brazilians support President Rousseff, and legal proceedings began this week that could lead to her impeachment. Ecuador\u2019s Correa had to suspend his attempt to change the election rules so he could seek permanent reelection. And so on.<\/p>\n
It gets more interesting. It has not been uncommon for Latin Americans disillusioned with left-wing populist governments to turn to new forms of populism. In many protests by the emerging middle class in the last couple of years we have heard calls for further radicalization, rather than rejection of populism. This has been a particularly common thread in some of the rallies against Rousseff.
\nNot this time. The recent elections and polls are telling a different story: a clear shift toward free markets and transparent government, not populist radicalization.<\/p>\n
Regardless of whether the leaders are consistent and will engage in real free-enterprise reform, it is clear that Macri\u2019s victory in Argentina amounted to a repudiation of left-wing populism, with its favoritism, price controls and nationalizations, and a call for economic liberalization.<\/p>\n
That call is being heard elsewhere as well. The most popular leaders in Venezuela are free market\u2013oriented politicians, such as Leopoldo L\u00f3pez (who is in jail), Mar\u00eda Corina Machado (who is banned from traveling overseas) and Antonio Ledezma, mayor of Caracas (now under house arrest). The polls in Brazil indicate that A\u00e9cio Neves, an open critic of his country\u2019s protectionist policies, would replace Rousseff if the election were held today.<\/p>\n
We are talking about a potentially epochal shift towards political and economic freedom and modernization in the Western Hemisphere, ten years after the Fourth Summit of the Americas buried plans for the free circulation of capital, goods, services and ideas from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.<\/p>\n
Who knows? If they would pay attention north of the Rio Grande and elsewhere, maybe these proposals could come back from the dead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The victory of Mauricio Macri in Argentina\u2019s recent presidential election, and the overwhelming support the Venezuelan opposition appears to enjoy going into next Sunday\u2019s congressional elections, confirm the wave of anti-populist sentiment in Latin America. What a pity that few outside of Latin America seem…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-national-interest"],"yoast_head":"\n