Latin American politics and international relations

“Latin American politics and international relations” – some points I made in my lecture at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, on 20 July 2022
 

Latin American politics and international relations are more colourful, eventful, exciting, explosive and distinct from other parts of the world.  The history of Latin American politics is filled with dramas, comedies and tragedies. The region is known for crazy caudillos, bloody military coups, brutal dictators, glorious revolutions, deadly guerilla wars and fierce ideological competition between Marxism, Maoism, Leninism and Trotskyism. In fact, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City in 1941.
 
A Bengali revolutionary MN Roy had added to the colour of Latin American politics.  He was a co-founder of the Communist Party of Mexico before he came back to found the Communist party of India. He spent over two years in Mexico from 1917 to 1919. When he travelled to Russia for a Communist conference, the Mexican government had given him a diplomatic passport with the false name of Roberto Vila Garcia to avoid the British and American harassment due to his communist activities. Roy called Mexico as 'the land of his rebirth'. 
The politics of Latin America has evolved in four stages:
 
First- Era of caudillos and oligarchs from the 1920s to 1950. 
 
Second - Era of cold war politics 1950-1980. In the name of the war on communism, hundreds of thousands of leftists were hunted, detained, tortured and killed by the military dictatorships supported by the US. The defining moments of this era were:
1954 overthrow of the democratically elected leftist president Arbanz of Guatemala and installation of a military dictatorship
1959 Cuban Revolution was an inspiration to leftists in the region. The iconic leaders Fidel Castro and Che Guevara had impact and influence around the world. 
1973 overthrow of the leftist government of Allende followed by the brutalities the Pinochet dictatorship was a shock to the region. 
1979 Sandinista Revolution in 1979 and the overthrow of the US-backed Somoza dictatorship was yet another moment of celebration of the Left.
 
Third- Transition period 1980-1990 when the military dictatorships ended and democracies were restored. But the fragile democracies were subjected to imposition of neoliberal policies of the Washington Consensus. This had worsened the poverty and inequality in the region.
 
Fourth- Era of Pink Tide since 2000.  In the elections held in the first decade of the century, people voted for leftist leaders like Lula, Lugo, Vasquez, Correa and Chavez who had agendas for the poor. The high commodity prices and global demand had certainly helped the leftist governments who had brought down poverty levels. However some leftist governments were voted out in the second decade because of issues of corruption and abuse of power. Rightists were elected in some countries such as Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. But in the last few years, the Left has bounced back. Mexico and Colombia have elected leftist governments for the first time in the last seven decades. In Brazil, Lula is expected to come back to power in the October 2022 elections. This will complete the Latin American circle of the left. This is the first time that the seven largest and most important Latin American countries with the biggest markets – Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Venezuela - will all be ruled by leftist governments. This is unprecedented in the history of the region.
The leftist authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua need to open up, reform and become democratic. Until then these countries would be black marks for Left in the region.
The democracies of the region have now become more stable and stronger. Political power has moved out of the barracks and oligarchic mansions to the streets. Top-down politics has given way to bottoms-up. It is the new empowered masses who matter the most in the elections and who drive the political and economic agenda of the region. Obviously they elect those leaders and parties who have the agenda for their welfare. If the elected presidents fail to fulfill their promises, the masses vote them out in the next elections. In a few cases, the masses have brought down elected presidents through agitations and protests even before the completion of their terms. This had happened in Brazil in 1992, in Argentina in 2002, in Bolivia in 2003 and 2005 and in Ecuador in 2000 and 2005. This is good for the long term stability of democracies in the region.
The democracies have become more inclusive and representative. Previously excluded sections of the society have now come to power. The most emblematic of this is the election of Evo Morales as the President of Bolivia in 2005 and his reelection in 2009 and 2014. This is the first time in the history of Bolivia and in South America, a native Indian had become President. Although 60% of the Bolivians are native Indians, they were kept outside the political and economic positions in the last five hundred years. The election of Morales is a moment of pride and honor for the 40 million native Indians in Latin America. For the first time Afro-Latinas have become vice presidents in the region in Costa Rica and Colombia.
The Latin American leftist presidents are a challenge to the traditional hegemony of US. 
Costa Rica has made history in the world by having abolished its armed forces in 1948. It is a civilisational advance. Costa Rica has remained as a beacon of solid and vibrant democratic stability and maturity in Latin America in the last seven decades The country proclaims proudly that they spend their money on education and healthcare instead of arms. 
 
The resurgent pink tide in Latin America is good news for India since the leftist governments, in general, seek closer cooperation and partnership with India to address common developmental challenges in a democratic way. They are keen to import more Indian generic medicines to reduce the cost of health care. They invite Indian IT companies to open more software centres in the region to help with employment and skilling of their human resources. India’s success stories in poverty alleviation, affirmative actions for empowerment of underprivileged and emergence as an IT powerhouse resonate more with the leftist leaders. The leftist governments would be more willing to collaborate with India in UN, WTO and other multilateral fora in the spirit of South-South solidarity. So it is time for India to intensify its engagement with the region.