Leftovers

"This is an edited volume that discusses some of the recent left-wing experiences in Latin America and puts them in a regional context to understand why Latin American countries are electing left-wing leaders. It shows how different left-wing leaders in Latin America implement different policies. Some of them are market-friendly while others are clearly following the cold war logic, looking at the US as an adversary rather than an ally. Most people would say that Lula was an excellent left-wing president because of the policies he implemented. He retained the best economic policies implemented by his predecessor but he also put special focus on helping the poor and creating a safety net for those who are left out. You could also say that both Ricardo Lagos and then Michelle Bachelet in Chile did similar things and the president of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, was very good. But because Brazil is so large what happens there is much more important than what happens in the rest of Latin America. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter I would offer a qualified yes as the answer. There is one condition that Latin America countries have to meet and that is the condition of social inclusion. They have to fight inequality and provide their people with the tools so that they can join this market-friendly economy and succeed in it. Market-friendly capitalism will only work if a sufficient number of people are part of the winners. If market-friendly capitalism only works well for the elite then Latin American countries will not be successful. The system worked well for Venezuela in the 1970s and 1980s but given that a lot of people were left out those that were left out eventually reacted and wanted to take part in the process and elected a populist leader, Hugo Chavez, who led the country in the wrong direction. So I think it is not sufficient to have a tiny elite doing well. Distribution of wealth is also a necessary condition for Latin America to be sustainable and for democracy to consolidate and be stable."