Second pink wave takes Latin America’s left to the couch – 04/15/2023 – Bruno Boghossian

The second pink wave in Latin America took the region’s left to the couch. Leaders who took power in recent years defend adjustments to avoid what they consider the mistakes of the previous cycle, in the 1990s and 2000s. Other wings seem convinced that updating the agenda of this field could mean its destruction.

Social justice is the bridge that unites the two waves, with the reduction of inequalities and the role of the State as the main pillars. Sharp contrasts, on the other hand, are displayed in public in assessments of the breadth of the so-called identity agenda and tolerance of anti-democratic conduct.

In recent months, two leftist leaders have summed up what can be described as a conflict with ideological and generational roots.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro told reporter Sylvia Colombo in January that the “first progressivism” made mistakes. Elected in 2022, the former guerrilla said that the leaders of the past wave did not pay attention to climate change and criticized “Cuba’s statism, surveillance and influence” in that cycle.

Rafael Correa, who governed Ecuador from 2007 to 2017, turned his nose up at the current generation. In an interview with Fábio Zanini at the end of March, he chastised Chilean President Gabriel Boric for his criticism of authoritarianism in Venezuela. Afterwards, he stated that the left is wrong to place issues such as abortion, sexual rights and gay marriage at the center of the agenda.

Part of the distance between the two groups is the result of a clash of worldviews – from moral convictions to a deference to the socialism of the past. But there are also leagues of pragmatism, on the grounds that the platform of customs on the left scares away a conservative majority in the region and throws voters into the lap of the extreme right.

Postponing or interdicting an emphatic defense of minority rights is a cruel path. It amounts to asking vulnerable groups to remain unprotected because it would be necessary to avoid political defeats. At the same time, it exposes the dilemma that the victory of conservatism would lead, in practice, to the restriction of these few rights.

A rare specimen of both waves, Lula chose pragmatism in the last election by focusing on an economic discourse aimed at the poorest, trying to escape Bolsonarist traps in the field of customs. The petista, however, maintained a firm rhetoric in defense of the rights of minorities and absorbed items from the green agenda – even if the frustration of his base more to the left is inevitable in the future.

I go on vacation for three weeks and give readers a break. See you back!

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