The left’s victories in the Latin American presidential elections held in the past two years suggest greater unity in regional action. The six main countries – Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Peru – can set the agenda and the rest, including right-wing governments, can join the consensus. But in fact, most of this “new left” does not seek consensus, but rather ideological imposition, at the expense of dismantling regional organizations and politically dividing their states.
The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, refused to pass the “interim” presidency of the Pacific Alliance to Peru, because it did not recognize the President of Peru, Dina Boulwart, and that the organization until AMLO’s coming to power had worked out in an exemplary fashion.
In contrast to the politicized Mercosur, the Pacific Alliance made it possible to offer an alternative to countries that had already coordinated their efforts for open economies. (Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile). But AMLO insists that the removal of Pedro Castillo as President of Peru is a coup and is trying to get other like-minded governments to reaffirm this position: even the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Nations (CELAC), which has just been. He was energized by his and Lula da Silva’s impulse, but now he wants to reinvigorate the pact of left-wing governments of the so-called Rio Group, another sub-group in which he is anchoring himself.
for his part, Gustavo Petro He has just completed half a year in the Colombian presidency, breaking the roof. Instead of accepting that he won with only 50.4% of the vote and that governing for all Colombians, as he said his intention was, force him to reach a parliamentary consensus on his alleged reforms, such as health reforms, Petro asked his followers to take to the streets to enforce their standards. A complex economic outlook and lack of a broader majority advise pragmatism for any president, but the Colombian president is showing signs of seeking confrontation, damaging the country’s institutions, and increasing polarization.
Lola’s turn
Lula appears to be heading towards something similar in Brazil, although in his case it is still too early to confirm what direction he will take. Lula also won the minimum, with 50.9% of the vote, and to form a government he needed to add nearly a dozen political parties, distributing ministries to their leaders. Rather than building on that broader base, in recent weeks he has been lashing out hard at Labour, and seems in a mood for revenge for his return to power.
The only left-wing president who goes in the opposite direction is Gabriel Burek. Needing support in Parliament, Borik tried to broaden his base by opening up to the centre-left, without easy appeals to the street. It is possible that his high unpopularity will prevent him from personal and unilateral solutions, but Borek’s defense of institutions shows the value of Chilean democracy.
On the other hand, Borik was the only president of a large Latin American country criticizing without any ambiguity the recent decisions of the Ortega regime in Nicaragua (in the case of Peru, he had already warned that Castillo was the one who wanted to take responsibility for the coup d’état, an estimate shared by Lula) . Meanwhile, López Obrador appeared this week embracing and grooming the Cuban president, whose “deep humanity” has been praised, and Petro was greeted with smiles. Nicolas Maduro , who claims to value his “democratic” values.
This being the case, political fragmentation in Latin America is guaranteed and any serious attempt at regional integration will have to be left for another time. As long as López Obrador and Petro believe that those who do not think like them are “fascists,” they will have no one to sit down with to agree on rapprochement efforts, both nationally and internationally. If Bulwart, who was elected on Pedro Castillo’s left-wing presidential list, was treated with such disdain, who would join them? Peru is out of the potential alliance and Argentina could withdraw if Peronism loses the election at the end of the year. In any case, it must be specified that the only thing that tends to concern Latin American leaders, from one sign or another, is the guarantee of their national power, and not at all the movement towards supranational entities that diminish their power.
