Latin America goes Left
Latin America already has four left-wing governments and by all indications this number is set to rise when twelve countries go to the polls between now and next year, including regional power houses Venezuela and Mexico. Next month voters in Chile get to decide if they want to elect the left’s Michelle Bachelet as the country’s first female president. While in Bolivia, elections are also taking place in December with opinion polls backing the left-wing presidential candidate Evo Morales, an indigenous and former leader of the coca farmers. So by this time next year the region could have a very different political landscape and one that’s unlikely to impress the United States. Dr Ralph Newmark is a research fellow at La Trobe University’s Institute of Latin America. He’s speaking with Paulina Vidal on why the left still carries sway in Latin America.