Pink tide

Background

In the 1990s, following the end of the Cold War, Latin-American countries turned towards neo-liberal economic policies and underwent a process of privatization of public companies, cuts in public spending, foreign investment and espousing of free market policies. These neo-liberal economic policies promoted by the IMF and the World Bank were dubbed as the "Washington consensus". According to the BBC, a "common element of the 'pink tide' is a clean break with what was known at the outset of the 1990s as the 'Washington consensus', the mixture of open markets and privatisation pushed by the United States". The Neo-liberal experiment collapsed in several countries by the end of the decade, leaving the different economies with features such as high level of unemployment, corruption, inflation and increasing inequality. With the difficulties facing emerging markets across the world at the time, Latin Americans turned away from the liberal economics and used the promoted democracy to elect leftist leaders, with nearly half of a dozen elected governments turning to authoritarianism. With China becoming a more industrialized nation at the same time and requiring resources for its growing economy, it took advantage of the strained relations with the United States and partnered with the leftist governments.

According to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a pink tide president herself, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela (inaugurated 1999), Lula da Silva of Brazil (inaugurated 2003) and Evo Morales of Bolivia (inaugurated 2006) were "the three musketeers" of the left in South America. By 2005, the BBC reported that out of 350 million people in South America, three out of four of them lived in countries ruled by "left-leaning presidents" elected during the preceding six years.

Use of the term

The term "pink tide" had become prominent in contemporary discussion of Latin American politics in the early 21st century. Origins of the term may be linked to a statement by Larry Rohter, a New York Times reporter in Montevideo who characterized the election of Tabaré Vázquez as leader of Uruguay as "not so much a red tide…as a pink one." The term seems to be a play on words based on "red tide" (a biological phenomenon rather than a political one) with "red" – a color long associated with communism – being replaced with the lighter tone of "pink" to indicate the more moderate communist and socialist ideas that gained strength.

Despite the presence of a number of Latin American governments which professed to embracing a leftist ideology, it is difficult to categorize Latin American states "according to dominant political tendencies, like a red-blue post-electoral map of the United States." According to the Institute for Policy Studies, a leftist think-tank based in Washington, D.C.:

While this political shift was difficult to quantify, its effects were widely noticed. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, 2006 meetings of the South American Summit of Nations and the Social Forum for the Integration of Peoples demonstrated that certain discussions that "used to take place on the margins of the dominant discourse of neoliberalism, now moved to the center of public debate."

Reaction

In 2006, The Arizona Republic stated:

According to a 2007 report from the Inter Press Service news agency:

Decline

Hugo Chávez, who had "dreams of continental domination", was seen as a threat to his own people according to Michael Reid in Foreign Affairs, with his influence reaching a peak in 2007. The interest in Chávez waned after his dependence of oil revenue led Venezuela into an economic crisis and as he grew increasingly authoritarian. The death of Hugo Chávez in 2013 left the most radical wing without a clear leader, as Nicolás Maduro did not have the same international influence of his predecessor. National policies among the left are divided between the styles of Chávez and Lula da Silva, as Lula focused on the poor people but also in private enterprises and global capital. In 2015, the shift away from the left became more pronounced in Latin America. With The Economist saying the Pink Tide had ebbed and Vice News stating that 2015 was "The Year the 'Pink Tide' Turned". By 2016, the decline of the pink tide saw an emergence of a "new right" in Latin America.

According to The New York Times, "Latin America’s leftist ramparts appear to be crumbling because of widespread corruption, a slowdown in China’s economy and poor economic choices", with the newspaper elaborating that leftist leaders did not diversify economies, had unsustainable welfare policies and disregarded democratic behaviors.

Corruption and protests

Leftist governments in Latin America became ensnarled in corruption. From 2014 into 2016, multiple protests occurred against leftist governments. In Venezuela, the 2014–16 Venezuelan protests occurred due to socioeconomic problems and corruption. The 2014–16 Nicaraguan protests occurred due to actions performed by President Ortega and the construction of the Nicaragua Canal. Millions of Brazilians participated in the 2015–16 protests over corruption surrounding President Rousseff and Lula da Silva, while demanding Rousseff's impeachment. The 2015 Ecuadorian protests occurred when Ecuadorians began to disapprove of actions made by President Correa.

Economy

Economic hardships occurred in countries such as Brazil and Venezuela as oil and commodity prices declined. With leftist governments spending largely on their populist social policies, they failed to save money for a potential drop in commodity prices and saw their economies falter as a result.

According to President of Inter-American Dialogue, Michael Shifter regarding the economic situation:

The United States–Cuban Thaw occurred with Cuba reapproaching the United States when Cuba's main international partner, Venezuela, began experiencing economic hardships.

Public support and elections

Leftist leaders saw a sharp decline of support with Brazil's Dilma Rousseff approval dropping to 9% as of July 2015, Peru's Ollanta Humala at 14% as of October 2015, Chile's Michelle Bachelet near 24% as of September 2015 and Nicolás Maduro at 24.3% in July 2015.

Elections also signified the decline of the Pink Tide. Due to lack of public support, Ecuador's Rafael Correa decided not to pursue reelection. The election of the center-right Mauricio Macri in November 2015 as President of Argentina brought a right-wing government to power, although the populist movements of Peronism and Kirchnerismo (tied to its leader Fernández de Kirchner's popularity) remain strong generally. In Venezuela, the opposition electoral coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable won a 2/3 supermajority of the Venezuelan National Assembly the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election a month after the election of Macri in December 2015. In a referendum held on 21 February 2016 voters rejected, by a narrow margin, a constitutional amendment to allow Bolivian President Evo Morales to run for a fourth term as president. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski won the 2016 Peruvian elections, and becomes yet another country that departs from a centre-left government. On 31 August 2016, Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached and removed from office, with her right-wing vice president Michel Temer taking her place in office.

Presidents elected

Below are Left-wing and Centre-left presidents elected in Latin America since 1995
Note: Centre-left presidents are marked with *