That is why the left is winning again in Latin America ( บทเรียนการต่อสู้ในอเมริกาลาติน )

 That is why the left is winning again in Latin America

Gustavo Petro won a historic victory in Colombia - maybe the country can finally turn the page

Of:

Kajsa Ekis Ekman

PUBLISHED: TODAY 04.00

This is a cultural article that is part of Aftonbladet's opinion journalism.

Last Sunday, left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro won the presidential election in Colombia, along with his vice-presidential candidate Francia Márquez.

Last Sunday, left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro won the presidential election in Colombia, along with his vice-presidential candidate Francia Márquez.

Photo: Fernando Vergara / AP

CULTURE

A few years ago, it looked as if the right had triumphed on the Latin American continent.

The left-wing governments that had ruled since the late 1990s had been overthrown by coups, soft coups and so-called lawfare. In Brazil, Dilma had been deposed and Lula imprisoned by a judge who was thanked for his job as Minister of Justice in Bolsonaro's government. In Bolivia, Evo Morales had been overthrown and forced into exile by a bloody military coup. In Ecuador, the right had bought over Rafael Correa's successor Lenin Moreno, who immediately after the election made a quick right turn, imprisoned the former vice president and joined the US alliance. And with right-wing presidents in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Peru, many proclaimed the end of "the pink tide" and the greatest democratic socialist project ever.

Now the left is back. With Gustavo Petro in power in Colombia, Boric in Chile, Castillo in Peru, López Obrador in Mexico and Lula on the way back, the Latin American continent is red again for several years to come.

What happened in Colombia is historic. Never before has the country had a left-wing president. This country, so tormented by narcotorism and fifty years of civil war - the longest civil war in the world - also has 7.6 million internal refugees. That the Socialists have succeeded in organizing themselves despite massacres and paramilitary threats is an enormous achievement. But it's more than that - in Francia Márquez, Colombia also gets its first black female vice president, with roots in environmental activism and therefore threatened with death by major miners.

The left-wing successes in Colombia, just like in Chile, are the fruit of the great popular protests of recent years. In Chile, it has been a matter of resolving the legacy of Pinochet, the great inequality and of creating a new constitution. In Colombia, the protests began in 2019 with a general strike against then-President Ivan Duque's economic policy and the killings of people in rural areas. A tax increase to pay off the national debt became the igniting spark in a country where 23 million people can only afford two meals a day.

As a rule, they do not invest in retaining power, but in taking it and enriching themselves as much as possible

The right had power in Latin America, and lost it. Why?

On the one hand, the Latin American right usually has no popular base. They have had difficulty winning elections to any great extent in countries with large popular movements. The middle class is too small and too poor, and the right is often linked to the absolute upper class. In several countries, they have instead resorted to lawfare, pure coups or, as in Colombia, alliances with the drug syndicates and massacres of protesters. But since they often want to maintain democratic legitimacy, it is not possible to postpone the elections forever.

On the one hand, it has to do with the fact that the Latin American right does not have a long-term plan. As a rule, they do not invest in retaining power, but in taking it and enriching themselves as much as possible. They do not create a middle class that can become their electorate, as they do not invest in domestic production or social reforms. This is because the Latin American ruling class is not a nationally independent class, but a satellite to the United States. They seldom own their own means of production, but are intermediaries between American capital and national resources. Their political tasks may, for example, be to ensure that oil, copper and minerals remain privately owned. As a thank you, the White House receives political support.

The issue of relations with the United States is central to Latin American politics. The fact that a majority of the countries on the continent are governed by left-wing governments means that they can enter into trade agreements that do not only benefit the United States. And although there are differences within the Latin American left, the goal of cooperating between countries has always been most important.

But above all, it has been about the fact that the right, and especially the one that has ruled Colombia for so many years, has been extremely brutal. Álvaro Uribe, who ruled between 2002-2010, went by the nickname "The Butcher". With the support of the United States and the banana company Chiquita, he waged a brutal war against the rural population. Officially, it was a war against the FARC guerrillas. In reality, thousands of civilians were killed and millions displaced. Uribe also set up paramilitary organizations that carried out terror against union-active banana workers. A common procedure from the army was to dress the corpses in guerrilla clothes to be able to say that it was FARC members they killed - in battle, because they never got a trial.

Uribe received a medal from George W Bush for his efforts for freedom and democracy. But as a 1991 CIA document shows, Uribe previously had another nickname, El Viejo - The Old Man. He was named after the Medellin cartel, with which he worked closely during his time as senator.

His successor Ivan Duque, who came to power in 2018, is also accused of having extensive cooperation with the drug cartels. A sign that points in that direction is that the pilot employed by Duque in the election campaign was found dead in December 2019 after crashing. There was a load of cocaine in the plane that was to be delivered to the Sinaloa cartel. The pilot must also have made extensive contributions to Duque's campaign.

It is no coincidence that Colombia and Mexico have been the countries where the left has had the most difficulty

When the right includes symbiosis with drug terrorism, it is extra difficult for popular movements to organize. Violence and brutality make people live in constant fear, and paramilitaries can be deployed against unions at any time. It is no coincidence that Colombia and Mexico have been the countries where the left has had the most difficulty.

Now both are governed by left-wing governments. Petro, an old guerrilla leader, is today a Social Democrat and says that his first reform will be a land reform that will distribute land to mothers. These are big promises - it can be a flat case. It could also be that Colombia is turning the page. That the United States now has a focus elsewhere, and its hands are busy with Russia, is, as always, a good sign for Latin America. Hopefully, the continent can survive invasions and coups in the coming years and develop in peace.