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Presidents Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Evo Morales of Bolívia, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brasil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, at the World Social Forum Latin America in 2008

The past twenty or so years in South America have seen several powerful electoral victories of socialist-aligned candidates and parties, followed by years of reform. Eventually the momentum for change slowed, however, to be followed by disappointment and defeat. This article is a quick attempt at taking stock, and, on a superficial level, to begin the self-criticism that is supposed to be part of progressive and socialist movements. I highlight three countries: Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, because those three had unambiguously successful socialist victories in contested elections, and because they illustrate distinct problems.

First I mention a few common features. The main one of course is the United States, and here are several aspects: the many acts of political and military destabilization that originate with the US government; the heavy-handed corporate imperialism, whereby large international corporations control the extraction of key resources and the production of key export goods; and the overall neo-liberal management of the global system of commerce and finance, up to now dominated by the United States via the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. This neo-liberal apparatus stymies many independent domestic initiatives, and discredits them as well through research and publications. Continue reading →