Much has been written on the rise of the left in Latin America, but there has been a lack of academic analysis of the right’s response to the ‘pink tide’ sweeping the continent. This new book redresses this imbalance and is essential reading for all those interested in understanding 21st century Latin American politics.
The book, structured around themes, studies US hard and soft power in the region and dedicates individual chapters to states where the right is in office – including Colombia, Mexico and Peru – and states where the right is in opposition – including Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. It offers an exhaustive assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the political right and considers how the right is realigning in response to an inclusive and participatory mass electorate.
Although written by a number of academics, the collection provides a cohesive expose of the underlying hypocrisy of the Washington Consensus and the close relationship between right-wing movements and the US government. It shows how the right has sought to claim ownership of terms such as ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ whilst practising street violence, murder and military coups.
The collection shows that US influence remains all pervasive – whether funding ‘transition’ strategies in Venezuela and Cuba or implanting military bases across the continent – but also that the right is varied and multifarious in its constitution. Recurring themes include the prevalence of social conservatism underpinned by traditional Catholic institutions or well-financed Evangelical Protestantism; embedded capitalist classes obstructing left-wing presidencies through the judiciary or big business; and the role of private media.
Dr Steve Ludlam considers the counter-revolutionary role of the Cuban right-wing opposition which – unlike anywhere else in Latin America – exists almost entirely in exile. Ludlam examines the history of US intervention in Cuba – including destabilisation, invasion, sabotage and terrorism – and recognises how emphasis is shifting towards promoting an oppositional ‘civil society’.
The Cuban exile community has driven American-Cuban policy whilst the US government have turned a blind eye to terrorism carried out within the Cuban community in Miami against any individuals or businesses that promoted dialogue with Cuba. Furthermore, a number of Cuban exiles served right-wing regimes across Latin America. Orlando Bosch was security adviser to General Pinochet in Chile and Luis Posada Carriles ran Venezuela’s intelligence service.
Ludlam observes that the real challenge to Cuba’s right has come from within its own community. The exile movement remains immensely well-funded, but its influence over ‘Exilio City’ has been compromised by the changing class characteristics of Cuban-American migrants and the emergence of less extreme younger generations. Furthermore, the strengthening of the blockade under George W. Bush – in restricting travel to Cuba and remittances – has divided the community.
Steve Ludlam and Geraldine Lievesley conclude that there is little evidence to suggest that a coherent post-neoliberal right is emerging but warn the left to be wary of the threat and ask whether left-wing governments should “proceed relentlessly in a socialist direction on the assumption that this is the best defence against a ruling class that will eventually move more or less violently against such a government”.
Dan Smith
