Lula’s election last year was considered the highlight of a second red wave in Latin America with the victory of several leftwing politicians: Colombian Gustavo Petro, Bolivian Luis Arce Catacora, Chilean Gabriel Boric, Peruvian Pedro Castillo and Honduran Xiomara Castro. But the tide has turned, he says Crusoe.
“In the last two elections in the region, the right did significantly better. In Paraguay, the candidate elected was Santiago Peña of the Colorado Party, a traditional rightwing organization. Former leftist President Fernando Lugo’s Guasú Front received just 2% of the vote, earning it just one of the 45 seats in the Senate. Lugo, who was president between 2008 and 2012, was not even reelected in the House of Representatives.”
“In Chile, the big winner was the Republican Party, led by José Antonio Kast, from the populist right. After the left project failed, Chileans voted to form a constitutional council and draft a new charter. Of the 55 seats on the body that will draft the new text, the Republican Party will have 22. Combined with the 11 seats of the centreright Chile Seguro coalition, the right will have 33 seats, guaranteeing a majority for deciding what goes in and what stays outside the new constitution. In the polls for the next presidential election, Kast still leads with 20% of voting intentions, followed by the centreright party Evelyn Matthei with 13%. All other candidates are no more than 4%.”
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