21st Century Democratic Socialism in Latin America
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Since the 1998 election of Hugo Chávez as President in Venezuela and the beginnings of his "Bolivarian Revolution" aimed at creating greater equality, Latin American nations have seen a tide of democratically elected socialist and centre-left governments emerge. They have been elected in increasing numbers as the poor and middle classes of many countries have become increasingly disillusioned with the neo-liberal economic policies still encouraged by the United States and as a very large gap continues to exist between rich and poor, denying millions of people basic opportunities and necessities.
A long and controversial history of U.S. military and political intervention in the region dating back to the 19th century has severely tarnished the image of the United States in the eyes of many Latin Americans and shapes governments' policies to this day. A recent example of the influence of the aforementioned sentiment was The Latin American and Caribbean Congress in Solidarity with the Independence of Puerto Rico, an international summit held at Panama City, Panama, in which fifteen incumbent political parties (in government) requested that the United States "relinquish its colonial rule over said island-nation and recognize Puerto Rico's independence".
Chavez is joined by the democratic socialist president of Bolivia, Evo Morales (that nation's first indigenous leader), who has adopted strong reformist agendas and attracted overwhelming majority electoral victories. The democratically elected president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa is also an ally of Chavez. Correa describes himself as a humanist, Christian of the left and proponent of socialism of the 21st century.
A number of centre-left/social democratic presidents have also come to power in Latin American countries recently promosing a greater redistribution of wealth within the framework of the free market. They include Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina, Lula da Silva of Brazil, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay, Alan García of Peru, Álvaro Colom in Guatemala and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay. The majority of these governments are still enjoying high approval ratings in their nation's public opinion polls. In Nicaragua's 2006 elections the former Sandinista President Daniel Ortega was re-elected President after having been out of office since 1990.
In Colombia's previous presidential elections, Carlos Gaviria Díaz of the socialist Alternative Democratic Pole came in second place to Álvaro Uribe of Colombia First, a conservative party. While in Peru's previous presidential election Alan García's main challenger was Ollanta Humala of the Union for Peru, a leftwing Peruvian nationalist with close ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The results of the 2006 Peruvian election were close. In El Salvador, the FMLN a former leftwing guerrilla group which once fought against a military dictatorship is now the official opposition to the Salvadoran government.
Other parts of the Developing world have also seen a rise in radical socialist parties and movements. In Nepal following the end of the Nepalese Civil War, the formerly militant Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the more moderate Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) have emerged as the two most powerful opposition parties in the country. In Nepal's 2008 Constituent Assembly elections the Maoists emerged as the largest party allowing them to form an interim government. Their leader, Prachanda has vowed to respect multiparty democracy.
In some of the poorest parts of India, the Communist Party of India (Maoist) has also been fighting a violent insurgency against the Indian government, a similar rebellion is being waged by the Maoist, New People's Army in the Philippines.
Read more about this topic: History Of Socialism
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