Socialism of The 21st Century - Historical Foundations

Historical Foundations

After a series of Structural adjustment loans and debt restructuring led by the International Monetary Fund in the late twentieth century, Latin America experienced a significant increase in inequality. Between 1990 and 1999 Gini coefficient rose in almost every Latin American country. Volatile prices and inflation led to dissatisfaction. In 2000 only 37% of Latin Americas were satisfied with their democracies (20 point less than Europeans and 10 points less than sub-Saharan Africans) In this context, a wave of left-leaning socio-political movements on behalf of indigenous rights, Cocaleros, Labor rights, Womens rights, Land rights, and Educational reform emerged to eventually provide momentum for the election of socialist leaders.

Socialism of the 21st Century draws on indigenous traditions of communal governance and previous Latin America socialist movements including that of Salvador Allende, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Sandinista National Liberation Front.