A new group of left-wing presidents takes over in Latin America

WHEN GABRIEL BORIC, who is 36 and calls himself a “libertarian socialist”, is sworn in as Chile’s president on March 11th it will mark the most radical reshaping of his country’s politics in more than 30 years. His election in December is also widely seen as part of a new “pink tide” of left-wing governments in Latin America. It followed the victory of left-of-centre presidential candidates in Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia between 2018 and 2020 and in Peru and Honduras last year. Two left-wingers, Gustavo Petro in Colombia and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil, the region’s most populous country, lead in opinion polls ahead of presidential elections in May and October respectively. Latin America, it seems, is poised to swing decisively to the left (see map).