O
ne of the key legacies of the Reagan era was the creation of the Washington Consensus, the political-economic doctrine that continues to define neoliberalism. The proliferation of the Washington Consensus led to the widespread promotion of market deregulation, privatization, structural adjustment policies, and the growth of international institutions, namely the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Neoliberalism was not universally popular, however. After implementing the policy recommendations of the Washington Consensus, many Latin American nations found themselves plagued by worsening and stagnant conditions for the poor and landless, increased public sector debt, currency crises, recession, and rising unemployment. The backlash was swift. Beginning with the election of the Chavez administration in 1998, a ‘Pink Tide’ of democratically-elected left-wing governments quickly spread across the region, leading to left-leaning governments in Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia, among others.1 This paper debunks three of the key misconceptions regarding the Pink Tide: the notion that governments it swept into power were seldom truly socialist (though assuredly left-leaning), the notion that they were anti-neoliberal in action, and the notion that they were universally anti-democratic. The degree to which the Pink Tide governments respected democratic norms varied widely across the region. It begins by analyzing the neoliberal experience in Latin America, context necessary to understand the Pink Tide. It then explores the extent to which the governments of the Pink Tide remained democratic, leftist and anti-neoliberal at all, through an analysis of the domestic and foreign policies of Pink Tide governments. For continuity and brevity, case studies in Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela are 1 Lievesley, Geraldine, and Steve Ludlam, Reclaiming Latin America: experiments in radical social democracy, London: Zed Books, 2009, 3
used as the primary focus of analysis, although examples from other states are employed as additional evidence throughout.
“The Latin American experience with the Washington Consensus was plagued by stagnant conditions for the poor and landless, increased public sector debt, currency crises, recession, and rising unemployment.”
While the Latin American experience under neoliberalism did vary regionally, there were three main results seen across all states in the region. First, neoliberal policies tended to lead to steep economic downturns, as the worldwide recessions of the 1980s cut Latin American export values while IMF structural adjustment policies doubled Latin America’s debt in the same decade.2 Second, neoliberalism allowed both domestic and foreign economic elites to dominate the lower classes. Third, while the Latin American neoliberal governments tended to be far less politically authoritarian than the military juntas by whom they were often preceded, the decline in living conditions caused by their economic policies resulted in fierce political backlash and new Pink Tide governments.3 In Brazil, the bulwarks of neoliberalism were the Brazilian Democratic Party (PMDB) and Brazilian Social Democratic Party (BSDP). Their periods of rule greatly deepened inequality, with land-owning elites benefiting the most from the export-oriented growth resulting from the deregulation of industry. In 1996, 1% of landowners owned 45% of the nation’s land, a stark contrast with the 4.5 million landless rural workers who owned nothing at all.4 2 Wright, Thomas C., Latin America since independence: two centuries of continuity and change, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017, 302. 3 For instance, the PMDB in Brazil succeeded a military Junta that ruled from 1964-85. The Menem administration in Argentina succeeded the brutal Alfonsin Junta, famous for kidnapping thousands of Argentinian civilians. In Bolivia, the MNR took power in 1985 after nearly 20 years of uninterrupted military rule. President Banzer himself was dictator from 1971-78, later serving as constitutional president from 1997 to 2001. See Prevost et. al for more. 4 Prevost, Gary, Carlos Oliva Campos, and Harry E. Vanden, Social movements and leftist governments in Latin America: confrontation or co-optation? 37
The Pink Tide party leading the charge against these governments was the Brazilian Workers Party (PT), led by Lula Ignacio da Silva, known popularly by his first name only. Lula’s political career began as part of the Sao Paulo metalworkers union and was not initially successful. 5 He lost several elections in the 1990s, and it was not until the Brazilian Landless Workers’ Movement threw their support behind his promises of land reform that he came to power. After waves of disruptive protests and widespread land occupations, the Cardoso Administration was driven from office and was replaced by Lula’s PT.6
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or Venezuela, the neoliberal 1980s were a “lost decade” during which the collapse of oil prices and erosion of the social safety net led to the percentage of impoverished families to jump from 17.7% to 61.4% between 1980 and 1996.7 Venezuelan politics at the time were dictated by the Punto Fijo, an agreement between the Democratic Action (AD) and the Social Christian Party (COPEI) on various elements of governance to produce an effectively two-party system where both the incumbent and opposition shared power. This collusion succeeded as long as both parties reaped the benefits of 5 Ibid, 40. 6 Vergara-Camus, Leandro, Land and freedom: the MST, the Zapatistas and peasant alternatives to neoliberalism, London: Zed Books, 2014, 231. 7 Prevost, Gary, Carlos Oliva Campos, and Harry E. Vanden, Social movements and leftist governments in Latin America: confrontation or co-optation? 37. 58