Latin America
South America’s Conservative Turn
The year comes to a close with serious political advances made by the Right. We are facing a major change in South America—an “end stage.” The hegemony of relatively progressive regimes is disintegrating in the context of economic stagnation and efforts by the United States to recuperate its position in the region.
Eduardo Molina
December 24, 2015The Mockery of “National Dialogue” and an Austerity Plan by Decree
On December 10, Argentina’s President-elect Mauricio Macri assumed his position in the Casa Rosada. Already within the first few days, he began to apply an austerity agenda.
Gloria Grinberg
December 22, 2015Nicolas Del Caño Rejects Macri’s Invitation
Here, we present excerpts from a letter addressed to Macri by former presidential candidate Nicolas Del Caño of the Left and Workers’ Front (FIT).
Gloria Grinberg
December 22, 2015Wave of High School Occupations across Sao Paolo
In late September, the governor of Sao Paulo announced a “reorganization” of Sao Paulo public schools—a euphemism for massive school closings. For the next month, hundreds of high school students took to the streets and to social media, protesting the initiative. When the date of the “reorganization” drew closer, students from the Fernao Dias high school decided to occupy their school. They voted that they would not leave the school building unless Governor Alkimin stopped the school re-organization. Since then, over 200 schools in Sao Paulo have been occupied and the trend is spreading to other Brazilian states.
Tatiana Cozzarelli
December 15, 2015Venezuela’s Midterm Elections, Latin America’s Right Turn
On Tuesday night, after a dragged-out process, the conclusive results of Venezuela’s December 6 midterm elections (6D) were posted by the electoral body: the opposition won a two-third super-majority in the National Assembly, overturning Chavism’s previously uncontested rule. The events in Venezuela herald a rightward shift that parallels processes occurring in other Latin American countries.
Eduardo Molina
December 10, 2015The economy and politics at the end of the cycle in Latin America
The situation in Brazil, where in response to an acute economic and political crisis, Dilma's government has implemented harsh austerity measures and made pacts with the right wing, is a telling sign of the accelerating decline of the so-called “progressive” governments in Latin America.
Eduardo Molina
December 9, 2015From Mexico to Italy, in Defense of Public Education
In Italy, thousands have taken the streets in a general strike against the education reforms of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.Those of us in the ‘Nuestra Clase’ grouping in Mexico sympathize with their fight. We repudiate the repression of our working-class brothers and sisters.
Tania Vonki
December 2, 2015We’ll return to the streets to fight back
Left Voice presents an early analysis by Nicolás Del Caño, former presidential candidate of the Left and the Workers’ Front, on the results of the runoff elections and Mauricio Macri's win.
Nicolás del Caño
November 25, 2015A Perfect Storm at Petrobras – Interview with an Oil Worker
We interviewed Leandro – a worker at Petrobras in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro – early this week to ask him about the strike and its broader significance.
Ian Steinman
November 21, 2015The Left Faces New Tasks as Argentine Politics Swing Right
In last Sunday’s presidential elections, the Kirchnerists, under the banner of Peronism, suffered their biggest electoral defeat of the last three decades. The political pendulum has shifted unmistakably to the right. Against this backdrop, the Left and Workers’ Front (FIT) has emerged as the only Left alternative.
Juan Cruz Ferre
October 29, 2015