Progressive governments in Latin America (1990~2020): neoliberalism, democracy and lawfare

Abstract

In this article, we problematize the limits of bourgeois democracies in Latin America, at the end of the 1990s, when progressive governments began to be elected that sought to break, to some extent, with neoliberalism. This cycle (first “pink wave”) lasted until around 2016 and started a “reverse ripple” (coups d’état), being resumed (second “pink wave”) from 2020 onwards. Discussion is the analysis of the complex relationship between the exercise of popular sovereignty through voting and imperialism, whose interests are represented in the implementation of neoliberal policies. The prohibition of any type of reform is one of the main reasons why several progressive governments were overthrown, persecuted, condemned and imprisoned during the first “wave” and one of them was victimized at the beginning of the second. Roughly speaking, this is what we intend to address here.