Pink tide

Map of Latin America shows countries with members of the São Paulo Forum ruling parties (red) and non-São Paulo Forum ruling parties (blue) in 2011 (left), 2018 (center), and 2022 (right).

The pink tide (Spanish: marea rosa, Portuguese: onda rosa, French: marée rose), or the turn to the left (Spanish: giro a la izquierda, Portuguese: volta à esquerda, French: tournant à gauche), was a political wave and influence of left-wing governments in Latin American with a second pink tide starting in the late 2010s.

Background

The pink tide showed some countries moving away from the neoliberal economic model at the start of the 21st century. During this wave, many Latin and South American countries supported economic progressive or social progressive policies.^[1][2][3]

Decline

The pink tide was followed by the conservative wave, a political wave that began in the early 2010s as a direct reaction to the pink tide, in which many pink tide countries later elected conservative presidents.^[4][5]

Some saw the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with the rise of this replacement Nicolas Maduro, the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the election of Mauricio Macri as President of Argentina and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's retirement as key reasons for the pink tide's decline and the rise of the conservative wave.^[6][7]

Second pink tide

A second pink tide has been seen in the late 2010s to early 2020s as there was a rise in left-wing politicians being elected presidents.^[8][9] It was first seen in Mexico in 2018 and Argentina in 2019. Other left-wing victories were later seen in Bolivia in 2020,^[10] along with Peru in 2021,^[11] Honduras in 2021,^[12] Chile in 2021,^[13] Colombia in 2022,^[14] and Brazil in 2022.^[15]

Many violent protests against austerity laws and income inequality, starting in 2019 such as with the 2019–20 Chilean protests, 2019–2020 Colombian protests, 2019 Ecuadorian protests, and the 2021 Colombian protests, are seen as key factors for the pink tide's return.^[16]

Pink tide leaders

These are the left-wing and centre-left presidents who were elected during the pink tide in Latin America since 1999. Centre-left presidents have a * next to them.

• 
   Argentina
  Néstor Kirchner
  2003–2007
• 
   Argentina
  Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
  2007–2015
• 
   Argentina
  Alberto Fernández *
  2019–2023
• 
   Bolivia
  Evo Morales
  2006–2019
• 
   Bolivia
  Luis Arce
  2020–present
• 
   Brazil
  Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva *
  2003–2010
  2023–present
• 
   Brazil
  Dilma Rousseff *
  2011–2016
• 
   Chile
  Ricardo Lagos *
  2000–2006
• 
   Chile
  Michelle Bachelet *
  2006–2010
  2014–2018
• 
   Chile
  Gabriel Boric
  2022–present
• 
   Colombia
  Gustavo Petro
  2022–present
• 
   Ecuador
  Rafael Correa
  2007–2017
• 
   Ecuador
  Lenín Moreno
  2017–2021
• 
   El Salvador
  Mauricio Funes *
  2009–2014
• 
   El Salvador
  Salvador Sánchez Cerén
  2014–2019
• 
   Guatemala
  Álvaro Colom *
  2008–2012
• 
   Honduras
  Manuel Zelaya
  2006–2009
• 
   Honduras
  Xiomara Castro
  2022–present
• 
   Mexico
  Andrés Manuel López Obrador *
  2018–present
• 
   Nicaragua
  Daniel Ortega
  2007–present
• 
   Panama
  Martín Torrijos *
  2004–2009
• 
   Panama
  Laurentino Cortizo *
  2019–present
• 
   Paraguay
  Fernando Lugo *
  2008–2012
• 
   Peru
  Ollanta Humala *
  2011–2016
• 
   Peru
  Pedro Castillo
  2021–2022
• 
   Uruguay
  Tabaré Vázquez *
  2005–2010
  2015–2020
• 
   Uruguay
  José Mujica *
  2010–2015
• 
   Venezuela
  Hugo Chávez
  1999–2013
• 
   Venezuela
  Nicolás Maduro‡
  2013–present

Related pages

• Conservative wave

References

1. Lopes, Dawisson Belém; de Faria, Carlos Aurélio Pimenta (January–April 2016). "When Foreign Policy Meets Social Demands in Latin America". Contexto Internacional (Literature review). 38 (1). Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro: 11–53. doi:10.1590/S0102-8529.2016380100001. No matter the shades of pink in the Latin American 'pink tide', and recalling that political change was not the norm for the whole region during that period, there seems to be greater agreement when it comes to explaining its emergence. In terms of this canonical interpretation, the left turn should be understood as a feature of general redemocratisation in the region, which is widely regarded as an inevitable result of the high levels of inequality in the region.
2. Abbott, Jared. "Will the Pink Tide Lift All Boats? Latin American Socialisms and Their Discontents". Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. Oikonomakis, Leonidas (16 March 2015). "Europe's pink tide? Heeding the Latin American experience". Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. Moraes, Juan A.; Luján, Diego (2020). "The Electoral Success of the Left in Latin America: Is There Any Room for Spatial Models of Voting?". Latin American Research Review. 55 (4): 691. doi:10.25222/larr.466. S2CID 233392799. Archived from the original on 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
5. Schmidt, Samantha; Sheridan, Mary Beth (December 6, 2021). "Do recent elections indicate a shift in Latin American politics? Post correspondents answered your questions". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
6. Rojas, René (Summer 2018). "The Latin American Left's Shifting Tides". Catalyst. 2 (2): 6–71. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
7. Long, Gideon (29 December 2017). "Lenín Moreno unpicks Ecuador's leftwing legacy". ft.com. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
8. Aquino, Marco (2021-06-21). "Another pink tide? Latin America's left galvanized by rising star in Peru". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
9. Arsenault, Chris (2021-12-14). "How left-wing forces are regaining ground in Latin America". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
10. Taher, Rahib (9 January 2021). "A Miraculous MAS Victory in Bolivia and the Resurgence of the Pink Tide". The Science Survey. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
11. Aquino, Marco (21 June 2021). "Another pink tide? Latin America's left galvanized by rising star in Peru". Reuters. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
12. Garcia, David Alire; Palencia, Gustavo (2021-12-01). "Honduras' ruling party concedes presidential election to leftist". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
13. Bonnefoy, Pascale; Londoño, Ernesto (19 December 2021). "Gabriel Boric, a Former Student Activist, Is Elected Chile's Youngest President". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
14. Dyer, Gwynne (15 June 2022). "Latin America: The Pink Tide Is Rising". The Portugal News. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
15. "Brazil Elects Lula, a Leftist Former Leader, in a Rebuke of Bolsonaro". The New York Times. 30 October 2022.
16. Prashad, Vijay (6 December 2019). "Latin America: Return of the Pink Tide". Fronteline. Retrieved 17 April 2021.