Issues in International Political Economy: Problems Facing Latin American Countries at Year-end 2006

Latin America has caught the attention of news media that normally pay little heed to the region because of what is seen as a leftward trend in presidential election outcomes. Three recent examples are the victories of Rafael Correa Delgado in Ecuador on November 26, Hugo Chávez Frías in Venezuela on December 3, and Daniel Ortega Saavedra in Nicaragua on November 5. Lula was reelected president of Brazil on October 29. Andrés Manuel López Obrador came within half a percentage point of being elected president of Mexico on July 2. In Peru, the election barely went against the populist-leftist candidate Ollanta Humala and, instead, Alan García Pérez was chosen as president on June 4. Earlier, on October 31, 2004, Tabaré Vázquez Rosas was chosen president of Uruguay; Evo Morales Ayma won an unprecedented majority to become president of Bolivia on December 18, 2005; and Michelle Bachelet Jeria, a socialist, was elected president of Chile on January 15, 2006.