Political phenomenon in Latin America
This article is about right-wing populist wave in Latin America that appeared in mid-2010s. For the right-wing to far-right nationalistic populist wave outside of Latin America like North America and Europe in mid-2010s, see
Neo-nationalism . For the left wing equivalent, see
Pink tide .
Sebastián Piñera from Chile (left) and Mauricio Macri from Argentina (right)
The conservative wave (Portuguese : onda conservadora ; Spanish : ola conservadora ), or blue tide (Portuguese : maré azul ; Spanish : marea azul ), was a right-wing political phenomenon that occurred in the mid-2010s to the early 2020s in Latin America as a direct reaction to the pink tide . During the conservative wave, left-wing governments suffered their first major electoral losses in a decade. In Argentina, Mauricio Macri (liberal-conservative , center-right ) succeeded Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Peronist ) in 2015. In Brazil, the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff , a socialist , resulted in her departure and the rise of Vice President Michel Temer to power in 2016, and later to far-right congressman Jair Bolsonaro becoming President of Brazil . In Peru, the conservative economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski succeeded Ollanta Humala , a socialist and left-wing nationalist . In Chile, the conservative Sebastián Piñera succeeded Michelle Bachelet , a social democrat , in 2018 in the same transition that occurred in 2010. In Bolivia, the conservative Jeanine Áñez succeeded Evo Morales amid the 2019 Bolivian political crisis . In Ecuador, the centre-right conservative banker Guillermo Lasso succeeded the deeply unpopular Lenín Moreno , becoming the first right-wing President of Ecuador in 14 years.[ 1]
In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the conservative wave began to decline following left-wing victories,[ 2] [ 3] starting with the 2018 Mexican general election and the 2020 Bolivian general election , and later the 2021 Peruvian general election , 2021 Chilean presidential election , 2021 Honduran general election ,[ 4] [ 5] the 2022 Colombian presidential election , which resulted in the first left-wing president in the country's history,[ 6] [ 7] and the 2022 Brazilian general election ,[ 8] in which former leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , who had his political rights restored, defeated Bolsonaro.[ 9] [ 10] However, the right-wing was able to rebound with some victories in late 2023 and early 2024 such as right-wing libertarian Javier Milei winning the 2023 Argentine presidential election , defeating Peronist Sergio Massa as well as centre-right banana tycoon Daniel Noboa defeating leftist Luisa González in Ecuador and also right-wing politician José Raúl Mulino defeating the incumbent center-left vice president José Gabriel Carrizo in the 2024 Panamanian general election .[ 11] [ 12] [ 13]
^ "Lasso inaugurated as first right-wing Ecuador president in 14 years" . France 24 . 24 May 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021 .
^ Araujo, Gabriel; Vargas, Carlos; Woodford, Isabel (22 June 2022). "Latin America's new 'pink tide' gains pace as Colombia shifts left; Brazil up next" . Reuters. Retrieved 23 June 2022 .
^ Garavito, Tatiana; Thanki, Nathan (23 June 2022). "Colombia's shift to the left: A new 'pink tide' in Latin America?" . Al Jazeera. Retrieved 24 June 2022 .
^ Aquino, Marco (2021-06-21). "Another pink tide? Latin America's left galvanized by rising star in Peru" . Reuters . Retrieved 2021-12-21 .
^ Arsenault, Chris (2021-12-14). "How left-wing forces are regaining ground in Latin America" . Al Jazeera . Retrieved 2021-12-21 .
^ "Leftist Gustavo Petro wins Colombian presidency" . Financial Times . 19 June 2022. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022 .
^ Bocanegra, Nelson; Griffin, Oliver; Vargas, Carlos (19 June 2022). "Colombia elects former guerrilla Petro as first leftist president" . Reuters . Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022 .
^ Grattan, Steven (31 October 2022). "Latin America's 'pink tide' leaders congratulate Brazil's Lula on election win" . Reuters . Retrieved 6 November 2022 .
^ Rocha, Camilo (30 October 2022). "Lula da Silva will return to Brazil's presidency in stunning comeback" . CNN . Retrieved 31 October 2022 .
^ "Lula's leftist triumph: Is this Latin America's second 'pink tide'?" . France 24 . Agence France-Presse. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022 .
^ "José Raúl Mulino gana las elecciones en Panamá impulsado por el expresidente Martinelli, condenado por corrupción" . EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 5 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024 .
^ "Argentina elections: Political outsider Javier Milei wins presidency" . United Press International . November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023 .
^ José María León Cabrera; Thalíe Ponce (October 15, 2023). "Voters remember Trump's economy as being better than Biden's. Here's what the data shows" . New York Times .