Title: Populism in Latin America: a double interview – POP
Headings: Populism in Latin America: a double interview
Populism in Latin America: a double interview
Content: BC: Now, the question then is why these cases do not have populists in power for two decades. For Latin American standards, Chile (like Uruguay, another negative case of populism) has fairly low levels of corruption and a functioning state with decent provision of public goods – the two main explanations for populism in the region. Brazil is perhaps more complicated. Corruption and trust in government are among the lowest in the region, and have been for a long time. However, and this is an explanation that is not necessarily backed by extensive research, a) its post-dictatorship party system is more stable than it’s given credit (what might be changing with the current massive corruption probes), and in 2002, the most auspicious scenario for populism in the country up to now, Lula da Silva was a functional equivalent for a populist leader – an outsider promising deep structural reforms. He did not use a populist discourse in that specific campaign, but the rest was probably close enough to mobilize any populist dissatisfied voters. Now, with the current apparent collapse of the political system (almost every main politician is being investigated on corruption probes as I write), it might be that the 2018 presidential elections will bring a populist resurgence to the country. 4) Venezuela has been governed first by Hugo Chávez and now by Nicolás Maduro, two textbook left-wing populist politicians. Currently the economic and social situation is dramatic.