Title: Contemporary World Issues - Socialism in Latin America
Headings: Contemporary World Issues
Contemporary World Issues
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Socialism in Latin America
Countries with Leftist Leaders
The Meaning of Socialism
Why Socialist Ideals are Popular in Latin America
The Rise of Socialism in Latin America
How You Can Get Involved
The following is an interview with Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, with Jon Stewart from The Daily Show:
Sources

Content: These new leaders use socialist practices in order to create more equality and wealth within their countries. Their goal is not to abolish capitalism or democracy, but simply to improve their citizens' quality of life through the most effective means. The new wave of leftist ideas in Latin America are not neccessarily against capitalism, but are in support of doing what is neccessary to help the poor and bring justice and equality to an area that never in its history has been able to achieve this. This new trend toward socialist policies mostly entails nationalizing major industries such as oil, railroads, steel, tin, and copper. The profits of these sectors have been moved from large corporations and into social programs such as hospitals for the poor in Venezuela and rebuilding infrastructure in Bolivia. These new sources of income for the countries have provided funds for social programs like education and welfare that were not previously available. There is a gap between a minority, which earns and owns all, and a majority, that earns nothing and owns only their human labor and lives. Why Socialist Ideals are Popular in Latin America
In recent years, socialist ideals have been on the rise in many Latin American countries. The failure of free-market reforms to improve the condition of the poor and promote growth in the economy has caused many Latin Americans to turn to leaders who promote socialist programs in order to find relief for their suffering. Because of Latin America's extreme levels of inequality, massive amounts of impoverished voters have begun to cast their votes for leaders who promise to bring reform for the poor.