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: 3) While in many countries populism is on the rise as a reaction to repeated scandals of corruption and low trust in political parties, this does not happen everywhere. For example, how do you explain the absence of populism in Chile and Brasil? Santiago de Chile – Spring 2016
BC: A few things have to be considered here. First, the benchmark for populist success in Latin America is higher than in Europe. Chavismo has been extremely populist and in power for more than 15 years. A similar story is found in Ecuador or Bolivia. In Mexico, which is usually not considered one of the strongest cases of populism in Latin America a very populist candidate lost by very small margins in the two last presidential elections – and that is a better performance by a populist than in almost any European country ever. In Chile we observe a similar story. In Kirk Hawkins’ and mine coding of manifestos and campaign speeches for populism, the 2013 Chilean presidential campaign is one of the lowest scores in Latin America but has as much populism as some European countries usually considered typical (concerning) cases of populism.