Slums in Rio de Janeiro. Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Given that the cycle of Latin American progressive politics (progresisimo) appears to be coming to an end, it seems the right time to develop an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon, one that goes beyond providing political or economic snapshots or dwells on secondary data, but rather tries to get to the root of what progresismo is, and has been all about. But before I start, I want to make it clear that the end of the cycle will no doubt be extremely difficult for popular sectors and people on the left: it is will leave us in a situation of uncertainty and anxiety about the repressive right wing environment we are going to have to live with in the immediate future.
As a term, Progresismo can seem a little vague, containing as it does very different political processes. By my own definition it includes those governments that attempted to change what was the Washington Consensus, but never aspired to go beyond the extractive and financial phases of capitalism. The governments of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador – and Paraguay when it was ruled by Fernando Lugo – fall squarely into that category. Those of Venezuela and Bolivia can be viewed in another light given that they have shown a willingness to transcend the reality they inherited, and not simply manage it.
