Case Study → Alternative Development in Latin America

Context

● Latin America has a long history of govs that like to do things differently ○ Broadly referred to as Latin American socialists populism ↳ Populism → A political approach that appeals directly to ordinary people, arguing that their concerns have been ignored by the political elite

Rejection of Western Capitalism

● In 1959, Cuban revolution brought Fiedel Castro to power, allied w/ Russia over their much closer neighbour, the USA ● Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president (1999-2013), promised to redistribute Venezuela's considerable oil wealth is favour of the poor ● Evo Morales, Bolivian president (2006-19), an indigenous Bolivian, nationalised many parts of the Brazilian economy including the gas industry ● Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president (2008-17) effectively declared Ecuador's national debt illegal and refused to pay back of his 'Citizen's revolution' movement These leaders have often rejected the help of international organisation such as the World Bank, IMF and WTO and also attempted to ↓ the role of Western TNCs in their economy

Taxes of TNCs and the Rich	Tax rises for corporations and the rich were used to improve health and education for the poor, often alongside gov subsidised fuel, food, electricity and water supply

| Failures of Latin
American
Populism | • Widespread street protests and riots occurred in 2019 in response to Moreno's
reversing of some of the COrrea reforms (especially fuel subsidies, and higher
wages)
• After 2014 Venezuela's economy descended into chaos: Hyperinflation, food
shortages, unemployment & widespread corruption were the legacy of the Chavez
reforms and those of his successor Nicolás Maduro
• Over 2 mil people have fled Venezuela since 2014
• Morales was forced to flee Bolivia in 2019 due to protests after an election widely
viewed as 'rigged' |

| Conclusions | Overall, attempts to diverge from the neo-liberal, western capitalist model have proved
unsuccessful.
Some would argue that this is because the USA, IGOs and TNCs are simply too powerful to resist • the USA imposed damaging economic sanctions on socialist Venezuela • but others would argue that populist leaders have simply lacked the skills of good governance |

•                                                       Development in Latin America*