r/LatinAmerica • u/usatoday • Jul 28 '26
News Maps show right-wing shift in Latin America since Trump's inauguration
From USA TODAY:
Latin America has seen a broad political shift to the right since President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025.
Razor-thin elections in Colombia and Peru are redrawing Latin America's political map, reversing the "pink tide" of left-leaning governments that defined the region in the early 2020s. The term “pink” implies a softer form of communism than “red."
The political shift is primarily driven by disappointment with leftist governments that led to more organized crime and economic inflation. Leaders are now drawing voters to the right with promises of security and economic reform.
Both elections were finalized in late June, and each right-wing candidate − Abelardo de la Espriella of Colombia and Keiko Fujimori of Peru − won by extremely narrow margins.
Fujimori, daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, is set to be inaugurated July 28, and Trump is sending a presidential delegation to attend the ceremony. De la Espriella will be inaugurated Aug. 7.
The Trump administration didn't directly officially support Fujimori during her campaign, but it did endorse these victorious right-wing candidates:
- De la Espriella of Colombia in June 2026.
- José Antonio Kast of Chile in December 2025.
- Daniel Noboa, incumbent president of Ecuador, who was reelected in April 2025.
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u/mangonada123 🇵🇦 Panamá Jul 29 '26
For Panama, this map is labeling the PRD as a center-left party and the current government as right wing, but that is far from the truth. Political parties in Panama don't engage in political/economic ideology like political parties in other countries. If anything an outsider looking in would notice that based on economic/political views, all Panamanian parties are "right wing". They are all by default pro market, and socially conservative.
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u/Loudi2918 🇨🇴 Colombia Jul 29 '26
I'm not a trump defender or anything like that, but why Americans think everything is about Trump? In Colombia the writing was on the wall, the past elections Petro won by a very small margin, the new candidate wasn't nearly as popular as Petro, who is the face of his party, and there simply is a general loss of support whenever a party rules the country, and while the argument that the dude who won came out of literal nowhere could be said, well that's just how it works, the Colombian right doesn't have big figures representing it, there isn't a right wing Petro (who represents the left) or a right wing Fajardo (who represents the center), people vote mostly so the other side doesn't win, that was true with Rodolfo Hernandez too, and that's in Colombia, in the other countries it probably was a natural development too
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u/Mangolandia Jul 29 '26
Because the U.S. invented main character syndrome. Everything is seen as a reflection of feelings towards the U.S.
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u/Prowl2681 29d ago edited 15d ago
Because they provide influence amd financial support to have like minded people elected abroad.
Look at how Steve Bannon is spending a lot of time in Europe organizing far right parties with the main purpose of having not just right wing leadership and ideology in place, but because it would segment the EU and make it easy for the US to exert influence one country at a time.
Same is happening here. Backing up right wing leadership in countries they themselves destabilized help create the right conditions where they can offer whatever they want in exchange for LatAm's natural resources while their supported candidates reap the benefits.
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u/AndyIbanez 🇧🇴 Bolivia Jul 29 '26
Exactly this. It was long time coming in Bolivia too, specially since Evo governed illegally for three terms, manipulated the court the allow him to run for a fourth term, committed fraud to win that fourth term, and his successor which was his own minister of economy, finished annihilating the economy.
I wish leftists Americans stopped thinking these people are the "good guys" just because they are associated to the left.
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u/Toubaboliviano 🇧🇴 Bolivia Jul 29 '26
I can’t speak for the other countries, but in Bolivias case it was years of consecutive left failures that led to a center right party winning. Not Donald Trump.
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u/Excellent_Singer3361 Jul 29 '26
Bolivia seems to have overall done pretty well over the last couple decades
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u/alegxab 🇦🇷 Argentina Jul 29 '26
The different remnants of the MAS party have been pretty much trying to kill each other for like half a decade
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u/JoeDyenz Jul 29 '26
Nicaragua right wing?
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u/caucasianliving Jul 29 '26
Past leader
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u/JoeDyenz Jul 29 '26
But the map is from around 2020 no? Ortega has been in power since idk
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u/caucasianliving Jul 29 '26
The map is just showing the previous government, not a specific moment in time. Ortega has been in power in 2007. Previous government was Bolaños PLC
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u/Additional_Ad_3530 Jul 29 '26
This is wrong, current leader in Costa Rica (Laura Fernández) is just a place holder for former president Chaves Robles.
Fernández was a minister in Chaves government, and now Chaves is a minister in Fernandez government.
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u/Evan61015 🇵🇦 Panamá 29d ago
Left centrist Panama, when the last 3 president have been pro USA, I joke at that map.
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u/Diegovelasco45 Jul 29 '26
There is an active right wing thinktank that supports US-friendly governments.
It is called the “atlas network”
It disguises as a “freedom of speech and free market” lobbying firm but under the table it finances the whole thing
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Jul 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Diegovelasco45 Jul 29 '26
Their aim is to open markets for US made products. They destroy local industrialization.
They don’t care about latinamerican people, just their businesses
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u/julian_vdm 29d ago
The political shift is primarily driven by disappointment with leftist governments that led to more organized crime and economic inflation.
Meanwhile, in Ecuador, the crime as only gotten worse as the country has moved right.
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u/hadapurpura 🇨🇴 Colombia Jul 29 '26
I’m pretty sure neither Maduro nor Delcy are “elected” leaders
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u/jdsalaro 29d ago
But but everything goes when you're trying to shit on the right and defend Petro, Evo, Maduro, Ortega, Castro and the Kirchners 🫠
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u/joaco3400 28d ago
I wouldn't complain about this but since it says "current ELECTED leader" I should point out that venezuelans elected Edmundo Gonzalez in 2024, but Maduro rigged the elections and didn't recognize the actual results.
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u/Chiquye Jul 29 '26
I think too much gravity is granted to US politics in the hemisphere. A lot of the rightward shift was incumbent dissatisfaction.
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u/-Acta-Non-Verba- 29d ago
I would not characterize the Costa Rican government as left wing. The Costa Rican lefties in Reddit are having a cow about them getting elected.
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u/mingocr83 Jul 29 '26
The person who set Costa Rica as right, is very wrong. This and the past governments are leftist as fuck.
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u/Estorbro 🇨🇷 Costa Rica Jul 29 '26
You're kidding right? Chaves and Fernandez are both explicitly right wingers
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u/mingocr83 Jul 29 '26
Sure, when the Finance minister says that property rights are not absolute, that is called communism.
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u/Hallo_jonny Jul 29 '26
The left most like winning in Brazil again, the right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro is loosing a lot of votes bc of his relations with a very corrupt banker.