Brazil’s Election Shows Latin America Is Far From a Left Wave

Lula’s comeback isn’t as powerful as some had suggested, and the far right is surging.

Photo by Tutz Dias on Unsplash

If I had a dime every time an international analyst said Latin America was experiencing a left wave in the past year, I’d have… Well, I’d be able to buy that air fryer I’ve had my eye on for months.

Unfortunately, I’m forced to keep scribbling these thoughts on this platform to be able to pay the rent instead.

Because the reality of living in Argentina right now is that 2022 inflation is about to reach triple digits and the supposedly left-wing government is… Well, lacking in the ‘left’ part.

But at least we never run out of stuff to write about here.

A couple weeks ago, the topic many of these analysts were trying hard to explain to themselves was the defeat of the new progressive Chilean constitution in a referendum.

This week, it’s the not-so-wide margin that Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of the workers’ party, PT, got against the incumbent, raging right-wing lunatic Jair Bolsonaro.

But What About the Polls?