The Heat: Political changes in Latin America

The Heat

The fall of commodity prices and recent elections have given rise to the notion that the left is in decline in Latin America.

Take Argentina, for example, where last November’s elections overturned the ruling Peronist coalition, bringing a center-right candidate Mauricio Macri to power.

In Venezuela, the opposition won control of the National Assembly last month, trouncing the ruling party and altering the balance of power after nearly 17 years of socialist rule.

In Brazil, a corruption scandal and economic problems are also putting pressure on the government of Dilma Rousseff.

Are we witnessing the end of the so-called “left turn” in Latin America, and is the right poised for a historic comeback?

CCTV America’s Stephen Gibbs reports.

The Heat spoke with the following panel on the changing political direction in some Latin American countries.

  • Eric Farnsworth is Vice President at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas.
  • Pablo Pinto, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Houston.
  • Rafael Salies is with Southern Pulse, a strategic advisory firm.
  • Cuban journalist and commentator Cristina Escobar.