The pendulum of Latin American politics is swinging rightward once again. Yet as the “pink tide” recedes, the forces of change have more to do with socioeconomics than ideology. Dramatic economic and political crises have coincided in countries like Brazil and Venezuela. Still, the result for Latin America may be the emergence of centrist, pragmatic modes of governance, and with them, opportunities for the U.S. to improve relations. The new administration must look beyond the neoliberal model of the 1990s and develop an approach to relations fit for the 21st century. Speaker Erik Brand publishes the Latin America Advisor at the Inter-American Dialogue and directs the Corporate Program, a network of companies including Apple, BMW, Google, Mitsubishi, Walmart and more than 100 others that are invested in Latin America’s development and future.
Registration on the MCC website is required for Great Decisions members. Sorry, not open to guests; to join the MCC Great Decisions Discussion Group, email Betsy Wray at betsywray@millcitycommons.org.