Tequila wrote:
thomas81 wrote:
probably by the colombian mafia, drug cartels and fascist paramilitaries because he won't put up with their sh**.
No. He isn't liked by many people in Latin South America full stop, unless you're calling everyone in South America "Colombian mafia, drug cartels and fascist paramilitaries"?
There are a few countries like Venezuela that still have populist, anti-American and far-left leaders like Chavez but increasingly, Latin America seems to be favouring a more Western, market economy approach. Chavez is a dinosaur.
Sorry Teq but that is simply untrue.
Many leftist leaders have been elected of late - they aren't all anti-capitalist or anywhere near as hardcore as Chavez or god forbid, a true dinosaur like (Castro) is - but they are undoubtedly popular.
Correa, Morales, Kirchner, Rousseff, Lula, Zelaya, Ortega, Bachelet, Vazquez, Lugo and Humala to name a few from the last 10 years, most of them more recent than that.
The truth of the matter is that especially in this last decade - rightists who have traditionally had the strongest hold on the continent are for the first time starting to struggle in keeping that hold. More than one Coup has been staged by them in attempts to regain power, coups that do not have the backing of the people, only of the business community, the elite and the military.
I certainly don't support Chavez because even though I have read extensively on the subject - only time tells the real story. But that doesn't mean that Leftists are unpopular there.
The places that Rightists are popular are those in which are the most important footholds for the west: Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador and Panama.
Interesting all countries with some of the highest violence rates in the continent are rightist strongholds - with one or two notable exceptions (such as Brazil).