Bolivia’s Defeat of Socialism Signals a Continental Realignment

Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (L), Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (C), and Bolivia's President Evo Morales talk during the summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, on Dec. 16, 2008. AP Photo/Andre Penner

Commentary

It took 20 years to defeat Evo Morales’s Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) in Bolivia through elections. Two decades of political battle lines, along with a so-called “cultural war,” run deep in the region. MAS rose to power because of the financing it received from Hugo Chávez, who, using the vast pockets of Venezuela’s oil rents, injected money into campaigns across almost every country in the continent. For a long stretch, he and his allies virtually took control of South America—except for Colombia.