Brazil isn't the only Latin American country grappling with protests, as some countries face a gloomy economic outlook and grassroots movements seeking to upend the status quo.
“I don’t think this is going to be a quiet year on the streets of
South America,” said Michael Shifter, a Latin America expert at the
Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington, D.C., think tank. “It is going to
be volatile.”
Economic growth in Latin America is expected to slow this year to
1.7% from about 3.5% last year, according to the International Monetary
Fund. The IMF says the slowdown is due to tighter global financing
conditions, weaker global growth and commodity prices and entrenched
inflation.
William Jackson, an economist at Capital Economics, says the growing
political instability in Latin America has its roots in “an extremely
weak macroeconomic backdrop over the past decade as well as high levels
of inequality.”
That has “created fertile ground for anti-incumbency votes, shifts to
populism, and polarized and fragmented legislatures,” he said.
In Peru, unrest has emerged in several cities
since Dec. 7. That is when President Pedro Castillo, a former rural
schoolteacher with no governing experience, attempted to dissolve the
Congress. He was swiftly removed from power, detained and replaced by his vice president, Dina Boluarte. She is struggling to consolidate control as she seeks to hold elections in 2024, two years ahead of schedule.
In Bolivia, demonstrations are rocking the prosperous eastern
province of Santa Cruz after security forces locked up the conservative
governor, Luis Fernando Camacho. He is an critic of leftist President
Luis Arce and leader of 2019 protests that sparked the ouster of former President Evo Morales.
In Chile, another leftist president, former student activist Gabriel
Boric, has seen his approval ratings plummet since he took office in
March 2022. According to a poll by Cadem, 70% of Chileans disapprove of Mr. Boric’s handling of the government,
up from 61% at the end of December before he issued controversial
pardons for jailed protestors who participated in October 2019
demonstrations.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a fellow leftist who took office in August,
is on a state visit to Chile today. Mr. Petro and Mr. Boric are
expected to issue a joint declaration that is likely to highlight their
support for Brazil’s new President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.