An increasing number of left-wing political figures are holding power in Latin America, raising eyebrows in Washington
　　
　　This is a banner election year in Latin America, with nine countries heading to the polls to select new leaders. But the succession of victories by left-leaning politicians, with more likely in the coming months, is expected to draw mounting concern from the United States, which has long been heavily involved in the interests of countries to its south.
　　Current left-wing leaders, such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, are already causing headaches for Washington, and polls show that 2006 will likely witness more left-leaning leaders holding power in nations across the region.
　　After Morales of Bolivia vowed to be a “nightmare” for Washington, political power in Chile was handed to single mother Michelle Bachelet, who has center-left views, by public vote.
　　According to the results of Chile’s second-round presidential election on January 15, the 54-year-old former defense minister won 53.51 percent of the votes, becoming the first woman president democratically elected in the history of Chile.
　　Bachelet is a pediatrician and public health expert who has also served as Chile’s health minister and studied military science at Chile’s National Academy of Strategy and Policy and the United States Inter-American Defense College.
　　This is the fourth general election in Chile since the country’s military government ended in 1990. During the first-round election, no candidate won more than half of valid votes. According to Chile’s Constitution, Bachelet and Sebastian Pinera, who represents the opposition right-wing National Renewal Party, entered the runoff election.
　　
　　Hearing the news of Bachelet’s win, Chavez immediately extended his congratulations, calling her a woman who knows how to fight and describing her father as a “patriotic general” who defended Salvador Allende and became a prisoner of the dictatorship. Meanwhile, Morales sent his regards from Bolivia and invited her to his inauguration ceremony January 22.
　　
　　Unprecedented win in Chile
　　
　　Bachelet’s victory made history as she became a female president in a conservative Catholic country. Meanwhile, as a member of the ruling center-left Democracy Parties Coalition, Bachelet also continues to make history by further drawing the political atmosphere in Latin America to the left.
　　International observers say Bachelet would politically consolidate the left-wing forces in Latin America after she was sworn in March 11, and Chile’s economic development and investment environment will not fall into chaos.
　　
　　Bachelet’s predecessor Ricardo Lagos left her a sound economic operation system, and Chile’s economy has sustained a nearly 6-percent increase over the past two years, making Chile one of the most rapidly growing economies in South America.
　　But the problem of income disparities remains unsolved. Realizing the problem, Bachelet, in her campaign, promised to reform the pension system. However, if Bachelet tries to copy the model of the United States and privatize social insurance, she is expected to receive hard domestic boycotts, since the American model is considered in her country to be ineffective in protecting the poor.
　　Bachelet’s political status is expected to draw continuing attention from Washington, since her election further enlarges the political polarization in Latin America. Some countries such as Mexico support free trade, while others such as Venezuela, Uruguay and Brazil hold suspicious attitudes toward it and want to keep a distance from the United States.
　　Though the outgoing President Lagos agreed with America’s free trade policy, and Chile is the first country in South America to sign a bilateral trade agreement with the United States, analysts note that Bachelet cares more about domestic affairs and that it is very likely she will stand on the side of countries that insist on keeping a distance from the Americans. Meanwhile, the governments of Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia also supply a favorable political atmosphere for her to turn left.
　　Bachelet’s previous public speeches add credence to analysts’ predictions. “We shouldn’t take Latin America back to the Cold War. Chavez, Morales, they are presidents elected by their peoples. Chile must have relationships with all of them,” she said in one speech.
　　In addressing the public, she repeatedly stated that she will continue Lagos’ political road, and while maintaining sound relations with countries worldwide, would develop closer ties with center-left governments in Latin America.
　　
　　Morales’ world tour
　　
　　Bachelet follows on the heels of Bolivia’s Morales, who is an Aymara Indian, as a newly elected president in Latin America.
　　So far, Morales’ schedule in 2006 has been chockablock. Before his presidential inauguration on January 22, he had spent 10 days traveling around the world, including visits to Venezuela, Spain, France, Belgium, South Africa, China and Brazil. His carefully planned route, as described by some media, drew concern from the United States.
　　According to Latin American observers, Morales’ visits not only represent a strong response to assertions he would adopt an isolationist foreign policy, but also outline diplomatic intentions.
　　Morales set foot in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, leaving out North America. But despite this noticeable absence, Washington seemed to pay unprecedented attention to the man. Major U.S. media reported his stop in each country in detail. It is rare to see the world power show such great interest in the activities of the leader of a small country.
　　Bolivia is one of the most impoverished countries in Latin America, and foreign media seldom cover its affairs. However, Morales was one of the most famous presidents in Latin America even before he took office. During his recent world tour, he didn’t wear Western-style suits, as other state leaders usually do, instead donning a brown leather jacket over an open-collared shirt, which, according to media, reflects his background.
　　What happened just before he went traveling made the United States feel nervous. On December 30, Morales boarded a special plane supplied by Cuba and flew to Havana to meet with Fidel Castro, who has defied Washington for almost half a century.
　　“Teacher, wise man, grandfather, I am not sure which term to use,” he said as he addressed Castro.
　　The Cuban leader, who claims to have survived more than 100 assassination attempts sponsored by Washington, warned Morales to look after his personal security.
　　“We face the same enemy,” he said.
　　Morales also met with another nemesis of Washington, Hugo Chavez. “We join the mission of Fidel in Cuba and Hugo in Venezuela in answering the needs of the majority,” he said during his visit to Venezuela, adding that Bolivia would join Latin America’s “anti-imperialist and anti neo-liberal” bloc. “This millennium is for the people, not the empire,” he said.
　　Chavez, who never lets slip any opportunity to attack Washington, embraced Morales and said, “The axis of evil is Washington and its allies, who threaten, who kill. We are forming the axis of good.”
　　
　　More countries to follow?
　　
　　The victories of Bachelet and Morales are just the beginning of a debut by a new group of left-leaning state leaders in Latin America. Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Costa Rica will all elect leaders this year.
　　The political atmosphere in Central and South America has taken a turn to the left in recent years. In 1998, left-wing party leader Chavez was elected as Venezuelan president; in October 2002, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, leader of the Partido dos Trabalhadores, or Workers’ Party, became the country’s leader; and Uruguay’s Encuentro Progresista-Frente Amplio leader Tabare Vazquez won the presidential election October 31, 2004. Meanwhile, in the coming presidential elections in Mexico and Peru, left-wing parties are predicted to win.
　　With the increase of left-wing political figures in Latin America, some U.S. analysts believe the nightmare of the United States is just starting. They worry that these countries will adopt measures targeting the United States and place the country in an awkward position.
　　In fact, Bush already experienced being placed in an awkward position while at the Summit of the Americas, held in November 2005 in Argentina. He was left out in the cold by South American countries. The free trade area plan, which Bush took great pains to promote on the continent, was objected to by the summit. Meanwhile, some South American political leaders, such as Chavez, frequently criticized Bush’s activities at the summit.
　　In decades past, the United States went to great lengths to air its form of democracy in South America and promote neo-liberalism. However, these measures failed to conquer economic problems. On the contrary, they turned public opinion away from the right, and a new group of political leaders entered the stage with public support.
　　Currently, as many as three fourths of all Latin American nations are led by left-leaning politicians. The number of U.S. allies keeps dropping.
　　Xu Shicheng, a research fellow with the Institute of Latin American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said there are deep, complicated reasons behind the changing political scene in Latin America.
　　“Latin America is starting to rethink the neo-liberal economic policy initiated by the United States. Also, the United States changed its cooperation schedules with Latin American countries after the September 11 terrorist attacks,” Xu said.
　　The researcher said the Bush administration has shifted the focus of its overseas policy to the Middle East and paid less attention to the development of Latin America. “Meanwhile, U.S. hegemonism and unilateralism gained no support in this region.”
　　So, what’s the result? “The United States will further lose its dominance in the region,” said Xu.

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