Let's Talk About Latin America

Earlier this month Venezuelan opposition parties made it known that they are planning to boycott the legislative elections scheduled for December of this year. The announcement was not shocking, as the same parties boycotted the presidential elections two years ago. The opposition parties are led by Juan Guaido, the current president of the National Assembly and leader of the center right Popular Will party. The boycott comes at a great risk to Guaido's legitimacy as an alternative leader to current president Nicolas Maduro. If the opposition boycotts Guaido will not be reelected to his seat in the National Assembly, and therefore find himself outside the political institutions of his country. So why would he take that risk?  There are at least two theories as to why Guaido would willingly give up his seat in the National Assembly by boycotting the election. The first is that he no longer believes that his legitimacy as a politician, and possibly future leader of Venezuela, is tied...

The Bolivian Election Commission issued a statement recently saying that the long-awaited presidential election will be held on October 18th. However, this is no ordinary election for the country. To fully understand its significance, and the candidates who are running, it is necessary to go back to the last Bolivian election in October of 2019.  October 2019 saw Evo Morales run for an unprecedented and constitutionally suspect fourth term as president. Morales had been in power since 2005 when he and his party, Movement For Socialism (MAS), took power from the center-right incumbent Carlos Mesa. This election was impactful not just for Bolivia, but for Latin America as a whole. Morales was one of the first fully indigenous presidents in Latin America, and his policies signaled a shift to the left throughout the region after years of neoliberal economic reforms under center-right leaders. In 2016, Morales issued a nationwide referendum on amending the Constitution to allow him to r...