Fears are mounting across Latin America as far-right forces consolidate power in several countries, deepening the continent’s divide between two sharply opposed political camps. The left continues to pursue balanced international relations with sustaining its support for Palestine, while the right aligns itself with US dominance in the region and moves to strengthen political and strategic ties with Israel.

These contradictions do not affect internal balances alone; it also extends to foreign policy, raising fundamental questions about the future of issues that have historically been part of the region’s political identity, foremost among them the Palestinian cause.

Amid a crisis-laden regional environment, where security, organized crime, and migration dominate the agenda, Latin American countries find themselves caught between stabilising their economic conditions and upholding their solidarity-based positions and foreign causes. This context provides right-wing forces with an opportunity to reorder national priorities, even if doing so comes at the expense of long-standing solidarity commitments.

According to the Brazilian writer and political analyst, Sayid Marcos Tenorio, that “what the region is witnessing cannot be read as a fleeting electoral correction, but rather as the outcome of interacting structural factors, most notably economic deterioration, rising insecurity, and the erosion of the legitimacy of left-wing governments”.

Tenorio explained that the rise of the right is tied to a broader attempt to reimpose a neoliberal economic model packaged in “law and order” rhetoric and grounded in close alliances with financial capital and commercial media. He noted that this shift has direct implications for foreign policy, weakening independent positions and redefining international partnerships along narrow security and economic lines.

After years of socialism in South America, there’s now a right-wing wave.

© Middle East Monitor