Socialist Politics in Latin America Today

R.G. Williams

This short essay is a study of Socialist politics in Latin America. The need for Socialism is obvious in South America — a need which is obvious from Mexico to Argentina. For the Left in Latin America the real social struggle, today, is the struggle for Socialism. In order to achieve Socialism, we always need revolutionary politics and revolutionary strategy. There is a clear need for revolutionary politics and revolutionary strategy in Central and South America. The continent, also, is a place where the Left can struggle – and if it struggles it can win.

Latin America, today, is clearly one of the most dynamic and revolutionary continents in the world. It is a place where economic conflict, political struggle, and social revolution, is clearly possible. It is also a continent with a powerful Left – a Socialist Left. If there is any hope for left-wing politics, today, then Latin America is one of the places where the Left has a chance – a chance for victory.

The type of politics that Latin America needs today is obvious. It needs Socialist politics. It needs revolutionary politics. It needs politics committed to achieving human liberation. The real economic, political, social, and historical development, from the past to the present, shows that Capitalism has failed to achieve either development or human freedom in Latin America. The only real solution to the problems of the region, today, in revolutionary terms, is Socialism and Socialist politics. The only way to free Latin America, today, is through Socialism – specifically revolutionary Democratic Socialism.

The Left is the only force which can change Latin America today. This is because the Left is the only force which is committed to actually changing society – in a positive sense. The Left is the only force, today, which understands the problems of the continent – and has real solutions. The Left is also a major social force – as shown by the pink tide in the early 21st century. The Latin American Left, today, is a force which has serious mass support, major political parties, organised trade unions, and other working-class organisations. The Latin American Left, today, is one of the major political forces in the world today – a force which is advancing.

The Left, in Latin America, needs to win. While the Latin American Left has made serious advances since the 1990s and the early 2000s, it still needs to achieve Socialism. If the Left in Latin America is to ever achieve the continent-wide social revolution that Latin America clearly needs then the Left will have to engage with the real politics of making revolution. The Latin American Left, today, however, needs a revolutionary strategy – in order to make revolution. It needs a revolutionary strategy – in order to achieve a better, revolutionary, society. As Lenin said: ‘without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement’.1 There can be no revolution without a revolutionary theory. There can be no revolution without a revolutionary strategy.

The political struggle by the Left in Latin America, today, must be based on the political reality of Latin America today. There cannot be a successful social revolution today unless the Left engages with the concrete realities of the struggle in Latin America today. Repeating the politics, strategies, and tactics, of the struggles from the past is unlikely to achieve revolutionary victories today. Instead, it is vital to develop a new revolutionary strategy for Latin America – a strategy which acknowledges the realities of politics in the region itself today. The Left needs to develop a universal, united, and workable strategy for social change and social revolution across the continent. This strategy will, of course, need to be different in the different countries – but it also will need to be united with the universal need to develop a united working-class struggle across Latin America. Above all, it is vital that the Latin American Left is united – as only a united Left can achieve victory. The Left needs to develop a united Left politics, across the continent of South and Central America, which can achieve a really revolutionary struggle for Socialism.

The social struggle for Socialism in Latin America, today, is more developed in certain places and areas than others. This social reality is key to understanding the dynamic of the revolutionary struggle — some areas are more politically advanced than others. In Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua the struggle for social revolution and Socialism clearly exists at a different level than it does in other places— particularly in places like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. This is because Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua have already undergone some form of social revolution – and are revolutionary societies. This division of the revolution is another legacy of past politics and past struggles. For the revolutionary struggle in the region, today, it is vital to unite the working-class struggle in all these countries and to develop them towards Socialism. In the case of Venezuela, a key theatre of social revolution and revolutionary struggle in Latin America since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution in 1998, the social struggle there today is already beginning to enter a new, dramatic, and decisive phase. If the struggle for Socialism is to advance and develop in Latin America, then there must be a struggle in all the countries of Latin America and all its societies.2 Indeed, it must be a permeant struggle – across the entire continent. Indeed, there must be permanent revolution.

The revolutionary struggle in Latin America, today, is crucial. Indeed, the continent, itself, is a revolutionary continent. It is a place where revolutions can happen – as shown by the historical experience of the last two centuries. The history of revolution, in South and Central America, shows that the continent is a place where revolution can happen – real social change, real social revolution. The experience of the Mexican Revolution, the Cuban Revolution, the Chilean Revolution, the Nicaraguan Revolution, and the Bolivarian Revolution, shows that there is revolutionary potential in this revolutionary place – it is a revolutionary continent. The history of the revolutionary struggle in Latin America, since the 20th century, shows the possibility of real revolutionary change in Latin America – revolutionary change which can lead to Socialism.

In order to achieve revolution in Latin America, today, the Left must develop a revolutionary strategy – a strategy that can actually achieve revolution. Today, the only form of revolution which can succeed is political revolution – revolution through democratic, political, and social struggle. This is in contrast with the revolutionary struggle in the 20th century, in Latin America, which was usually in the form of military or guerrilla struggle. Revolutionary struggle, in Latin America, in the 20th century, was heavily shaped by guerrilla struggle. Indeed, the majority of major social struggles, in the late 20th century, in the region, were usually based on some type of guerrilla struggle. There once was a time when the revolutionary struggle in Latin America relied, very clearly, on guerrilla warfare and guerrilla struggle. Today that is no longer the case. Today only political struggle can achieve a revolutionary struggle in Latin America. Guerrilla struggle is no longer really possible in Latin America. There is also the fact that except for a very few examples in the 20th century, namely the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the guerrilla strategy was a failure and a disaster for political revolution in Latin America — which usually resulted in counter-revolution and defeat. Che Guevara was a revolutionary hero — but his guerrilla strategy for revolutionary struggle in the 1960s was largely a failure. In Latin America, today, the revolutionary struggle for Socialism must rely on political struggles — and not on military struggles. If the revolutionary struggle is to succeed it must rely today on political struggles of the working class. The failure of guerrilla struggle to achieve social revolution in Latin America, from Colombia to Peru, highlights the need for political struggle instead in Latin America. This does not mean that guerrilla struggle is useless in Latin America — in the right circumstances guerrilla struggle is perhaps natural and necessary — but history perhaps shows that better forms of social struggle need to be developed. Only political struggle can achieve revolution and Socialism in Latin America.

All revolutionary struggles must deal with counter-revolution – with the reality of counter-revolution. In the case of Latin America, the primary opponents of social revolution in Latin America remain the Capitalist states of Latin America and the spectre of US imperialism. Any struggle in Latin America will have to deal with these opponents and find ways of overcoming them. The recent reality of counter-revolution in Brazil, since 2016, and the real difficulties of the revolution in Venezuela, since 2002, shows just how powerful the forces of counter-revolution are — at both a political level and a social level. In Brazil, counter-revolution has led to the triumph of the Right since 2016. In Venezuela, counter-revolution has undermined the potential of the Bolivarian Revolution — since 2002, and especially since 2018 and 2019. The reality of counter-revolution, dictatorships, and coups in Latin America, and the power of US Imperialism, also remains a threat to social progress today — as the history of the 20th century in Latin America also shows. So long as Capitalism remains a social force in the world the struggle in Latin America for social revolution will remain incomplete. Recent events and past events in the history of Latin America also show the reality of what occurs when revolution fails in Latin American societies — the reality of military dictatorship. The working class of Latin America cannot afford any further revolutionary failures. It must face the threat of counter-revolution – and defeat it.

US imperialism is a major factor in this struggle for social change in South and Central America. It is a factor which needs to be understood if any revolutionary strategy is to be developed in Latin America today. Indeed, US imperialism is the ultimate enemy of revolution in Latin America. It is vital that any revolution in Latin America needs to engage with the reality of US imperialism – and defeat it. US imperialism has always undermined the struggle for Socialism in Latin America. The political difficulties of the Cuban Revolution, and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, highlights this basic fact. The revolutionary struggle in Latin America must always remember this reality of US imperialism and find ways to overcome it —through struggle and through building solidarity with the struggle of the working class in the United States itself. If US imperialism is not confronted, head on, then there is no chance for the success of social revolution or political revolution in Latin America.3

The social struggle in Latin America is primarily a struggle by the working class of Latin America. If Latin America is to ever achieve a real social revolution, today, then it must be a revolution by the working class of Latin America itself. This basic fact is a constant of any revolutionary strategy today – both there and across the world. Only the working class can achieve real social revolution in Latin America. In order to achieve social revolution, there needs to be working-class politics in Latin America. Only working-class politics can achieve real social progress in Latin America. Indeed, only working-class politics can achieve any social progress in the world today. A key area for revolutionary politics in Latin America remains working-class politics — the need for real working-class politics. The Latin American working class needs to become organised – through political parties and social struggles. Only a politically organised working class can achieve real social change. There is also a need for a unified working-class politics in Latin America — the need for unity between the working class and the rural farmers. The Left needs to overcome the urban/rural divide in Latin America – between workers and poor farmers. Without unity between the workers and the farmers there cannot be either social revolution or political revolution anywhere. The urban/rural divide in Latin America, historically, has always undermined the social struggle – both now and in history. This divide cannot be allowed to delay the social struggle in Latin America today. The urban/rural divide is not unique to Latin America, or the revolutionary struggle in Latin America, but it is a serious social divide. Overcoming this divide, by uniting the workers and the farmers of Latin America, is vital to the success of any revolutionary strategy in Latin America. The workers and farmers of Latin America need to form a united front – in order to achieve social revolution in Latin America. If the Left is to advance in Latin America it will have to develop its broader working-class politics — politics which can appeal to both the workers and farmers of Latin America.

Left writers have written a great deal about Latin America. This is because Latin America is crucial to any struggle for a better world today. It is a place which is vital – if we are to achieve revolution today. There have been many good writers, from the Left, on revolution and revolutionary strategy in Latin America.4 Indeed, some of the best Left thinkers on political revolution have actively thought about the problems of revolution in Latin America.5 This is because Latin America, itself, is a key theatre for the political revolutionary struggle of today.6 The thought of José Carlos Mariátegui, Che Guevara, and Régis Debray has been crucial in shaping the politics of revolution in Latin America. Such Socialist thinkers have always been crucial to developing practical ways of making revolution in Latin America. Their ideas remain crucial for developing Socialist politics in today’s world — both internationally and in Latin America itself. Their work highlights both the potential and the possibility for revolution. If any strategy or politics for revolution in Latin America is to be developed for today, then it will probably require some aspect of the thought from the older Socialist thinkers of the 20th century — and from the Socialist tradition in general. The ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, Gramsci, Guevara, and Mariátegui, can still help us today in terms of developing revolutionary politics. Their ideas can still shape the social struggle for revolution in Latin America.

The Left needs to become better organised in Latin America. The struggle in Latin America shows the need for both political organisation and for social organisation. The Left in Latin America needs both political organisations and social organisations — Socialist parties, Socialist trade unions, and Socialist organisations. No victory for Socialism can occur without such political organisation or social organisation — without Socialist parties and Socialist organisations. Latin America has a history and a tradition of such Socialist parties and Socialist organisations. For the Left in Latin America today it is vital that the politics, tactics, and struggles of such parties are resurrected for the struggle today. The political revolution cannot be won, anywhere, without a Socialist Party.7

In the end, the struggle for social change in Latin America needs to come from the working class itself. Only the workers can emancipate themselves. Only the workers of Latin America can make a real social revolution in Latin America. If the continent is to be changed, in a positive way, in the coming century, then it will be up to the real social struggle of the workers of Latin America. Only they can achieve social revolution in Central America and South America. Only they can achieve Socialism in Latin America. If they can achieve it, they will transform their society, and the world. They might even inspire revolution in North America itself – in the United States.

There are many difficulties for the Left in Latin America today – but there are also opportunities. The Left, since the 1990s, has already achieved several major victories in Latin America – and it has managed to win power in several countries. The example of the pink tide, of the early 2000s, and the Venezuelan Revolution, has also been a major inspiration – for Socialists across the world. The Latin American Left, today, has much to be proud of. It has achieved much. It has inspired millions. If it can continue to fight and advance, today, then it can change Latin America. If it can change Latin America, it can help to change the world. Latin America is probably the most important theatre for the Left today – because it is a theatre where the Left is advancing. Indeed, South America, in general, is a crucial place for the modern Left – because it is a place where the Left is winning. The Left is currently winning in Latin America. If it continues to win, then it could transform Latin America – and the world. Latin America is crucial for the Left. It is a place where the Left has the potential to actually win.

Latin America requires social change today. This is obvious. It clearly requires Socialism. It clearly requires social revolution. It has the potential for social revolution. It has the potential to achieve social revolution. It just needs the right form of revolutionary politics. How to achieve social revolution and political revolution in Latin America is a question of politics and a question of strategy. It is also a question that the Left will have to answer — given the reality of politics today and the experience gained from the successes and failures of the revolutions of the 20th century. The nature of the revolutionary struggle means that the Left must think long and hard about the real nature of the struggle — and how it connects to the international struggle for Socialism. The Latin American Left needs to think and act. It must both interpret the world and change the world. The nature of American imperialism is another political problem. Indeed, social progress, across the world, is impossible without directly confronting US Imperialism. The Left, in Latin America, needs to confront US Imperialism, head on, if it is to actually change the continent. In many ways the nature of the struggle for Socialism in Latin America remains fundamentally unchanged from what it was in the last century — the Left has to struggle against both national and international enemies, against both the Capitalists of Latin America and the imperialism of the United States. What has changed is that we are simply at a later period of history now – a later period where the need for Socialism simply more pressing than ever. All of this makes the political struggle in Latin America difficult — but not impossible. The struggle in Latin America continues today — and it will continue until victory: the victory of Socialism.

Notes

1. V.L. Lenin, What Is To Be Done?, (1905)
2. E. Guevara, Message to the Tricontinental, (1967)
3. E. Guevara, Message to the Tricontinental, (1967)
4. J.C. Mariátegui, History of the World Crisis, (1924)
J.C. Mariátegui, Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality, (1928)
5. E. Guevara, Message to the Tricontinental, (1967)
6. R. Debray, The Revolution in the Revolution, (1967)
R. Debray, Problems of Revolutionary Strategy in Latin America, (1967)
7. V.L. Lenin, What Is To Be Done?, (1905)

(2017)

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This post was written by R.G. Williams