Abstract

ORJUELA E, Luis Javier. THE COMPLEX AND AMBIGUOUS Repolitization of Latin America. colomb.int. [online]. 2007, n.66, pp.16-35. ISSN 0121-5612.

In opposition to some scholars who maintain that analyzing Latin America's current political situation using the concepts of left and right is inadequate, the author afirms that such concepts are not only pertinent for interpreting the region's situation, but also represent the region's current repolitization since that conceptual dichotomy expresses the confrontational character of politics. Such confrontational character disappeared in the 80's and 90's due to three factors: authoritarian regimes, neoliberalism, and the left's ambiguous attitude towards its participation in the political democratic game and in elections.The current repolitization expresses itself in the left's revalorization of democracy, its rejection of neoliberal reforms and the anticapitalism of some of its sectors. On the other side, the ambiguity and complexity of such repolitization expresses itself in the hibridation of leftist politics into a radical, moderate, populist, and ethnic left, which characterizes some of the region's current political regimes.

Keywords : Latin America; left; right; democracy; dictatorship; hegemony.

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