Abstract

RIIS HALVORSEN, Kristin. TRUE ALTERNATIVES? A COMPARIZON OF THE ECONOMIC REFORMS IMPLEMENTED BY THE GOVERNEMENTS OF HUGO RAFAEL CHÁVEZ FRÍAS (1999-2006) AND LUIS INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA (2003-2006). Pap.polit. [online]. 2007, vol.12, n.1, pp.237-288. ISSN 0122-4409.

After twenty years of neoliberal policies in Latin America, protests against this economic model strarted to present themselves, claiming that the model had led to high levels of poverty and social misery, and promoting political alternatives. These movements resulted in the election of governments representing the so-called New Latin American Left in many of the region's countries. This article seeks to analyze if these governments have been able to question the logic of neoliberalism and the hegemony obtained by this ideolog. To permit a clearer understanding of these issues, the article presents some of the most important economic reforms implemented by the Lula government in Brazil and the Chávez government in Venezuela. The results are then compared in order to establish wether the governments have been able to promote profound changes and a halt to neoliberal policies, or if they have only been able to perform minor ajustments. Based on these findings, the article draws some conslusions regarding the political direction of the new alternative governments currently in power in various Latin American countries.

Keywords : Neoliberalism; The New Latin American Left; Hugo Chávez; Lula Da Silva; economic reforms.

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