The “Pink Tide” in Latin America was an inspiring example of an alternative to neoliberalism that benefitted the lives of millions of working-class, oppressed, and indigenous people. Along with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Lula in Brazil, Evo Morales and his party MAS won a majority in the 2006 elections in Bolivia. Today, MAS is mired in crisis, with former president Evo Morales and current president Luis (Lucho) Arce competing to be MAS’s presidential candidate in the 2025 election.
We spoke with André Ferrari, a member of Liberdade, Socialismo e Revolução (Socialist Alternative’s sister organization in Brazil) to draw lessons from the situation.
Q: What potential did the “Pink Tide” initially represent for working people in Latin America and around the world?
A: The “Pink Tide” is a reflection of the wave of mass struggle against the consequences of neoliberal policies and the crisis of capitalism in Latin America. The rise of these governments was not the main phenomenon in this period—it was off the back of protests that these new left governments were elected. This whole process represented the masses looking for an alternative, and it’s been a reference point for workers worldwide. But in order to truly overcome the crisis of capitalism and the austerity it has brought working people, a totally new system is needed. Neither the protest movements nor the Pink Tide governments had a clear strategy or program to lead the way to a socialist revolution, despite these politicians often talking about socialism. They didn’t fundamentally break with capitalism, they ultimately stabilized it in the face of mass struggles that had revolutionary potential.
Q: Where did Evo Morales come from? Was his move to the right inevitable?
A: Morales arose as a movement leader in the struggle against neoliberalism, where a popular insurrection defeated the government’s attempts to privatize water and gas. Morales was elected president in 2005, and revenue from gas exports during a commodity boom gave him a lot of room to implement economic reforms that benefited working people. This was due to pressure from below by the movement, but at the same time Morales was pressured from above by the bourgeoisie. Morales tried to serve both the workers and the capitalists, and over time this made his approach much more moderate. Morales’ move to the right was not inevitable. The situation underlines the necessity of a revolutionary, Marxist leadership for working-class movements. Morales did not provide that kind of leadership, instead he made deals with the capitalists and the far-right. Without a clear program and strategy to take things to a socialist conclusion that breaks with the capitalist system, the movement that he initially emerged from, and which pushed him to the left, retreated.
Q: What has been the role of US imperialism in Bolivia? Who is responsible for stopping the coup attempts?
A: Bolivia has had probably the most coup attempts of any country! US imperialism has often backed these coups in order to maintain maximum profits for their investors. Repeatedly, these coup attempts have been defeated by mass movements. In 2019 there was a coup that drove Evo Morales out of office and installed right-wing president Jeanine Áñez. A general strike forced a new election, which Lucho Arce won. Last June’s failed coup against Arce was defeated by the very threat of protest. A section of the military tried to take advantage of the crisis within MAS to enact a coup, but the Bolivian ruling class and US imperialism refused to back it, at least this time, out of fear of provoking a mass reaction.
Q: What is the current situation in Bolivia?
A: Post-commodity boom, inflation in Bolivia is among the highest in the region. There are widespread fuel shortages and high food prices. The Arce government has adopted austerity policies. The economic situation plus the crisis in MAS has driven protests against the government, mainly stimulated by Morales. So the current government is being confronted not just by the right wing, from within its own party. The crisis in MAS is a struggle between two sectors of the bureaucracy of the party, and in reality neither side represents the interests of working people. There is a real danger that the failure of both sides of the so-called left in Bolivia can open the way for the right wing, even the far right, to win next year.
Q: What should socialists do in this situation?
The working class needs a political alternative with a clear socialist program. To stop the right, the main task is to build the struggle, not to engage in bureaucratic disputes. Socialists should participate in struggles against privatization and austerity, and build a genuine workers’ party with a socialist program. The Bolivian working class certainly has not faced a historic defeat, and in the next period we’re likely to see new movements that can create the basis for a real left alternative in the country, that leads the struggle toward the revolutionary conclusion needed to solve the crisis facing the Bolivian masses. But there is no solution for Bolivia alone. The struggle there needs to link up with other working-class struggles internationally to be successful. That’s why International Socialist Alternative is building the class struggle on every continent.