Editing Latin America (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Latin America|Pre-Columbian era}}
[[File:Chichen Itza 3.jpg|thumb|[[Maya Civilization|Mayan]] UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]] of [[Chichén Itzá]]]]
Before the [[European colonization of the Americas|arrival of Europeans]] in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the region was home to many indigenous peoples, including advanced civilizations, most notably from  South: the [[Olmec]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], [[Muisca people|Muisca]], [[Aztecs]] and [[Inca civilization|Inca]]. The region came under control of the kingdoms of [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]], which established colonies, and imposed [[Roman Catholicism]] and their languages. Both brought African [[slave]]s to their colonies as laborers, exploiting large, settled societies and their resources. The Spanish Crown regulated immigration, allowing only Christians to travel to the New World. The colonization process led to significant native population declines due to disease, forced labor, and violence. They imposed their culture, destroying native codices and artwork. Colonial-era religion played a crucial role in everyday life, with the Spanish Crown ensuring religious purity and aggressively prosecuting perceived deviations like witchcraft.

In the early nineteenth century nearly all of areas of [[Spanish America]] attained independence by armed struggle, with the exceptions of [[Cuba]] and [[Puerto Rico]]. [[Brazil]], which had become a monarchy separate from Portugal, became a republic in the late nineteenth century. Political independence from European monarchies did not result in the abolition of black slavery in the new nations, it resulted in political and economic instability in Spanish America, immediately after independence. Yet, as regional [[Caudillo|Caudillos]] started to rise in power nation nation-builders started to view themselves as more modern than their former European colonizers. Leaders began to shift away from aristocracy toward republicanism and democracy, which allowed all citizens, not just the Creole elites, to have a voice in politics. Politics helped unify many of the Latin American nations as all people, even illiterate people, would gather in their communities to talk about political ideals and how they should be used in their nation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sanders |first=James E. |date=2011 |title=The Vanguard of the Atlantic World: Contesting Modernity in Nineteenth-Century Latin America |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/latin_american_research_review/v046/46.2.sanders.html |journal=Latin American Research Review |language=en |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=104–127 |doi=10.1353/lar.2011.0030 |issn=1542-4278}}</ref> Great Britain and the United States exercised significant influence in the post-independence era, resulting in a form of [[neo-colonialism]], where political sovereignty remained in place, but foreign powers exercised considerable power in the economic sphere. Newly independent nations faced domestic and interstate conflicts, struggling with economic instability and social inequality.

The 20th century brought U.S. intervention and the [[Cold War]]'s impact on the region, with revolutions in countries like Cuba influencing Latin American politics. The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw shifts towards left-wing governments, followed by conservative resurgences, and a recent resurgence of left-wing politics in several countries.

===After 2000===
[[File:UNASUR-15SEP2008.jpg|thumb|right|[[UNASUR]] summit in the Palacio de la Moneda, [[Santiago de Chile]]]]
In many countries in the early 2000s, left-wing political parties rose to power, known as the [[Pink tide]]. The presidencies of [[Hugo Chávez]] (1999–2013) in Venezuela, [[Ricardo Lagos]] and [[Michelle Bachelet]] in Chile, [[Lula da Silva]] and [[Dilma Rousseff]] of the [[Workers Party (Brazil)|Workers Party]] (PT) in Brazil, [[Néstor Kirchner]] and his wife [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner|Cristina Fernández]] in Argentina, [[Tabaré Vázquez]] and [[José Mujica]] in Uruguay, [[Evo Morales]] in Bolivia, [[Daniel Ortega]] in Nicaragua, [[Rafael Correa]] in Ecuador, [[Fernando Lugo]] in Paraguay, [[Manuel Zelaya]] in Honduras (removed from power by a [[2009 Honduran coup d'état|coup d'état]]), [[Mauricio Funes]] and [[Salvador Sánchez Cerén]] in El Salvador are all part of this wave of left-wing politicians who often declare themselves [[Socialism|socialists]], [[Latin American integration|Latin Americanists]], or [[Anti-Imperialism|anti-imperialists]], often implying [[Anti-Americanism#Latin America|opposition to US]] [[Washington consensus|policies towards the region]]. An aspect of this has been the creation of the eight-member ALBA alliance, or "[[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas|The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America]]" (Spanish: ''Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América'') by some of these countries.

[[File:Pro-Micheletti demonstrators.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|Honduran demonstrator holding a banner with a "don't turn left" sign, 2009]]
Following the pink tide, there was a [[Conservative wave]] across Latin America. In Mexico, the rightwing [[National Action Party (Mexico)|National Action Party]] (PAN) won the [[2000 Mexican general election|presidential election of 2000]] with its candidate [[Vicente Fox]], ending the 71-year rule of the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]].  He was succeed six-years later by another conservative, [[Felipe Calderón]] (2006–2012), who attempted to crack down on the Mexican drug cartels and instigated the [[Mexican drug war]] .  Several right-wing leaders rose to power, including Argentina's [[Mauricio Macri]] and Brazil's [[Michel Temer]], following the impeachment of the country's first female president. In [[Chile]], the conservative [[Sebastián Piñera]] succeeded the socialist [[Michelle Bachelet]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ospina|first1=Jose|title=Is there a right-wing surge in South America?|url=https://www.dw.com/en/is-there-a-right-wing-surge-in-south-america/a-45874897|access-date=December 10, 2018|agency=DW|date=October 28, 2018|archive-date=December 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231011210/https://www.dw.com/en/is-there-a-right-wing-surge-in-south-america/a-45874897|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, center-right [[Luis Lacalle Pou]] ended a 15-year leftist rule in Uruguay, after defeating the [[Broad Front (Uruguay)|Broad Front]] candidate.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 29, 2019|title=Conservative Lacalle Pou wins Uruguay presidential election, ending 15 years of leftist rule|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20191129-conservative-lacalle-pou-wins-uruguay-presidential-election-ending-15-years-of-leftist-rule|access-date=June 13, 2022|website=France 24|language=en|archive-date=June 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613023807/https://www.france24.com/en/20191129-conservative-lacalle-pou-wins-uruguay-presidential-election-ending-15-years-of-leftist-rule|url-status=live}}</ref>

Economically, the [[2000s commodities boom]] caused positive effects for many Latin American economies. Another trend was the rapidly increasing importance of their [[China–Latin America relations|relations with China]].<ref name=AFP2011>Jordi Zamora. [https://archive.today/20130124212149/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ggNqQ5G8UFErmAEw71Y-u51P8_Eg?docId=CNG.e829052752a5436e909ab280ad561af6.671 "China's double-edged trade with Latin America"]. September 3, 2011. AFP.</ref>
However, with the [[Great Recession]] beginning in 2008, there was an end to the commodity boom, resulting in [[economic stagnation]] or [[recession]] resulted in some countries. A number of left-wing governments of the Pink tide lost support. The worst-hit was Venezuela, which is facing severe [[Crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela|social and economic upheaval]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Charges of against a major Brazilian conglomerate, [[Odebrecht#Legal problems|Odebrecht]], has raised allegations of corruption across the region's governments (see [[Operation Car Wash]]). This bribery ring has become the largest corruption scandal in Latin American history.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Casey|first1=Nicholas|last2=Zarate|first2=Andrea|title=Corruption Scandals With Brazilian Roots Cascade Across Latin America|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/world/americas/peru-colombia-venezuela-brazil-odebrecht-scandal.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=June 16, 2017|date=February 13, 2017|archive-date=June 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613234240/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/world/americas/peru-colombia-venezuela-brazil-odebrecht-scandal.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As of July 2017, the highest ranking politicians charged were former Brazilian President [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]], who was arrested,<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-President 'Lula' of Brazil Surrenders to Serve 12-Year Jail Term|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/world/americas/brazil-lula-surrenders-luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva-.html|website=The New York Times|date=April 7, 2018|access-date=April 7, 2018|last1=Andreoni|first1=Manuela|last2=Londoño|first2=Ernesto|last3=Darlington|first3=Shasta|archive-date=April 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407223333/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/world/americas/brazil-lula-surrenders-luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva-.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and former Peruvian presidents [[Ollanta Humala]] and [[Alejandro Toledo]], who fled to the United States and was extradited back to Peru.<ref>{{cite web|title=Another former Peruvian president is sent to jail, this time as part of growing corruption scandal|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-peru-humala-20170714-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=July 14, 2017|date=July 14, 2017|archive-date=March 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324032925/https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-peru-humala-20170714-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[COVID-19 pandemic]] proved a political challenge for many unstable Latin American democracies, with scholars identifying a decline in civil liberties as a result of opportunistic emergency powers. This was especially true for countries with strong presidential regimes, such as [[Brazil]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Weiffen|first=Brigitte|date=December 1, 2020|title=Latin America and COVID-19: Political Rights and Presidential Leadership to the Test|url=http://berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/democratic-theory/7/2/dt070208.xml|journal=Democratic Theory|volume=7|issue=2|pages=61–68|doi=10.3167/dt.2020.070208|issn=2332-8894|doi-access=free|access-date=January 13, 2021|archive-date=January 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121043824/https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/democratic-theory/7/2/dt070208.xml|url-status=live}}</ref>