Editing Latin America (section)

===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>