So what146;s Left?

It was only by the skin of his teeth. Yet, the victory of liberal technocrat Felipe Calderon the Mexican Presidential elections this week provides a big boost for besieged reformers and democrats in Latin America. At a time when the image of Latin America drifting to the left has excited socialists around the world, the election of Calderon has proved that there are options other than the populism, messianic radicalism, charismatic authoritarianism that have been made so attractive by Venezuela8217;s Hugo Chavez.

With a little less than 36 per cent of the national vote, Calderon must necessarily find ways to heal the wounds from a bitter and divisive election. He also needs to demonstrate that liberal reformers can make a difference to the lives of ordinary people. If his electoral success was built on mobilising the political middle ground in Mexico, Calderon can only endure by rapidly expanding the centrist space through effective economic policies. Calderon8217;s triumph follows the Peruvian moderate Alan Garcia8217;s victory over Chavez crony Ollanta Humala in June. For those familiar with the region, the perception that the Left is taking over Latin America was always an exaggerated proposition. In Latin America there have been many different shades of Leftism many of which merged seamlessly into authoritarian populism. Many recently successful leaders on the left in Latin America have been believers in economic reform. They insist, however, on balancing the agenda of reform with the importance of ending inequities that have grown in the years liberalisation and globalisation. The distance between such leaders on the left and many liberals like Calderon is not great.

Triumphant liberals like Calderon need to prove that faster and equitable growth, democracy and stronger institutions are the best antidote to radicalism and populism that impoverished Latin America for decades. At a time when India8217;s commercial interests in Latin America are rapidly growing, the government needs to reach out to the reformers of the continent to raise India8217;s profile there. In any event, New Delhi must resist the pressures from the communists, for whom Chavez has emerged as a new hero, to align with the Latin radicals at the Non-Aligned Summit in Cuba in September.