All across Latin America, the left wing is in disarray
Since 2023, the right has marched to power, sweeping away a host of ineffectual candidates from the left
And there's one main cause. What's really driving this is citizens' fear of crime and insecurity
If you look at public opinion surveys in Latin America, fear of crime and security is the number one issue for most voters
It's really about tapping into people's fears, polarizing the electorate, and demonstrating that, in this case, the left can't effectively address many of voters' primary concerns
Much of the continent has seen organized crime surge over the last decade
El Salvador lurched to the right amid soaring gang violence, and President Nayib Bukele's zero-tolerance approach has noticeably borne fruit
With illegal immigration poured into the regional mix, Chilean president-elect José Antonio Cast linked into crime
pitching mass deportations at a Trump-style wall on the border, effectively swaying fed-up voters
Around eight million Venezuelans, a quarter of the population, have left the country since Nicolas Maduro came to power in 2013
Its economy shrinking by up to three in that time gave Latin America a migration crisis all of its own Not to mention further damaging the left brand as Venezuelan socialism fell apart at the seams
Most Latin Americans agree with the idea that Maduro should go. They don't agree necessarily that it should involve US military intervention
but they see Maduro as one of the nexus of the problems of insecurity and crime and migration
What's more, Donald Trump's taken a renewed interest in matters to the South
setting the US military on alleged drug runners, backing politicians like Argentina's Javier Millet with billions of dollars in financial support
and using trade deals and tariffs as a carrot and stick to push countries into line
Latin America's politicians have started to take notes. This is about dividing people, polarising politics
and engaging in a sort of scorched earth policy in which you basically delegitimize
any of those who came before you, any of your opponents, and that's very much pro-Trump
The US published its national security strategy in November, setting out a plan to restore American preeminence
in the Western Hemisphere. With much of Latin America seemingly beginning to emulate Donald Trump
Washington may already be well on its way