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OctThe Brazilian presidential election was settled on the 28th, and the Social Liberal Party candidate defeated the Labor Party candidate and was elected as the new president. The Social Liberal Party is a right-wing party. The original power was weak, but in the election process, they won the popularity from the voters rapidly and eventually won. As the largest economy in Latin America and the most influential regional power, the changes in Brazil’s political situation have undoubtedly aggravated the “turning right” trend of Latin American political ecology. Next, how will this change affect the development of China-Latin America relations and the adjustment of the US policy toward Latin America?
From the end of the 20th century to the present, in 2008, the Latin American left and right wing ruling showed a "pendulum" wave. After the international financial crisis, due to the fall in commodity prices and the failure of Latin American left-wing government governance strategies, the left-wing parties in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and other major countries lost their political power successively, and the Latin American political map showed a pattern of “left lose and right win”. The Brazilian election is also a continuation of this “right shift” trend. Since the impeachment of former President Rousseff, Brazil’s left-wing forces have fallen into a trough, the new government has adopted a neo-liberal economic policy, but Brazil has been plagued by violent crimes, political corruption scandals and economic recession, and then the right-wing parties have failed to hold on to politics. The advantage, eventually handed over the political power into the hands of the far right party. The victory track of the anti-institutional forces represented by Bossonaro reflects the Brazilian people's dissatisfaction with the status quo and their desire to change the "Brazil destiny".
Throughout history, from the independence of Latin American countries to the end of the 20th century, Latin American politics have shown a "left restrain and right raise" trend. Most of the time, the right-wing party dominates and decides the Latin American political, economic and social development agenda. After the 1990s, after passing through the drastic changes in the Soviet Union Collapse and the Cold War, the left-wing progressive forces gradually rose to leading political force. In 1998, Venezuelan Chavez took the stage is a clear signal. The left-wing leaders of more than a dozen countries including Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia took the power and set up a powerful "pink wave" in Latin America. The political pendulum obviously shifted "left". The right wing suffered a major setback. The right-wing revival in the current Latin American political ecology has its profound conditions of the times and historical background, and is inseparable from the pragmatic political opinions of the right-wing political parties and the flexible economic strategies.
Since the beginning of the new century, China-Latin America relations have achieved leap-forward development. On the surface, the rapid development of China-Latin America relations coincides with the time of the left-wing taking power, but in essence, it has its profound political and economic roots. Politically, China adheres to the principle of equality, mutual benefit and common development. China-Latin America exchanges are increasingly frequent and support each other on the international stage. Economically, China’s huge demand for commodities has a natural complementary relationship with Latin American resource endowments. Financial credit has effectively boosted Latin American economic growth, and cooperation and development have also become the main line of China-Latin America relations.
Due to geographical proximity, the development trend in Latin America has always touched the sensitive nerves of the United States. The relationship between China and Latin America has aggravated the sense of crisis among some Americans. They fear that the close proximity of China and Latin America will lead to the alienation of the United States and Latin America and the reduction of Latin America’s "dependence" to the United States. After President Trump took office, he practiced the "America First" concept, changed the former Obama administration's relatively moderate Latin American policy, and ruthlessly appealed to Latin American countries on issues such as trade and immigration, and made the relationship between Latin American countries and the United States "fall away." ".
Under the impetus of the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the construction of the “China-Latin Destiny Community”, China has continuously enhanced its overall cooperation with Latin American countries and has become the second largest source of foreign direct investment in Latin America and the largest export destination in South America, acting as the "trade angel" and "development pusher" roles of the Latin American economy. Like other Latin American countries, the top priority for Brazilian right-wing parties is to create jobs and develop the economy. As a result, investment and trade from China will be an irreplaceable option.
With the Brazilian election as a symbol, the political situation in Latin America is undergoing profound changes. However, the political and economic foundation for the development of China-Latin America relations remains rock-solid. China and Latin America are opportunities and mutual needs. The overall situation of China-Latin America friendship cannot be fundamentally changed. The direction of China and Latin America is based on the strategic docking needs of both sides. It is not based on the similarity of ideology. The relationship between China and Latin America will not change fundamentally because of the change of Latin American politics.
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