Latin America Defies Old Labels

It is tempting to view today's inauguration of Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez as further proof of a shift to the "left" in South America. After all, Vazquez comes from the Broad Front-Progressive Encounter coalition of communists, socialists and former Tupamaro urban guerrillas. And he fits with other leaders in the neighborhood: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president from the leftist Workers' Party; Ricardo Lagos, Chile's first socialist president in more than three decades; and Nestor Kirchner, whose political origins can be traced to the "leftist" faction of Argentina's Peronist party in the 1970s.

Vazquez, 65, was shaped by Cold War politics, back in the decades when the region was an ideological battleground. Those were the days, after the Cuban revolution, when armed guerrilla movements (like the Tupamaros in Uruguay) were scattered through Latin America and won support from large segments of the population. There were governments -- which came to power either through force (like the Sandinistas in Nicaragua) or elections (like Salvador Allende in Chile) -- that favored a radical reordering of their economies and took positions sharply at odds with the United States. For nearly half a century Cuba's Fidel Castro -- with whose country Vazquez intends to reestablish diplomatic relations -- has largely embodied and practically defined such leftism in Latin America.

But times have changed. As president, Vazquez will almost certainly be pragmatic and moderate, mirroring the evolution of the "left" in the region over the last generation.

His chosen finance minister, Danilo Astori, is, like his counterparts in Brazil, Chile and Argentina, a model of economic orthodoxy and fiscal discipline. He has concurred with the position of the current (conservative) government on most matters of economic policy.

Of course, given the constraints imposed by the global economy, sharp policy departures are admittedly difficult. But Vazquez, eager to succeed, will be inclined to take his cues from Lula, Lagos and Kirchner, all of whom enjoy high levels of public approval and have so far delivered results.

The "leftist" label is by now an artificial construct that should be jettisoned. It confuses more than it clarifies. In the minds of many, the term is still associated with irresponsible economic policies and populist appeals, a recipe for political instability. Yet a review of Chile, Brazil and even Argentina suggests that such concerns may be anachronistic. Far from pursuing such a path, these countries are seeking the right balance between economic growth and serious attention to the urgent social agenda. That is the chief task facing Vazquez, as well as all the other Latin American leaders.