Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-04-22
Source: The Conversation – in French– By Thomas Posado, lecturer in contemporary Latin American civilization, University of Rouen Normandy
The military dictatorships of the 1960s and 1970s came to power by force; today, in several Latin American countries, parties that are often openly nostalgic for them have reached the top through the ballot box. This phenomenon is on the rise, after the continent experienced a wave of left-wing governments in the 2000s and 2010s.
For a decade, far-right parties have experienced rapid growth in Latin America. In power in the region’s main power, Brazil, from 2018 to 2022 with Jair Bolsonaro, these political forces currently govern Argentina (Javier Milei), Chile (José Antonio Kast), and El Salvador (Nayib Bukele). They could also soon come to power in several other countries in the region. State of affairs.
Three countries already governed by the far right
Defining the far right is always complex. It is not a scientific category but a commonly used term, whose meaning is relative in time and space, within a given society, often constituting the most determined faction to ensure the maintenance of social order by force, if necessary by crushing subordinates through the harshest repressive methods.
Thus, in Argentina, the theme most emphasized by Javier Milei is that ofeconomic libertarianismand his will to“chainsaw massacre”public services.
In Chile, according to a pattern that is most similar to what happens in Europe, it is theanti-Venezuelan xenophobia, accused of being responsible for the – albeit modest – increase in insecurity, which is the driving force behind the Kast vote.
In El Salvador, it is apunitive policy resulting in the highest incarceration rate in the world, even at the expense of human rights, which founded Nayib Bukele’s popularity.
A continental dynamic
Beyond these cases, the dynamics of the Latin American far-right are found in other countries of the region. In Uruguay, the Cabildo Abierto party, now in decline but which obtained 11% in the 2019 general elections, constitutes areactionfacing the progressive advances of the center-left government of the Frente Amplio in terms of gender and sexuality. From 2020 to 2025, it was the first case in Latin America of far-right governmental participation in a right-wing-led government, with the portfolios of public health and housing, while being decisive in achieving a parliamentary majority.
In Venezuela, the Nobel Peace Prize,María Corina Machado, has always been the most radical face of the opposition to Chavismo. It is not on gender and sexuality issues that she stands out, but by her methods to put an end to Chavismo (calling for external intervention against her own country), her visceral anti-communism (fueled by her rejection of Chavismo), her integral economic liberalism (breaking with the traditional interventionism of politicians in Venezuela), and her international movements (displayinghis servility towards Donald Trumpand now his membership to leaders such as the Chilean presidentJosé Antonio Kast– two leaders who nevertheless criminalize Venezuelan migrants on their soil).
The 2026 deadlines are decisive for the dynamic of the Latin American far-right. In Colombia, on May 31 and June 21, voters will have the opportunity to choose the continuity of thefirst left-wing presidency of the country, that of Gustavo Petro(elected in 2022), by electing the one who is currently the favorite, Iván Cepeda. His two main rivals areAbelardo de la Espriella, a lawyer known for having defended far-right paramilitaries and drug traffickers, with controversial statements about reducing the prerogatives of the State and the fight against abortion; andPaloma Valencia, representative of the party of the former president Álvaro Uribe, the ill-named Democratic Center, the hard-right party of Colombia.
In Peru, this spring as well, the presidential election could see the victory of a candidate coming from the far-right forces on the political spectrum. Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, convicted for his multiple human rights violations, who has already failed in the second round of the last three presidential elections (2011, 2016, 2021), came first in the first round with 17.05% of the votes cast. The former mayor of Lima Rafael López Aliaga, an advocate of punitive policies observed elsewhere in Latin America, despite a poor security record at the municipal level, gathered 11.9% of the votes, failing to qualify for the second round, lagging by a few thousand votes behind the left-wing candidate, Roberto Sánchez.
Finally, the most important issue given the size of the country will take place in October during the Brazilian presidential election whereFlávio Bolsonaro, eldest son of the former president sentenced to twenty-seven years in prison for attempted coup d’état, is neck and neck with Lula in voting intentions.
Parties aligned with Washington
This rise to power is recent. The far right was not an influential electoral force in Latin America until just a few years ago. While one could clearly link the authoritarian governments of the 1970s preaching state terrorism – from Chile’s Pinochet to Argentina’s Videla, passing through Paraguay’s Stroessner, Uruguay’s Bordaberry, and Bolivia’s Banzer – to this movement by their violence and anti-communism, their leaders did not come to power through the ballot box. Furthermore, as we have seen, these far-right groups are heterogeneous, mobilizing their electorates based on issues specific to their national problems.
If we try to compare them with their European counterparts, it appears that they are both similar and different. On the one hand, they share themes of security, rejection of ecological concerns, maintenance of gender dominance, and contempt for sexual diversity. On the other hand, the “dominated” geopolitical position occupied by Latin America within the world-system creates fundamental differences. Latin American far-right groups have often been marked by their followership towards the United States power.
The summit“Shield of the Americas”summoned on March 7, 2026, by Donald Trump in Florida is an illustration of this trend. He managed to bring together the previously mentioned presidents of Argentina, Chile, and El Salvador, but also their counterparts from a righta priorimore moderate from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago.
However, since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the United States’ policy in Latin America has not been favorable to Latin Americans. Thedoctrine “Donroe”, a portmanteau between the first name of the United States president and the name of his distant predecessor James Monroe (1817-1825), who theorized in 1823 the objective for the United States to prevent foreign influences on the American continent, promises torestore Uncle Sam’s tutelage over the entire region.
The presidentsArgentinianandHonduranhave benefited from its interference to respectively win the midterm legislative elections and the presidential election. To avoid losing control of the Parliament, Javier Milei accepted a loan of 20 billion dollars (more than 17 billion euros) in exchange for an economic subordination agreement. These leaders seem to be serving the United States despite economic complementarities with China. In the long term, these policies, unfavorable to their own country, could become unpopular among Latin Americans.
For those who would like more details, ajournal fileInternational Researchthat I coordinated has just been released on this topic. You will find contributions on intercontinental and transatlantic circulations among far-right groups, the Argentine political configuration, evangelism in Brazil, Nayib Bukele’s digital diplomacy strategies, as well as the realignments of the Colombian right wing.
I coordinated the issue The Far-Right in Latin America in the journal Recherches Internationales, which I explicitly mention in the article.
–ref. Radiography of the progression of the far-right in Latin America –https://theconversation.com/radiography-of-the-progress-of-the-far-right-in-latin-america-279957