Between 18th December 2005 and 3rd December 2006, there were eleven presidential elections in Latin America. Perceptions of a leftward swing, which first arose in early 2005, continued to exercise the minds of Latin America watchers, as six candidates from the left or centre-left triumphed.
Even though many commentators, including this newspaper, have been discussing the leftward trend for almost two years now, it is still a little surprising that alarm bells continue to sound. Of course, most of the concern seems to be mainly in the United States, particularly with Daniel Ortega’s return in Nicaragua, Rafael Correa’s win in Ecuador and the re-election of Hugo Ch
