Left Wing Nationalist Movements Essay

Introduction

The Left wing nationalistic movements are the radical movements were are intended to spur radical growth in the Latin America particularly owing to the aftermath of the Second World War. The left wing ideology traces its way back in the seventeen century by Simon Bolivar the leader of Venezuela in 1810.The movement was influenced by the inconsiderate rule of the Spanish rule where Venezuela was able to produce multiple agricultural products which were purely exploited by the Spanish (Dorfman, p.20). The Spanish colonial authorities were exerting explicit oppression to the colonies barring them from trading with others except for the Spanish merchants only who deliberate exploited to the local traders. Due to the harsh rule under the Spanish colonization, the stable families started the resistance which led to the formation of the nationalistic movement known as Independence of Venezuela. The wave of nationalism spread across Latin America in the 1800 inspiring the nationalistic movements which opposed the oppression by Spain Latin America.

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Left Wing Nationalist Movement After the World War II

The Leftwing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement stems from the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement which existed between 1951 and 1952.The revolution was led by Hernan Siles Zuazo who had contested the 1951 elections as the vice president Venezuela. He won the election as the vice president with Paz Estenssoro as the constitutionally elected president. Nevertheless, the then sitting president, Mamerton Urriolagoitan failed to recognize their victory and handed over power to the military where the Commander of the army was given the presidential power (Dorfman, p.60).The army commander who was conferred; power was known as General Hugo Balivian. As a result of failure to concede defeat by the president, Siles was agitated and motivated to form an underground resistance movement known as the Revolutionary national movement. The movement resulted to massive victory which witnessed the defection of army officers from the Bolivian army to join the revolution hence making the army to break into two arms one favoring the army commander which was known as the right wing and the other wing favoring the National revolutionary movement.

The agenda of the National revolutionary movement was to institute a responsible government which was development oriented and emphasized on constitutional administration and governance which previous government did not value. Therefore, after the 1952 Revolution, the results of the 1951 election which had been ignored by the sitting president were upheld and Estensorro became the president and Siles became the vice-president. The progressive revolutionists formed the constitutionally recognized government of Bolivia hence spearheading favorable reforms in Bolivia.

The Leftwing Ideologies in the 21st Century

The wave of leftism has persisted since the 1950s and spilled over to the 21st century as characterized in Major countries in the Latin America as Witnessed in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. These countries have demonstrated a progressive political radicalism which has been characterized by political tension as opposed to other moderate and liberal states. The ideology of leftism seemed to have been engrained in the political climate of Latin America since the formation of the Left Wing National Revolutionary Movement by the Siles in 1950s.The Influence of left Wing Nationalists Movement led to the rise of the cold war in Latin America particular in Cuba under Fidel Castro and the wave of radical nationalism has divided the Latin America into blocks; radical leftist states and moderate democratic states.

Decades later the tension between the leftists and liberal democratic states still exist. A perfect example being the Mexico controversy of 2000 where a steep tension erupted between the Party of Democratic Revolution and the party of the National Action. The leftist party of National Action favored radical political action and supported radical candidates while the Liberal Party of Democratic Revolution favored the candidature of a liberal person who would ensure collaboration with other liberal parties hence easing the tension in Latin America.

It is clear that the leftist ideology has created a rift in Latin America due to the formation of two rival teams which have existed since the since Bolivian revolution of 1951. The two rival blocks include the radical leftists and liberal leftist. The two teams signify the perpetuation of the rift which was created by the National Revolutionary movement which was formed by Siles in 1951.Since then the rift has continued to bedevil the Latin America with Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina forming the liberal leftists who favor liberal and democratic governments while Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela form the other wing of radical leftists. The radical leftists uphold the Nationalistic spirit which is intended to spur progressive and radical development while showing little regard to democratic governance. It is worth to note that, the radical Leftists favor radical approach because of the perception that it spurs instant development reforms while the liberal leftists prefer liberal democratic approach because of the perception that democratic leadership fosters peaceful co-existence among nations hence promoting international peace.

Obstacles Met by Nationalists Movements

The left-wing nationalist movements faced severe challenges which presented unanticipated obstacles since the inception of National revolutionist movement by Siles in 1951 (Dorfman, p.90).First of all, after the assumption of office by Siles particularly during his second term the Revolutionary National Movement faced severe economic and political misunderstanding. The economic challenges made President Siles bow down to pressure and accept aid from the USA who in return pressed for the disarmament of National revolutionary members weakening the Left Wing Movement.

Moreover, Siles broke with president Estensorro in 1964 after the president decided to run a second time which was contrary to the provisions of the constitution ( Their difference was so severe that Siles decided to support the 1964 Coup d'etat which was targeted to oust president Estenssoro which led to Siles being exiled. The coup was successful and the army commander, General Palicio Guemado took over power. Nevertheless, Estenssoro was agitated and formed a right wing of the army which was led by general Hugo Banzer and staged another coup in 1971 to remove president Palacio Guemado but Siles was opposed to it leading to a permanent disconnect between the Siles and Estenssoro. The difference led to a further disintegration of the Left wing movement hence weakening it more. Furthermore, the hyperinflation which struck Bolivia between 1982 to 1986 almost led to the crumbling of Left Wing movement and replaced it with moderate leftist ideologies.

Works Cited

Dorfman, Ariel. Heading south, looking north: A bilingual journey. Macmillan, 1998.