How Chile’s new president can avoid the mistakes of past leftist leaders

covid-19 struck, many Latin Americans were disgruntled at their countries’ slow growth, poor government and corrupt politics. Their discontent has shown in big and sometimes violent street protests across the region and in voting for whichever party is in opposition. That trend has brought to power. The latest is Gabriel Boric in Chile, who is due to take office on March 11th. If the polls prove accurate, he could be joined by two fellow leftists, Gustavo Petro in Colombia in an election in May and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s former president, who may stage a comeback in October. Though different in many ways, these leftists have enough in common for regional pundits to talk of a new “pink tide”.A dose of centre-left rule might, in theory, reduce deep inequality and bolster welfare states whose shortcomings were cruelly exposed by the pandemic. Alas, the Latin American left has long suffered from the vices of populism and authoritarianism. That showed during a previous “pink tide” in the early years of this century. Left-wing leaders generally failed to bring about lasting beneficial change. In some places they did harm. Hugo Chávez and then Nicolás Maduro turned Venezuela into an impoverished dictatorship, while Daniel Ortega has made Nicaragua a corrupt police state. Other leftist leaders, too, sought to nobble the judiciary and to stay in power indefinitely.