When the Pink Tide emerged the Left was done with governing. Reconciled to neoliberalism, reformist social democracy wasn’t doing much reforming any more. “Actually existing socialism” in the Eastern Bloc suffered an even more disastrous fate and Third World national liberation movements learned to make peace with international capitalism.

We were taught to look for spaces of resistance outside of capital’s control rather than challenging it head on — cracks and margins and urban food co-ops. The Pink Tide was a confident call back to the old-time religion, a return to not ceding state power to the Right, but wielding it to improve lives in the here and now.

And, on the whole, its record was impressive. Much of this issue is a testament to the successes of left government after left government in Latin America. It appears, however, that this wave of struggle may be entering its final act. It is too easy to blame the Pink Tide’s decline on the shortcomings of its leaders. These governments faced pressures beyond their control — powerful elites yearning to restore their old privileges, pressure from outside powers, economies dependent on raw material exports, mass poverty and underdevelopment.