Latin America’s recent rightward spiral should not be seen as the end of the populist era in the region.

Two very prominent media outlets – Britain’s Economist and the United States’ Foreign Affairs – have recently claimed that populism is retreating in Latin America. It sounds convincing, especially if one equates “the left” with “populism”, since left-wing leaders in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador are losing ground as economies crumble and popular support for…