We've noticed a couple of things about Latin America: 1) The left is losing steam.  The old lefties are dead, such as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez.  Some lefties are getting impeached (Brazil) or thrown out (Argentina).  Maduro in Venezuela can't inspire anybody.  Evo Morales in Bolivia is not the charmer he used to be. 2) Voters are more focused on results than ideology. Let's look at a couple of countries, a very small one and the largest GDP south of the border. Down in Ecuador, we see how socialism is out of money, as in this report from The New York Times: As in Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil, the social programs in Ecuador that lifted millions out of poverty were underwritten by a commodities boom that sputtered out years ago.  Government revenue, around $25 billion a year when oil prices spiked, has now shrunk to less than half that, $11 billion, mainly because of the declining price of oil. That has left the...(Read Full Post)