[Brad from Tennessee]

Likely you have read this already. If not this is an interesting view--"A Tale of Two Lefts"--about the "good left" and the "bad left" in Latin America:

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060501faessay85302/jorge-g-castaneda/latin-america-s-left-turn.html?mode=print

[StJacques]

Yes; I have read that one Brad, but thanks for putting it up.

To everyone else, I heartily recommend the link Brad provided in his post #16 above for a perspective on the left in Latin America.