Name: Honduras joins list of Latin American countries electing right-wing leaders
Uploaded: 2025-12-26T14:40:22.396Z
Duration: 2 min 31 s
Description: Honduras has just joined the growing list of Latin American countries electing new right-wing leaders, reflecting a broader regional shift away from traditional leftist ideologies. While this trend may seem sudden, it has actually been developing over some time. Luke Shrago explores the forces behind these political changes in Latin America.

Honduras has just joined the growing list of Latin American countries electing new right-wing leaders, reflecting a broader regional shift away from traditional leftist ideologies. While this trend may seem sudden, it has actually been developing over some time. Luke Shrago explores the forces behind these political changes in Latin America.

Tegucigalpa

Latin America has seen a significant political shift since 2023, with right-wing parties gaining power in several countries, including Honduras. This trend is largely attributed to widespread public concern over crime, insecurity, and migration, which many voters feel left-wing governments have failed to address.

Examples from countries such as El Salvador, Chile, and Venezuela illustrate how issues like gang violence, illegal immigration, and economic collapse have influenced voter preferences. The United States has also played a role, with renewed engagement in the region and support for right-leaning politicians, while Latin American leaders increasingly adopt polarizing tactics similar to those used by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Honduras joins list of Latin American countries electing right-wing leaders

All across Latin America, the left wing is in disarray. Since 2023, the right has marched to power, sweeping away a host of ineffectual candidates from the left. And there's one main cause. What's really driving this is citizens' fear of crime and insecurity. If you look at public opinion surveys in Latin America, fear of crime, insecurity is the number one issue for most voters. It's really about tapping into people's fears, polarizing the electorate, and demonstrating that in this case, the left can't effectively address many of voters' primary concerns. Much of the continent has seen organized crime surge over the last decade. El Salvador lurched to the right amid soaring gang violence. And President Nayib Bukele's zero-tolerance approach has noticeably borne fruit. With illegal immigration poured into the regional mix, Chilean president-elect Jose Antonio Castro cast LinkedIn to crime, pitching mass deportations and a Trump-style wall on the border, effectively swaying fed-up voters. Around 8 million Venezuelans, a quarter of the population, have left the country since Nicolás Maduro came to power in 2013. Its economy shrinking by up to three-quarters in that time gave Latin America a migration crisis all of its own, not to mention further damaging the left-wing brand as Venezuelan socialism fell apart at the seams. Most Latin Americans agree with the idea that Maduro should go. They don't agree necessarily that it shouldn't involve U.S. military intervention, but they see Maduro as one of the nexus of the problems of insecurity and crime and migration. What's more, Donald Trump's taken a renewed interest in matters to the south, setting the U.S. military on alleged drug runners, backing politicians like Argentina's Javier Millet with billions of dollars in financial support, and using trade deals and tariffs as a carrot and stick to push countries into line. Latin America's politicians have started to take notes. This is about dividing people, polarizing politics and engaging in a sort of scorched earth policy in which you basically delegitimize any of those who came before you, any of your opponents, and that's very much pro-Trump. The U.S. published its national security strategy in November, setting out a plan to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere. With much of Latin America seemingly beginning to emulate Donald Trump, Washington may already be well on its way.

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