Two elections in bordering Latin American countries on consecutive Sundays have indicated a similar political shift, and one that is broadly familiar, in one respect at least, to changes over recent years in Europe. In Argentina and Uruguay uncritical admiration for unrestrained market forces has been tempered by recognition that the extreme pain such forces can inflict on the weaker sections of society needs to be relieved by state intervention. It is tempting to see the rise of left-of-centre forces and the demise of free marketeers as parallel developments to the replacement of Thatcherism by Blair's "third way". But that is only part of the story.
Latin American democracies, still coping with post-dictatorship trauma and memories of the bitter social conflicts which preceded the military take-overs, remain more volatile than their European counterparts. President Menem's two terms in government in Argentina certainly freed up many sectors of an economy which had long been mired in inefficient and bureaucratic state control. The new dynamism unleashed by a wave of privatisations boosted growth significantly at first, but soon demonstrated a negative side. The buccaneering ruthlessness of the new capitalism not only had a high social cost in unemployment but was often accompanied by corruption, croneyism and inefficiency reminiscent of the old system.
The Peronist background of Mr Menem's Judicialist Party made it ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of open democracy. The outgoing president's flamboyant personal style also began to count against him, and his protective attitude to the country's former military rulers raised a question mark over his full commitment to the democratic rule of law. He was not eligible for re-election for a third consecutive term and did a great deal to frustrate the election of his own party's candidate, Mr Eduardo Duhalde. He implied it would be better for the party to go into opposition so that he could return in triumph in 2003. On Sunday October 24th, Duhalde was indeed convincingly defeated by the Alianza, a coalition of centre-right and centre left parties led by Mr Fernando de la Rua, a moderate who promises to "recover the dignity of the Argentine people".
Last Sunday, a rather more left-wing coalition, the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) won the first round of the Uruguayan elections, displacing the two parties which dominated the country's politics for 160 years. It remains to be seen whether its candidate, Mr Tabare Vazquez, can see off the combined forces of the other two parties in the run-off at the end of the month. Both victorious coalitions aim to find a place for those large sections of society which have been excluded from the benefits of growing economies and increased international trade, and who survive only in the most abject poverty.
Despite attempts to tar the Frente Amplio as "Marxist-Leninist" because of the presence of some former left-wing guerrillas in the coalition, neither group has any revolutionary intentions. The aspiration to improve education, health and social services, and to bring some measure of justice to those who suffered abuses under dictatorship, are guarantees for the future of Latin American democracy, not the reverse.