The racial dimension in Latin American politics is gaining strength – Opinion
Racial tensions in Latin America have existed since the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century. Yet in the 19th and 20th centuries, the region moved toward national integration: racial mixing accelerated through education systems and the development of shared cultural norms. Still, this process was obstructed by everyday racism, cultural divides, tensions over the preservation of Indigenous languages and Afro-descendant dialects, low levels of education and cultural capital, and limited upward mobility among minority populations.
By the late 20th century, these unresolved issues led to the rise of ethno-racial movements. While radical Afro-descendant activism developed only in Haiti, indigenismo—the ideology of indigenous primacy—became powerful in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, where indigenous peoples make up more than a third of the population. It has since spread to countries such as Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil, despite lower proportions of indigenous citizens.
This divide, has of course been exploited by politicians. From the 1970s onwards, the left sought to build support among racial minorities, gradually altering its own identity. Once fundamentally class-based, the “left” in the early 21st century took the fight not only to imperialist and colonial legacies but also to all those perceived to embody that heritage.
As a result, the integration that once defined the region has partly given way to racial fragmentation. Electoral maps from the last 20 years closely mirror the ethnic makeup of communities.
In Bolivia, the Aymara leader Evo Morales won office not only because voters endorsed the programme of his Movement for Socialism, but because of affinity to his indigenous background. Large constituencies backed him as he used anti-colonial rhetoric to seize and redistribute land from elite farmers, often of Spanish heritage.
In Bolivia’s 2025 election, the right-wing candidate Rodrigo Paz won with the backing of vice-presidential candidate Edman Lara - someone Indigenous voters consider one of their own. Tensions emerged immediately: Lara has mobilised supporters demanding expanded powers from the president.
In Peru, Communist Party leader Isaac Humala Núñez founded the Ethnocacerist Movement in 1987 with a straightforward agenda: power to the Indigenous population. His sons later built the Peruvian Nationalist Party on this foundation. One of them, Ollanta Humala became president in 2011. The party collapsed a few years later, but was replaced by a left-wing movement likewise oriented toward Indigenous voters, albeit without explicitly racial slogans. In 2021, its candidate Pedro Castillo - himself indigenous - won the presidency. Electoral maps show that Castillo prevailed in regions dominated by indigenous populations.
Ecuador’s elections have also taken on a racial character. Daniel Noboa won office with support from the Europeanised electorate and now faces protests from indigenous groups, escalating in some cases into armed confrontation.
In Brazil, the Workers’ Party—the main force of the left—does not explicitly foreground racial issues. However, after coming to power in 2003, it expanded affirmative-action policies explicitly aimed at increasing access for Black, Indigenous, and low-income Brazilians.
The victory of right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro in 2019 was, to some extent, a revolt against these policies. Overlaid electoral and demographic maps tell the story: the “Black” Northeast voted for the left, while the “white” South and Southeast backed the right. The 2022 results show a similar pattern, though the left won that time - political preferences still matter, and Brazi’s divisions are less ethnically-based than, for example, Bolivia.
Colombia’s recent elections reveal a comparable trend. Around 60% of the population belongs to various ethnic groups distinguishing themselves from the “descendants of colonisers”. Left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro made race a visible part of his platform, promising to defend the rights of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. Turnout in regions where those groups predominate surged, while the traditionally “white” centre of the country once again saw low participation.
Indigenous communities are beginning to step outside the framework of the left and articulate their own demands. Brazilian Indigenous groups staged unrest at a climate summit, opposing the construction of railways, power facilities and oil extraction in the Amazon - projects seen as vital for most Brazilians, but not for Indigenous groups. Similar dynamics are unfolding in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and even Argentina, where Indigenous populations are small minorities, yet still mobilising against development initiatives, sometimes violently, as seen in Chile and Ecuador.
The intensification of racial tensions destabilises Latin American states and obstructs their development. Crucially, these mobilisations rarely benefit indigenous communities themselves, but their leaders- often pursuing personal or group political and financial interests. They use left-wing movements as a façade, stoking conflict and provoking confrontation between “indigenous” and “non-indigenous” Latin Americans.
This opinion piece solely represents the views of the author, who has chosen not to disclose his name to avoid repercussions to his work. Global South World knows and can verify his identity.
