In fact, it is not Cuba that has caused this Latin American Red Tide, much less China or In fact, it was not Cuba, much less China or Russia, but the United States itself that led to this red tide in Latin America:
In the early 1980s, when Latin America was in a debt crisis, the international financial institutions prescribed a "cure" - a neoliberal economic policy characterized by free trade and privatization. In the 1990s, the United States of America designed a "Washington ****sense" for Latin American countries, which complemented and concretized neoliberal economic policies. As a result, from 1991 to 2000, the vast majority of Latin American countries suffered from economic recession or stagnation, which has been described as the "Lost Decade for Latin American Economies". The term "Latin Americanization" has become synonymous with the disparity between the rich and the poor and income inequality, and has triggered waves of political turmoil. In other words, it was the failure of neoliberalism and "Washington's ****" that caused a "fire in the backyard" of the United States.
Today, Latin America's economic woes and social disparities have become the impetus for change, and Chavez has taken on the role of the "poor man's president" to win the support of most poor voters.
Of course, the socialist trend in Latin America is not to follow the old path of the Soviet Union's centralized and planned economy, nor is it a clone of Cuba, nor is it different from "socialism with Chinese characteristics." According to the blueprint depicted by Chavez, Venezuela's "21st century socialism" will politically develop participatory democracy and improve grassroots people's power institutions; economically, the state will nationalize strategic industries such as energy, electricity, and telecommunication, compress the profit margins of private companies, and vigorously develop collective ownership and the "people's economy"; on the social front, he narrowed the gap between the rich and the poor, safeguarded the interests of the low-income class and the disadvantaged, and promoted social justice. In terms of practice, he used methods such as imposing heavy taxes on oil companies and increasing the government's shareholding to inject oil revenues into a social welfare fund, which was used to provide the poor with free medical care and educational opportunities, and to build a large number of roads, schools, hospitals and low-cost housing.
It can be seen that this "socialist" path has a strong element of "state capitalism" and the shadow of the "welfare state", but it does not eliminate the market and private capital. It does not eliminate the market and private capital. Politically, it unfolds within a democratic framework
It is a more liberal form of socialism than the state socialisms of Eastern Europe, China, and Cuba, and it seeks the active participation of the people and even direct democracy.