Political-organizational characterization and stability of the governments of Gabriel Boric in Chile and Gustavo Petro in Colombia

Abstract

The year of 2022 marked the electoral victory of the left in some Latin American countries. Gabriel Boric (and the Apruebo Dignidad coalition) in Chile and Gustavo Petro (with the Pacto Historico coalition) in Colombia were two of these cases, democratically elected after years of discontent with neoliberal policies and protests in their countries. The historical context of the region and the neo-coups that occurred in the last decade lead us to seek how these governments have acted to stabilize themselves in office during the two first years of their mandates and how the parties and coalitions involved can be characterized, since there is great organizational diversity in the experiences of the Latin American left. Based on the typology of left-wing parties present in the work “Vitórias na crise”, by Fabrício Pereira da Silva and on the theory of presidential instability by Aníbal Pérez-Linán, the article will seek to understand how these governments behave, what the electoral process was like and the trajectory until their coalitions came to power and possible risks of downfall.

Keywords: Colombia; Chile; Political stability.