Latin American challenges and the transition to post-development

The objective of this article is to specify the challenges of the Latin American left in the current complex context. As such, the article has limitations, since it is part of the programmatic debate and not derived from the practice of real politics, a transformative political subject, or the articulation of specific actors. In exercising its power, the current Latin American left has placed emphasis on recovering the role of the State, prioritised economic growth, activated redistributive policies, strengthened labour and social rights, and made significant investments in public education and health infrastructure. At the international level, it has demanded respect for economic sovereignty and has sought Latin American integration. The redefinition of development is a pending task for the Latin American left, with contributions from new trends such as degrowth, post-development and eco-Marxism. We face a multiform and multidimensional crisis of civilisational nature, economic thought and the very notion of development. When we observe the results of unrestrained developmentalism (excessive and insatiable growth in rich countries and environmental destruction in impoverished countries extracting wealth for others), we find a lack of reasoning. The time has come for a Copernican shift of thought, focusing on Nature and social equity. The article proposes that only a programmatic and political revamping of the left can confront the challenges of the 21st century. In Latin America and the Caribbean, only a political movement that proposes concrete alternatives to developmentalism and extractivism, limits productive scale in socially and culturally valuable sites, and unhesitatingly adopts an agenda of social participation, inclusion, fundamental freedoms and the Rights of Nature and women, has the capacity to consolidate social and political change.