PETER ST ONGE: Populists sweep Brazil, throwing out the Socialists. The right has now won 8 out of 8 elections in Latin America since Trump defunded USAID.

Populists sweep Brazil, throwing out the Socialists. The right has now won 8 out of 8 elections in Latin America since Trump defunded USAID. What it means for the region. And the US Hispanic vote. https://t.co/rFZfm2vI3J

— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) October 9, 2026

Latin America is going populist in a continental way that's got the pink hairs running for cover last week it was Brazil who's done being socialisms Lab Rats with populists crushing the first round of the presidential election dramatically outperforming expectations and now running 83% odds of winning outright according to Kelsey along with a slew of seats in Congress where the ruling socialist lost two in three of their Senate seats Brazil brings it to eight out of eight elections won by populous cross Latin America since Trump defunded USAID, the Left's tax-funded election fixing operation.  Your tax dollars no longer at work electing socialists in Brazil.  

So what's going on beyond USAID?

For one, it turns out that socialism did not work again.  In the last decade, GDP growth across the region has been stagnant at under 1% per year.  

Meanwhile, Latin American socialists, like American socialists, prefer to hug criminals instead of locking them up.  So incomes are stagnant, streets are unsafe, eventually voters connect the dots.  The most dramatic so far and models for the rest are Argentina and El Salvador in Argentina Javier Milei inherited 300% inflation and a budget deficit of 5% of GDP.  In U.S. terms, a trillion and a half.  It took him literally 3 months to balance the budget and within a year he slashed inflation 15-fold.

In El Salvador, Bukele inherited one of the worst homicide rates on Earth statistically one in 12 Salvadorans would be murdered at some point in their life he slashed it by 99% using the crazy idea of locking up gang members and repeat offenders.  El Salvador is now safer than Canada now popular across Latin America are studying the Malay model and the bukele model because Latino voters apparently consider not getting murdered a kitchen table issue.  

Now aside from Communist dictatorship Cuba and Venezuela and Junior dictatorship Nicaragua there are only 3 left-wing governments left in Latin America out of 20: Uruguay, Guatemala, and Mexico.  Guatemala could flip next year other guy is not voting for a couple of years but Mexico is the interesting one for Americans the good news is Mexico's got a rising popular star in Ricardo the bad news is Mexico's next election is not until 2030 and the ruling left populist Morena is weakening but remains popular since it buys votes like a 1920 Chicago machine and is riding the same elbows up anti-Trump nationalism as Canada's useless prime minister.  Still, 2030 is a long ways we will see if Mexicans lose patience with morena's slow growth and high crime like the rest of the region.

So what's next is brought to you by monetary metals every ingredient of the left collapse will continue the economy and crime under socialists usaid money this matters for the long suffering people of Latin America but it also matters because one in seven us voters are now Hispanic and many pay close attention to what's happening in Latin America when bukelly's crime miracle or malays inflation Miracle our kitchen table topic for us Hispanics it concentrates mine us Hispanics are already abandoning Democrats in droves in 2016 Trump lost them by 38 points in 2024 he was within three points Latin America flips U.S. Hispanics to Republican after Democrats imported 30 million, it would be one of the most delicious ironies in American history. 

Read the rest @ ProfStOnge.

--Peter St Onge