The far right, populism, and the contestation of regionalism in South America: Bolsonaro and Milei

Abstract

The contestation of multilateralism and international norms is a constitutive element of the new neopatriot far right. On a global scale, this adopts sovereigntist, nationalist, and antiglobalist perspectives, which in many cases are expressed through populist discourses that establish an antagonism between the “people” and elites (global, foreign, or even national elites associated with foreign interests). In the cases of Jair Bolsonaro and Javier Milei, prominent representatives of the new Latin American neopatriot far right, the contestation extends to regional organizations (particularly those that emerged during the 2003–15 “pink tide”), (re) politicizing consensus and norms from a sovereigntist reaffirmation opposed to cooperation and integration with neighbors. If Latin American progressive populisms saw in regional integration under the ideal of a “Patria Grande” (“Great Fatherland”) a strategy to build national projects and a united “people” facing engagement between national oligarchies and imperialism, the new far-right is reversing this antagonism in a sovereigntist way to contest regionalism and regional integration.