FEATURES OF LATIN AMERICAN SOCIALISM ON THE EXAMPLE OF CHILE, BOLIVIA, VENEZUELA AND NICARAGUA

The article discusses the theoretical issues of the development of socialist ideology in Latin America, from the 60s of the twentieth century to the present. At the height of the Cold War, most of the states of this region belonged to the countries of the “third world” and found themselves in the sphere of strategic interests of the world superpowers. The example of Cuba and the support of the Soviet Union played an important role in the attempts to build a socialist society in Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The article explores aspects similar for all these countries in the implementation of approaches to building an ideal model of socialism: the growth of social programs for the population, reliance on the poorest segments of the population and promotion among them of the idea of equality and struggle against external and internal enemies. Differences in approaches to the distribution of wealth among the population are also considered, starting from the nationalization of enterprises and latifundia in Chile, indigenism in Bolivia, Chavism in Venezuela and the redistribution of the wealth of the Somoza family in favor of the Sandinista Ortega in Nicaragua. Also, the Bolivarian Union plays a certain position in maintaining socialist sentiments. Radical left and moderate left governments currently operate in thirteen states of South America. Common to the countries considered in the article is the fact that even in the face of an attempt to build socialism in the 21st century, all left-wing radical governments leave behind the cult of “caudillos” and even greater poverty.