There is a growing consensus among Latin American diplomats that new political winds are blowing in the region -- after a decade of radical leftist populism, we are entering a new era of centrist pragmatism.
Are such forecasts right? Let's look at the evidence.
There is no question that Venezuela's narcissist-Leninist president Hugo Chávez, who was Latin America's center of attention during the past 10 years, is rapidly losing his clout as a regional leader.

There is a growing consensus among Latin American diplomats that new political winds are blowing in the region -- after a decade of radical leftist populism, we are entering a new era of centrist pragmatism. Are such forecasts right? Let's look at the evidence.  There is no question that Venezuela's narcissist-Leninist president Hugo Chávez, who was Latin America's center of attention during the past 10 years, is rapidly losing his clout as a regional leader.

• CAJA RESTRUCTURING PLAN: The FT reports that prime minister Jose Zapatero and opposition leader Mariano Rajoy finally got together and agreed to restructure the regional savings banks whose books are stuffed with non-performing construction loans. The government had instituted a €99 billion orderly bank restructuring fund, or FROB, to finance the restructuring in this sector. The funds must be deployed by June 2010. News Financial Times Victor Mallet May 6, 2010 Spain pushes to restructure savings banks Appears in the Briefing:Sovereign Risk in the Eurozone

Even as the International Monetary Fund and eurozone have virtually finalized an unprecedented three-year financing package of 110 billion euros for Greece, financial markets remain unimpressed. The common currency continued to plunge this week, and long-term government bond yields in Greece and the periphery countries, including Italy, spiked again after a short relief rally before the agreement.  The market's lukewarm reaction to the financing package confirms our view that a traditional financing package (Plan A), extended at unsustainable interest rates, will not allay solvency fears but rather lead to disorder and contagion. We have therefore consistently argued for a preemptive debt restructuring via maturity extension (Plan B) as the preferable solution for Greece. On May 4 Greek authorities confirmed that they contacted the investment bank Lazard for financial advice, but they categorically ruled out debt restructuring as an option under discussion.