The Crystallization and Erosion of Transnational Solidarity

Abstract

This chapter provides an interpretation of the regional “appeal” of the Pink Tide in Latin America and its more recent deceleration. It details the legitimation strategies of Hugo Chávez and Chavismo, the political project, movement, and regime led by Chávez, along with his regional allies and successors. The chapter suggests that in legitimizing that political project, Chávez addressed the expectations of wide sectors in the Americas, whose voice he claimed to express. By relying on long-existing visions of “Nuestramerican” (Our American) solidarity and providing material assistance to allies, he invigorated the sense of transnational connection for millions of people in the Americas. This layer of regime legitimacy also provided the basis for Chávez’s global realignment and served his foreign policy of defying the hegemony of the United States and its allies. The chapter reconstructs the rise and partial erosion of the encompassing narrative of transnational solidarity and its political implications for regional dynamics.