Marc Cooper refers to ex-Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda's Newsweek piece: "Jorge argues that with most Latin American nations now under left-of-center government, it’s a primitive notion to lump all the new leaders together into one, single species of 'lefist.' There’s one 'left,' he points out that comes out of a Marxist past and, therefore, has successfully assimilated the failures of the Soviet model, including variations like Cuba. This reformed left (as found in Chile, Brazil and Uruguay), is committed not only to social justice but also to the expansion of democracy. It acts as a counter-weight to U.S. dominance, but understands that in a meshed global economy, some realistic accomodation with El Grande Del Norte must be reached.

Then there’s the 'other' left, Castaneda posits. More old-style demagogic populists than reformed Marxists, they show little concern for democracy and are a bit too ready to pick dramatic fights with Uncle Sam for the sake of short-term domestic popularity(or in the case of Castro, extremely long-term). In this latter category, Castaneda disdainfully places Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez ('Peron with oil') and newly elected Bolivian President Evo Morales ( 'a skillful and irresponsible populist')."

Jorge actually describes the "bad, populist Left" better: "For all these leaders, economic performance, democratic values, programmatic achievements and getting along with Washington are not imperatives; they are bothersome constraints that miss the point. The point is to exhibit rhetorical incontinence, to maintain popularity at any cost, to pick as many fights as possible with Washington and to exercise as much control as possible over sources of revenue, including oil, gas and foreign-debt payments. This left is disastrous: its rule will, as in the past, lead to inflation, greater poverty and inequality, confrontation with Washington and the gradual dismantling of the region's most important achievement of recent years: democratic rule and respect for human rights."