ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the political discourse in the Venezuelan, Bolivian and Spanish cases as highly significant left-wing populist movements in the American and European continents. It aims to verify if the social media discourse of these cases projects a clear image of the “other”. Latin American countries have traditionally been considered the perfect environment for populism, especially since the emergence of Argentinian Peronism. From the early years of this century, new progressive governments, especially in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Argentina, have retaken that tradition and even accentuated it. As for national identity, Evo Morales’ Movement for Socialism borrows the discourse of the leftist tradition and the movement endorsing ethnic identification. Populism, either as a discursive or political strategy is a phenomenon of global reach. Rhetoric, themes and actors can change, but adaptation to the local environment is proving to be successful worldwide.
