ABSTRACT
Caught between the rise of neoliberalism and the collapse of state socialism, the left experienced a serious paradigm crisis. As left political forces gained strength and influence in some Latin American countries, many left intellectuals seemed at a loss to offer a clear economic alternative to unattractive neoliberal prescriptions. In Mexico, orthodox socialists are a small, fairly marginal tendency, though the statism of revolutionary nationalism remains influential. Socialist orthodoxy remains strong in Cuba, though its former hegemony has been substantially eroded by the urgency of resolving the economic crisis, even at the cost of economic liberalization. Liberal influence on left intellectuals in both Cuba and Mexico can be seen in two tendencies: first, acceptance of certain economic “laws” about market competition, efficiency, and growth and, second, resignation to the idea of politics being subordinated to economics. Despite orthodox opposition to the growing influence of liberal economic paradigms, the urgency of the economic crisis is pushing Cuban Communists in that direction.
