ABSTRACT
The year 2005 ended for Latin America with a momentous question hanging in the air: Was the political tide turning toward radical champions of the newly participant masses? Put in personal terms, did Hugo Chávez represent a significant trend or will he prove to be—as was the case with Castro four decades ago or the Sandinistas half as far back—only a spectacular exception to the prevailing predominance of middle-of-the road, middle-class governments? Given the relative dearth of presidential successions during 2004–2005, the conflicting answers put forth by informed observers have been rooted in the shifting sands of speculation, heavily influenced by personal political preferences. By the end of 2006, however, it would be clear if indeed there were such a trend, a swing in a different direction, or a mixed bag of voter preferences and electoral outcomes.
