ABSTRACT
The progressive cycle in Latin America led to transformations that were greatly valued by social movements worldwide. The progressive cycle emerged form popular rebellions that toppled neoliberal governments (Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Argentina) or put limits on their continents (Brazil, and Uruguay). The limits of the progressive movements have been most visible in the various national attempts to implement neo-developmental strategies. All the progressive governments could count on a significant financial cushion to deal with social demands. The progressive governments under siege came out to confront the economic collapse and social wounds produced by the neoliberals. The characterization of the progressive cycle as a post-liberal period ignores the continuities with the previous phase, and ignores the conflicts among grassroots movements. The liberal relapse of the post-progressive or 'critical left' thinkers recreates what happened with the social-democratic Gramscians in the 1980s. The end of the progressive cycle will be a fact and not a subject for evaluation among social science thinkers.
