CIC Ottawa’s Americas Study Group presents…

LATIN AMERICA TURNS RIGHT: WHAT CANADA NEEDS TO KNOW

June 25, 6:00 to 7:00 PM EST | Virtual on Zoom

REGISTRATION

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EVENT DESCRIPTION

Latin America appears to be entering a new phase. After two decades marked by the rise of left-leaning governments during the “Pink Tide,” several countries across the region are now experiencing a shift toward right-leaning or more market-oriented leadership. From Argentina to Chile and El Salvador, electoral outcomes suggest changing voter preferences, but the causes and implications of this shift remain contested: Is this a coherent regional trend or a series of country-specific reactions to economic stagnation, insecurity, and frustration with governance failures? And to what extent are external factors, particularly the influence of the United States, the rise of China, and global economic pressures, shaping these outcomes?

For Canada, the stakes are concrete. Trade with the Americas hit $95 billion in 2024, Canada is the top foreign investor in Chile, and Ottawa is actively negotiating a Mercosur deal. But as economic ties deepen, so do the tensions: Bukele has imprisoned over 80,000 people and abolished term limits in El Salvador; Kast, inaugurated in March 2026, has rolled back environmental protections and taken a hard line on immigration in Chile. Can Canada pursue economic opportunity while staying true to its commitments on democracy and human rights, or does pragmatism now require a more transactional approach?

This panel brings together leading scholars and emerging voices to critically examine the political, economic, and institutional drivers of Latin America’s apparent rightward turn, and what it means for Canada.

PANELISTS

Marie-Christine Doran, Professor, University of Ottawa

Marie-Christine Doran is a Full Professor of comparative politics at the School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, specializing in Latin American politics, democracy and violence. Since 2015, she has also been a consultant on Latin American issues for Global Affairs Canada (formerly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada). She has been invited to present to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Commons, as well as to other government institutions in Latin America. She is regularly invited to comment on Latin American politics in Canadian and international media and has recently published What Is Behind Early Cabinet Changes in Chile? for the Washington-based publication The Dialogue -Latin America Advisor.

She is the main researcher of the Observatory on Violence, Criminalization and Democracy, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and leads a team of 12 specialists and research assistants. She is a researcher at the  International Panel on Exiting Violence (IPEV), and other international research platforms in Europe and Latin America, including the Brazilian CAPES International Research Network on Conflict Management in Plural Public Spaces Her published work include numerous peer-reviewed articles in four languages, as well as two books, Le réveil démocratique du Chili. Une histoire politique de l’exigence de justice, (foreword by Alain Touraine,: Karthala 2016); as well as Human Rights as Battlefields. Changing Practices and Contestations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) and a third forthcoming book, Criminalizing Democracy:the Hidden Face of Violence in Latin America, to be published at Routledge. 

Pablo Heidrich, Professor, Carleton University

Pablo Heidrich is an international political economist, specializing in natural resources and development, international trade policymaking in contexts of financial crises, and comparative regionalism. His main focus is the interplay between ideas, policies and practices in economic development, observing how international trade and investment flows influence income distribution and development opportunities in the Global South.

Dr. Heidrich has written recently on Canadian mining investments in Latin America, global trade governance, negotiations at the World Trade Organization, and international cooperation. Part of his current research is funded by SSHRC; previously, his work has been funded by IDRC, Ford Foundation, Marshall Foundation and CIDA.

Before joining Carleton in 2014, he was a senior researcher on international trade and development at the North-South Institute in Ottawa, and a policy researcher at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences in Argentina.

Joseph Bouchard, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Virginia

Joseph Bouchard is a researcher and journalist, originally from Quebec City, focusing on Latin American security and democracy. He has spent more than 3 years working as a reporter in the region, mostly in Brazil, Colombia, and Bolivia. His articles have been published in Drop Site News, The Intercept Brasil, Le Devoir, El País, and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, among others. He has worked as a consultant and analyst on security policy for numerous governments in the Americas. He is currently a PhD student in Politics at the University of Virginia, and a Doctoral Fellow in Latin American Politics at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He appears regularly on television and radio as a commentator on regional politics, including for Radio-Canada, TVA Nouvelles, and national channels in Latin America.