Populism and regional cooperation: how did Pink Tide governments promote a new regional (or global?) order through populism?

For most political science scholars, populism is conceived as a domestic phenomenon. For decades, populism has been considered either as a democratic deviation that threatens the rule of law or as a legitimate discourse that encourages participation. Beyond this ongoing debate, it is necessary to consider whether populism has had effects on regional integration or cooperation. Such is the case with Latin American Pink Tide governments, most of which were populists. Those regimes were different from the most well-known Latin American populist leaders, such as Juan Domingo Perón, Getúlio Vargas, or Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, as new leftist governments promoted a regional cooperation framework. In 2004, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA) was founded; two years later, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) was created; and in 2008, this was the case for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Unlike traditional populists, who focused their interests on domestic politics, this new radical populism has had a regional scope. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore how populism has been reshaping regional cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean over the last 20 years. The research is divided into three parts. First, we explore the causes of the reemergence of populism in Latin America from the 2000s. Second, we analyze how Pink Tide populisms proposed and institutionalized a regional integration and cooperation framework on three fronts: ALBA, UNASUR, and CELAC. Finally, we discuss the current relevance of populism to regional integration dynamics, two decades after the Pink Tide populist governments’ appearance.