Latin America is swinging to the right at a pace that seemed improbable just half a decade ago, while major U.S. cities are moving left with equal speed. The divergence is stark, and the timing points to a common thread: the end of U.S. foreign aid.
In June, Colombia elected a hard-right populist. Peru, after a disastrous Marxist-Leninist presidency, returned a right-wing dynasty to power. Meanwhile, New York City’s Democratic primary voters last Tuesday ousted several incumbents in favor of socialist candidates, including a victory in the 13th district where community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
President Trump froze new foreign aid commitments on his first day in office. Within weeks, USAID’s website went dark, its headquarters closed, and by March, Secretary of State Rubio announced 83% of its programs were canceled, with 5,800 layoffs. The agency ceased independent operations that July.
Since then, center-right and conservative candidates have swept elections in Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombia—seven consecutive wins without a single left-wing victory. That’s a clean sweep across eighteen months in a region once dominated by pink tide governments.
Left-leaning analysts blame crime, corruption, and incumbency fatigue. But those factors have long existed. The question is why they’re now producing consistent conservative wins only after U.S. taxpayer funding dried up.
USAID was never purely an aid organization; it was a foreign policy tool. The Washington Office on Latin America, no MAGA ally, acknowledged that the heaviest cuts hit “democracy and human rights promotion” programs. Over 90% of its regional partners were affected, with 70% forced to lay off staff. Much of that funding went to a nonprofit industrial complex that supported election monitoring, legislative strengthening, and governance reform—often propping up left-leaning agendas.
Now look north. In November 2025, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won New York’s mayoral race, the DSA’s biggest victory yet. Membership has nearly doubled since October 2024. Last Tuesday, socialist candidates won key primaries, including Brad Lander’s defeat of Rep. Dan Goldman and Claire Valdez’s victory in the open 7th district. The DSA is also poised to gain at least six state legislature seats despite $9.6 million in opposition super PAC spending.
“A year ago, it was not the end of a political movement. It was the beginning,” Mamdani said Tuesday night. His movement’s candidates advocate not just economic redistribution but also abolishing police and prisons, and banning deportations of convicted criminals. This is a sharp break from the liberal Democrats they’re replacing.
In Latin America, U.S.-funded institutional infrastructure sustained leftist movements for decades. It collapsed when funding stopped. In New York, that infrastructure is being built from the ground up. Mamdani mobilized 50,000 volunteers—a sign of careful organization and sustained investment. The question is how long that momentum can last, and whether it will face similar shocks if federal funding priorities shift.
For more on the rise of democratic socialism, see how anti-Trump unity is fueling the surge. Meanwhile, the Senate Ethics Committee cleared Rep. Gallego of misconduct allegations, a separate political development. And as voters reject corruption and inequality, democratic socialism continues to gain ground.
