Somebody: Yeah, and optimism of the will, comrade. But, I think it's possible that healthier and more affluent populations will mean the parliamentary road to socialism (assuming there is one, it remains an open question) is going to become ever more relevant. This as old as Bernstein, of course. But, Latin America's been through it's bloody epoch of guerrilla warfare and dirty wars, and is with the exception of Columbia, is a continent at peace. My suspicion is that most folks there would like it to stay that way, whatever their politics.
The same is true, for instance, of South Africa. Right now we're watching the FIFA World Cup where billions of rand have been shoveled into creating a global spectacle while millions of black South Africans languish in shantytowns without basic services. And meanwhile, there's an enormous variety of protest movements, the shackdwellers movement, movements against pharmaceutical monopolies, movements for the extension of basic utilities and health care. What you don't have, despite or perhaps because of the influence of the SACP, is a mass political party aiming at a revolutionary transformation of society. Maybe that's a sign of weakness, or maybe it's just a sign of the times. "Peace, land, and bread" was a potent slogan because the Russian peasants and workers lives were at risk from war and famine... times have changed. Today workers might be fighting for HIV retrovirals instead of bread.