I'm John Batchler, and the Andean chain and events are in the saddle. Mary Anastacio Grady, the America's editor

and columnist for the Wall Street Journal editorial page, looking at three elections, one pass, two imminent.

And what this means for the whole of the Americas in the battle between the left of center

and the right of center or the centrist. Mary, a very good

evening to you. We begin in Bolivia because that election was decided, Mr. Paz, the winner,

and yet the capital of La Paz looks to be under siege by people associated with some miners,

but a lot of cocoa growers, meaning Evo Morales. Evo Morales is a big player in the Americas.

Do you regard this pushback by him as coordinated with other states?

Good evening to you.

Well, good evening, John.

I should say first that I think what's going on in Latin America right now

is not center left against center right.

It's extreme left against the right, which can be

quantified or qualified as moving from the center and further right. But on the left, these are very

extremist groups. So in Bolivia, you have Avo Morales, who came to power initially in 2006. He ruled Bolivia for 14 years. You know, he behaved

very much like your typical hard left candidate who says, I got elected. And once I got elected,

I change all the rules and I'm not leaving. And that's what basically happened. But in 2019,

he was caught in fraud and he had to relinquish power.

And there was an interim president for, I think, less than a year.

And then his party was reelected and governed for another five years.

So just last year, Rodrigo Paz, who was not really very far right, I would call him very much of a centrist

candidate, won election. And this is something that the hard left in Bolivia thought would

...