Lessons from the Left in Lima: Susana Villarán and the Fleeting Return of Progressive Politics to City Hall
Amid a rightward shift in Latin America, how can the left gain ground in cities characterized by entrenched neoliberalism? The case of Susana Villarán, the progressive mayor who led Lima, Peru, from 2011 to 2014, illustrates the uphill battle facing the left. Villarán’s surprise election put a leftist in City Hall for the first time in 25 years. She confronted unrelenting opposition but defied expectations and beat back a recall election only to face a punishing defeat in her reelection bid. Weak policy-making capacity and a lack of party machinery forced her to expend all her political capital on the recall battle, leaving her with nothing to secure reelection. Her trajectory suggests an important lesson for progressives in cities where the left is weak: a headline-grabbing win by an individual leftist is no substitute for a robust left base. Absent the latter, simply electing a progressive mayor is likely to prove a fleeting victory.
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