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Monthly Archives: September 2025

Political Report #1467: Performative Victory: How Post-Coup Honduras Used Football to Manufacture a “Silent Mass”

 Author: Clover Hu (Yutong Hu)Clover Hu is a student at New York University studying literature, psychology, economics, and justice in Latin America and post-authoritarian societies.:::Abstract: This article examines how the Honduran government, following the 2009 coup, utilized the country’s qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a strategic emotional diversion to suppress political dissent. Through visual analysis of media coverage, theoretical frameworks on deindividuation and emotional governance, and comparative reference to historical models such as “bread and circuses,” the article argues that football was transformed into a state-sponsored spectacle of national unity that effectively muted public outrage. This performance of collective euphoria silenced marginalized voices—particularly Black and Afro-descendant communities—and created an illusion of democratic cohesion. Drawing from thinkers such as Fanon and Seneca, the article frames this phenomenon as a modern iteration of affective authoritarianism. It concludes that the apparent triumph on the football field masked deeper political fractures and social exclusions, and calls for a reexamination of how state rituals manipulate emotion to manage post-crisis legitimacy.Keywords: Emotional governance; Honduras; Football and nationalism; Political diversion; Marginalization and silencePerformative Victory: How Post-Coup Honduras Used Football to Manufacture a “Silent Mass”In June 2009, the democratically elected president of Honduras, José [...]

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Political Report 1466: A Debate on the Left over the Nicolas Maduro Government

A Debate on the Left over the Nicolas Maduro Government NOTE: The website "Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal" hosted a debate over the Venezuelan Solidarity movement, the denunciations of Nicolas Maduro's policies, and the importance of contextualization. The interchange was initiated by an article by Gabriel Hetland, associate professor at the University of Albany, followed by a rejoinder by Latin American Perspectives’ associated managing editor Steve Ellner, and then a critical response from political ecologist Emiliano Teran Mantovani. It consisted of six articles altogether. All three analysts frame issues which are useful for grasping the knotty dilemmas facing not only the Maduro presidency but other Pink Tide governments as well. FIRST ARTICLE Capitalism and Authoritarianism in Maduro’s Venezuela by Gabriel Hetland April, 19, 2025 On January 10, 2025, Nicolás Maduro began his third six-year presidential term in Venezuela, proclaiming during his inauguration, “I have never been, nor will I ever be, president of the oligarchies, of the richest families, of supremacists, or of imperialists. I have one ruler: the common people.”1 Maduro’s rhetoric, alongside his ability to withstand years of U.S. attempts to overthrow him, has garnered him significant support from the global left. First elected in 2013 [...]

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Latin American Perspectives, founded in 1974, is a theoretical and scholarly journal for discussion and debate on the political economy of capitalism, imperialism, and socialism in the Americas. Most issues focus on a single problem, nation, or region, providing an in-depth look from participants and scholars throughout the Americas.

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