What Latin America’s growing 'pink tide' means for climate change, U.S. elections

Brazil wildfires, next year’s COP30 focus UN on shifting political powers and impact

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Detail from the global fire map for Sept. 20 from the Fire Information For Research Management System/NASA.

(Michael Molinski is a senior economist at Trendline Economics. He’s worked for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo, and previously as a foreign correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.) 

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (Callaway Climate Insights) — Opposition candidate Yamandú Orsi of the left-wing Frente Amplio and an ally of former President José “Pepe” Mujica is leading the polls going into the Oct. 27 elections in Uruguay.

If Orsi wins either the general election or the runoff election in November, it would mean a leftist or center-left candidate has won four of the six presidential elections in Latin America this year as the growing “pink tide” of left-wing presidents takes hold in the region.

What will this mean to the U.S. elections in November? And will it make it more difficult for former president Donald Trump or for Vice President Kamala Harris to set foreign policy, especially regarding trade policy and climate change?