Prosur: a sign of South America’s right turn

The pink tide in South America has officially subsided.

After left-leaning governments in the region were replaced by hard-line conservatives (thanks in part to worsening economies and the left’s own shortcomings), Unasur—a left-leaning multilateral body created in 2008—has now been replaced by its right-wing counterpart, the Forum for the Progress of South America (Prosur). Created by Chile and Colombia, the new initiative quickly attracted Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, and Paraguay. The big absences are Bolivia and Uruguay—where left-leaning governments remain stable—and Venezuela, Prosur’s bogeyman.

Created 11 years ago, Unasur expressed a common desire by South American leaders to escape the influence of the U.S. It was conceived by Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, Argentina’s Néstor Kirchner, and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The first...