The authors show that the historical and political role of populism in Latin American countries is an extremely relevant, but at the same time complex research and practical topic, which has been causing sharp discussions in the expert community for more than a decade. This is due to the inconsistency and ambiguity of populism as a social phenomenon, its dynamic and variable nature, which constantly puts forward new research tasks to scientists. Latin America is the birthplace of modern populism. Here, as in no other region of the world, populism has long become an integral part of social landscape and a specific feature of political processes. Dozens of prominent populist figures headed governments in most states of the region, were the creators of leading political parties and movements, left an indelible mark on Latin American history. Up to this day, populists of different beliefs largely form a vector of socio-economic development of an entire region. All this determines relevance of the article, and its main goal is to explore the topic of Latin American populism, its ideological pedigree and perspectives on the basis of new knowledge and phenomena. The novelty of the work is the interpretation of ideology and practice of populism, based on the methods of historical research and comparative analysis, which makes it possible to identify features of populist regimes in Latin America. The main conclusion made by the authors is the assertion that it is impossible to use old populist methods to respond to new challenges that await the peoples of Latin America in the future.

The right-wing populist phenomenon has become one of the main trends in world politics. Its spread in the “old” and “new democracies” forces researchers to reconsider the categorical apparatus by means of which they analyzed world processes in the very recent past. Characteristic features, manifesting themselves in different countries, inevitably acquire a local flavor. The surge of right-wing populism in Europe was provoked by an external factor – migration flows, but in Brazil there were purely internal reasons and motives that created fertile ground for the right-wing populist leader to come to power, while in the USA it was a mixture and interweaving of both internal and external factors. The author analyzes the Brazilian version of modern right-wing populist ideology and political practice, embodied in the “Bolsonaro phenomenon”. The author examines reasons and circumstances that made possible the emergence and implanting of right-wing populism on Brazilian political terrain. The paper indicates main features of right-wing populism in its “Bolsonarist” version. It is shown that the Brazilian right-wing populism of the beginning of the 21st century reflects both the modern world trend and all the classic signs of populism, and at the same time has its own unique national characteristics. The “Bolsonaro phenomenon” brings forward many debatable problems.

The results of the Caribbean crisis in the domestic and foreign literature have rarely been covered from the point of view of the Soviet-Cuban relations that influenced the internationalist policy of Cuba in Africa in the 1970s. The author analyzes: the degree of independence of Cuba’s policy in Africa, the participation of the USSR in it and the fairness of accusations brought by Washington. The results of the analysis show that deploying of Cuban “volunteers” in Angola and then in Ethiopia was not initiated by the USSR, which aimed at maintaining détente in relations with the West. Moreover, new deterioration of relations with Cuba amid escalating Chinese-Soviet tensions, increasing centrifugal tendencies in the “socialist commonwealth” and emergence of “Eurocommunism” threatened to further weaken the “world system of socialism” and erode the ideological foundations of Marxism-Leninism. By analyzing Cuba’s internationalist activity in Africa, the author has been able to draw some conclusions about its implications for the international communist movement and its influence on the balance of power in the world before perestroika policy began in the Soviet Union. The end of détente policy did not allow the USSR to redirect the resources released from the arms race to improving the living conditions of the Soviet people. Cuban revolutionary activity contributed to fragmentation of the formerly united “upfront antiimperialist forces.” The weakening of the ideological foundations of “real socialism” was an additional factor that prompted the Soviet leadership, represented by Mikhail Gorbachev, to begin a policy of perestroika. Cuba’s ‘progress’ in Africa contributed to consolidation of Cuban society around the policy of the Cuban Communist Party, which, in turn, helped it to withstand the difficulties of the “peculiar period of peace” in the early 1990s.

The authors analyze political cycles of the Portuguese (Lusophone) world, which is based on Portugal-Brazil civilizational axis. The authors seek to prove the existence of synchronicity and parallelism in the context of the movement of political pendulum from right to left and back within the Lusophone world of Iberoamerica. The main thesis of this study is that the Ibero-American transcontinental macro-region is sandwiched between a “left wave” and a “right turn”, with the conclusion that further continuation of the “left wave” with right-wing fluctuations in the current context is going to continue. As far as Portugal is concerned, the case of the municipal elections of September 26, 2021 is used as empirical material and is subjected to a detailed analysis from the perspective of the Portuguese party-political landscape. In addition, some attention is paid to the early parliamentary elections of January 30, 2022 in Portugal. The authors also assess the development of populism in Portugal, given that in European countries, left-wing and right-wing populist movements are gaining popularity. Similarly, the authors consider the results of the 2020 municipal elections, and political situation in Brazil on the eve of the 2022 presidential elections. We give a forecast about further shift to the left of the Ibero-American Lusophone world, if after the confident victory of the Portuguese socialists under the leadership of Costa the socialist president Lula da Silva comes to power in Brazil, and, as a result, about formation of the left-socialist power pole within the framework of the Ibero-American Lusophony.

The aim of the article is to examine the reasons for the Basque nationalists’ improving electoral performance in Navarre in the late 2000–2010s. The author identifies the main stages of the historical development of Basque nationalism in Navarre and its confrontation with various forms of local regionalism (Fuerism, Carlism, and Navarrism) from the beginning of the 20th century up to the present, as well as the features of its evolution in comparison with the evolution of nationalism in other Basque territories. The analysis of electoral statistics and opinion polls shows that, in the post-Franco period, the traditional centrist and Catholic version of Basque nationalism, represented by the Basque Nationalist Party, was pushed back by its left and secular version (“Herri Batasuna”, “Batzarre”, “Aralar”, etc.) and that, in the last decade, Basque nationalists managed to significantly expand their influence among social groups that do not favour separatist claims and do not share nationalist feelings. On the one hand, the success of this expansion was due to the new electoral tactics of the Basque nationalists (formation of two coalitions – left and center-left), and, on the other, to the growing discontent of voters towards the central and regional authorities in the context of the financial crisis of 2008 – 2014 and the gradual increase in the popularity of the Basque language and strengthening of the Basque identity in Navarre. The rising separatist movement in Navarre, together with the growing popularity of secessionism in Galicia, threatens to increase the number of separatist-leaning regions in Spain and poses a serious challenge to the Spanish “State of Autonomous Communities.”

At the beginning of the 21st century, international relations in South America are developing in a paradigm of regionalization, manifested in emergence of multiple social associations on the continent, linked to each other not only geographically but also functionally. In parallel, trends of fragmentation and polarization, resulting from the crisis of Latin American multilateralism and from political heterogeneity established by the results of the next electoral period, are directly or indirectly influencing the nature of regional relations. In this context, and given their impact on regional affairs, the analysis of the current state of relations between Argentina and Brazil, characterized by polarized positions on a range of issues, deserves particular attention. The author chose a systemic approach to the analysis of international relations and the current foreign policy situation as the main methodological tool to achieve the goal of research. This, in turn, allowed the author of this article to consider South America as a regional subsystem, within which political systems and regimes compete, including for the choice of the vector of sub-regional development. The article demonstrates that recently the Argentine-Brazilian contradictions have fueled and strengthened political and ideological heterogeneity of the whole South American continent. In addition, the author cites different visions of formats and vectors of integration development of associations and subregional organizations in South America. According to the author, the actions of the governments of Alberto Fernández and Jair Bolsonaro make it quite difficult to implement and put in practice the necessary measures and formulated strategic goals, as well as to determine the vector of future development for Latin American states.

The article examines key trends and prospects for the development of Ecuadorian-Peruvian relations, which are of particular interest in the sphere of international cooperation for both Ecuador and Peru. The purpose is to examine the trends of cooperation in various areas between Peru and Ecuador. In accordance with the main goal, the following objectives were set: to identify the features of joint coordination of stability in the border areas, including activities to curb illegal trade of weapons and drugs; to examine Ecuadorian-Peruvian economic relations, including development of trade relations; to identify key aspects of the development of Ecuadorian-Peruvian relations in culture, education and tourism, as well as environmental cooperation and support for indigenous peoples. In the areas of culture, tourism, education and the environment, Ecuadorian-Peruvian relations are quite underdeveloped and require activation of a number of measures proposed by the authors: improvement of the legal and regulatory framework in the field of above mentioned relations; increased financial support for cooperation in culture, education, tourism and the environment; increased promotion of the importance of relations between Ecuador and Peru, especially among youth; attraction to more active cooperation of public representatives organizations and businesses. Another important factor is the enhanced activity of Ecuadorian representatives in attracting foreign direct investment from Peru for the implementation of projects in different sectors of the economy in the country.

The article concerns measuring gender equality in Latin American countries based on statistics from international (WEF, OECD, ILO, UNESCO) and regional (UNECLAC) organizations and national statistical services, as well as various gender inequality indices (GGI, SIGI). Gender equality is seen as one of the goals of sustainable development, and gender inequality – as a brake on its path. The study is conducted within institutional approach, since institutions are formal and informal restrictions accepted in society and determine the scale and factors of gender inequality. Particular attention is paid to axial institutions that play a primary role in creation, formation and implementation of human capital, namely the institutions of the family and the labor market, education and science, state and corporate governance. The study shows that, among emerging economies, Latin America has very high levels of gender equality as a result of a high degree of feminization of labor markets among other factors. However, the predominance of traditional division of labor in institution of the family levels out the bonuses from participation of women in paid work and exacerbates the problem of a double burden: women are caught in a vise, where, on the one hand, there is a paid work, and, on the other, an unpaid domestic work, which falls mainly on women. The most significant factor that positively affects the increase in gender equality is the share of women in government, while the level of socio-economic development of the country without a specialized policy aimed at stimulating gender equality does not lead to an increase in the latter.