Last weekend’s landslide victory of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is one more example of the growing assertiveness of Latin America’s poor. After decades of economic disenfranchisement, the poor in the region are demanding attention to their plight but there is much disagreement on the best path to take.

The two primary competing visions are neo-liberal reforms and a more populist, socialist approach epitomized by Venezuela’s Chavez. So far, it appears that neither may offer a concrete formula for economic and social improvement. But everyone agrees that something has to be done to relieve the suffering of Latin America’s enormous population of poor.

Click one of the “Listen” links to hear about the way forward in Latin America as its poor are pushing back.

Guests:

Carol Williams, correspondent for The Los Angeles Times, in Caracas;Dante Caputo, Director of the United Nations Development Program on the State of Democracy in Latin America and former Foreign Minister of Argentina

Bernard Aronson, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, 1989-1993. Now Managing Partner of ACON Investments L.L.C.

Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and co-author of “The Scorecard on Globalization: Twenty Years of Diminished Progress.”