Nouvelles Gauches et inclusion financiA̧reÂ: la microfinance contest A̧©e en Bolivie, en A̧-quateur et au Nicaragua

Abstract

In Latin America, the first decade of the century was marked by the rise of political forces that are commonly described as the “new leftâ€?. Their rise to power nevertheless masks the ambivalent relationship of these movements to society and their difficulty in establishing a new model of development. Filling the vacuum that was created by the closure of public banks, moreover, microfinance became stronger by adopting a typically commercial form and set of practices. In the Nicaraguan, Ecuadoran and Bolivian cases, administrations formed after a handover of power share an ideologically-based mistrust of microfinance. In the absence of viable financing alternatives, a climate of coexistence reigns between governments and the actors of this sector, though it varies significantly from one country to the next in accordance with local strategic and institutional factors. Paradoxically, this tends to reinforce the most commercial and least durable structures, first of all affecting institutions that had consolidated themselves in an economically durable manner while remaining engaged on behalf of socio-economic development. © Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.