Mexican Elections

I am really heartened by the goings-on in Latin America. The recent Mexican elections are a good example - populism is alive and being respected, regardless of who the ultimate winner is. Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile - all moving moderate, or leftist, but all I think from a core of "the people". Poor and lower-class people pushing/pulling their governments away from the exogenous military/industrial/congessional complex. I can't help but wonder if the popular movements in Latin America are benefiting from our misguided sinkholes in Iraq and Afghanistan. With our military muscle being exhausted on other continents, the US maybe doesn't have the horsepower to prop up the reactionary military juntas any longer.