12:00 AM CST on Monday, January 18, 2010

The Washington Post, The Associated Press

SANTIAGO, Chile – Billionaire Sebastián Piñera won Chile's presidential election Sunday in the country's first democratic election of a conservative ruler in 52 years.

Political analysts say the election of Piñera, an airline magnate, reflects a broader trend in Latin America – the rise of the pragmatic politician.

After years of victories by leftist candidates, market-friendly conservatives and moderates are gaining ground in the region.

Some are emerging from the right, such as Piñera, who got 52 percent of the vote in the Chilean runoff election.

Analysts say Piñera and the ruling coalition candidate, Eduardo Frei, differed in style but not markedly in the substance of their proposals. And even with Piñera's election, they said, Chile is unlikely to veer from the centrist, free-market path that has brought the nation prosperity since the end of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in 1990.

Piñera's election does not signal a comeback for the right in Latin America, where a mix of leftist rabble-rousers and European-style socialists have taken power since Hugo Chávez won office in Venezuela in 1998 by pledging to overturn the old political order.

Instead, voters are showing their distaste for firebrand nationalists who preach class warfare and state intervention in the economy.

"Voters are more calculating and rational than we give them credit for," said Christopher Sabatini, senior policy director at the Council of the Americas in New York. "People are making the choice to support market economies and rational leaders."

In Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, a supermarket-chain owner with close ties to the U.S., won the presidency in May. In Brazil, the popular governor of São Paulo state, José Serra, enjoys a solid lead in the polls over his left-leaning rival ahead of October's presidential election.

A notable exception is Bolivia, where President Evo Moraleswas re-elected in December. He has expelled U.S. anti-drug agents, nationalized part of the mining sector and forged ties with Chávez, whose antagonism toward Washington has been a cornerstone of his presidency.

But two prominent leftists who won office last year – former rebel José "Pepe" Mujica in Uruguay and Mauricio Funesin El Salvador – have highlighted middle-of-the-road policies.

They say they are inspired by the region's most admired moderate, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. A former union activist, Lula is known for his anti-poverty programs and a cautious oversight of the economy that has won Wall Street approval.