At the turn of the 21st century, the pink tide spreading over Latin America was "prone to populism and authoritarianism". Chavez's Venezuela and Correa's Ecuador have both been characterised as having moved toward authoritarianism. Steven Levitsky and James Loxton, as well as Raúl Madrid, stated that Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his regional allies used populism to achieve their dominance and later established authoritarian regimes when they were empowered. Such actions, Weyland argues, proves that "Populism, understood as a strategy for winning and exerting state power, inherently stands in tension with democracy and the value that it places upon pluralism, open debate, and fair competition".