Interpreted via cognitive shortcuts, the Cuban Revolution instilled excessive hopes of proliferating revolution among leftists, and corresponding fears among rightists. Leftist efforts to replicate Castro's success therefore prompted a rightist backlash that sought to block radicalism through the imposition of authoritarianism. In general theoretical terms, the backlash dynamic was fueled by fundamental mechanisms of bounded rationality, especially cognitive heuristics and asymmetrical loss aversion. Thus, political actors commonly diverged from the postulates of standard rationality. Misperceptions and skewed choices lay at the root of Latin America's political regression, including leftwing violence and the massive human rights violation committed by right-wingers. Because nowadays, there is no broad revolutionary challenge; and because conservative forces are therefore not stricken with fear, a similar backlash is unlikely in the foreseeable future. Consequently, the recent setbacks for democracy in the world will probably not add up to a significant reverse wave like the political regression that Latin America experienced during the 1960s and 1970s.