Growth of latin america

Economic Growth:

Latin America now includes many 'powerhouse' economies. The last ten years have seen extremely strong economic growth for coutries such as Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The best performers in 2011 are expected to be Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay. Meanwhile Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama are expected to grow in the 4 to 5 percent range.

However, this economic success is not uniform across the region. Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to show weaker growth, and the economies of Haiti, Jamaica and Venezuela are expected to shrink. At the same time, some commentators are warning that the populist policies of countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia run the risk of increasing inflation and increasing poverty.




New political voice:

There is a marked growth in political solidarity across the region. Instead of individual Latin American countries seeking beneficial relations with the US, they are creating new and stronger relationships with each other. UNASUR is a treay organisation set up in 2009 and modelled on the European Union, aiming to set up a single market for its twelve South American member countries. However UNASUR is not only concerned with commerce, but also in promoting equality and social justice across the region.

Hugo Chavez is a controversial figure but there is no doubt the Venezuelan president has had the confidence to criticize the USA, and to seek to increase Venezuela's influence on the world stage. The discovery of significant oil reserves in Venezuela has meant that Chavez has become a welcome figure in isolated nations such as Cuba, as the oil reserves allow him to play the part of international benefactor to the weak and needy.

Indigenous people are also participating in democracy as never before - as evidenced by the election of Evo Morales as President of Bolivia. This office was traditionally the preserve of wealthy white Bolivians, descendants of Spanish colonial families, but in 200X the majority-indigenous population of Bolivia elected one of their own to the highest office in the land.This Bolivian president recently hosted a conference on climate change specifically for the indigenous people of Latin America to have their say.

Brazil, having experienced incredible economic growth, is stepping up to play an increasing role in world politics. It is Brazil rather than the US who has stepped in to mediate in the growing dispute between Venezuela and Colombia, and it was Brazil who persuaded Iran to sign up to an international nuclear weapons agreement in 2009.