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That last pic doesn't look like Puerto Rico. I think it is somewhere else in South America.
It’s in Brazil. A Brazilian flag is in one of the buildings at the bottom. There is nowhere in PR that looks like that. I knew it the first time I saw that photo (in part because I know PR very well), but wanted to stay out of that argument which is very easy to refute (not just because of the fake “Puerto Rico,” but also the Panama City photo which shows a small section of the population that is continually shrinking).
I digress. For people that have never been to PR and Santiago de Chile, they can do a virtual tour in Google Street View. It’s not exactly as a visit in person because there are many factors that photos can’t show -the general vibe and culture of the people, to give one example-, but that’s better than nothing.
You can't just go by economic statistics and GDP. They certainly give good insight into a nation's economic advancement but often mean far less in the lives everyday people. Chile is wealthier than Uruguay but has a MUCH larger income & wealth gap.
The average Uruguayan enjoys a far higher standard of living and quality of life than any other Latin American country.
Finally Argentina and Uruguay are white majority but Chile isn't, which is in fact more Native American than North Southern American and some Meso-American countries as has been proven time and time again. Yet, this Mestizo nation is the most prosperous on the continent.
Hey Commie, the economy base that fixed Allendes hyperinflation and took Chile out of its misery, was made by not Mestizos. However mestizos in Chile are quite astute, and smart.
You can't just go by economic statistics and GDP. They certainly give good insight into a nation's economic advancement but often mean far less in the lives everyday people. Chile is wealthier than Uruguay but has a MUCH larger income & wealth gap.
The average Uruguayan enjoys a far higher standard of living and quality of life than any other Latin American country.
I was amazed in places like krakow, warsaw, budapest, prague, etc of just how nice they were. The difference between those cities and western european ones are minimal at best. GDP doesn't tell the story.
Btw, there is a gap between Chile and Uruguay, but it's not THAT great. Uruguay around 40 and Chile 47 gini index. Chile seems way more advanced though. I stayed in Montevideo for 6 weeks and Santiago for even longer
You can't just go by economic statistics and GDP. They certainly give good insight into a nation's economic advancement but often mean far less in the lives everyday people. Chile is wealthier than Uruguay but has a MUCH larger income & wealth gap.
The average Uruguayan enjoys a far higher standard of living and quality of life than any other Latin American country.
Most people simply don't know what the figures means. I'll give two examples.
People think that orderliness is related to the well being of the people, but that is actually influenced by the local culture than anything else and has very little to do with a country's economic figures. Lima is much more chaotic than Bogotá, you see it in the traffic. Peru, and Lima in particular, can become a rich place where all the people live a good standard of living and it will continue to be more chaotic than Bogotá. In the same manner, Bogotá can become poorer than Lima and it will continue to be more orderly than Lima. Unless something is done to tackle this cultural issue in Lima (if its seen as an issue at all), it will continue to be more chaotic than Bogotá and it has very little o do with its economic situation. Even in the same country a town will appear clean while the neighboring town is littered, despite the economic situation is the same or similar. Some times its so extreme that a person wonders what happened at the other place. In the cleaner town the locals take pride in keeping their town as clean or has a government that values cleanliness while the other town doesn't. Another perfect example of this is Switzerland and Italy. If you take the train from one country to another a thing that will be noticeable is how meticulous the Swiss treat their cities while in Italy trash in the streets becomes much more common. In fact, Italy in general is much more chaotic than Switzerland or France. In Italy the cities are much more rundown than the meticulousness that is evident in much of Spain.
People think that the beautifulness of a place depends entirely on the economic situation. While it does depends more than if a place is chaotic or not, this aspect still depends more on local culture than anything else. The poorer areas of Lima are much uglier than the poor areas of Quito, Ecuador. The problem here is mostly the climate, which is dusty and desert like where as it rains a lot more and its much more green in Quito. The parks in Lima are meticulous and green, while in Cuzco which is in the same country the parks are not as nice as in Lima. Why? Weather and the culture of the Limeños which value keeping their parks quite nice. Cuzco is wetter and greener than Lima. In Brazil the cities tend to be uglier and look more abandoned in a way than does cities in Colombia. The reason for this is overwhelmingly cultural. In fact, in various cities of Colombia they have a love affair with bricks while in Brazil its much less evident. Why? Culture.
So many people generally don't know what is due to economic reasons and what is an expression of the local culture, which isn't always nice to experience or see. In the 1800's there are many things written in London where the impression is that society was going backwards. Mind you, at that same time England was experiencing one of its most developmental leaps and the well being of the people was actually improving. Is it really a contradiction? Not really. People often don't know what one thing is vs another.
Another thing that is noticeable is that the same people that downplay certain measures of progress will also refer to other measures of progress too, despite the glaring contradiction of that action. You see it even in his thread.
That neighborhood is called La Perla and is visible from the more touristic part of San Juan. Several governments of the city and even the island offered its residents a more dignified living in new apartments, green spaces, etc; and the locals simply refused. A few years ago the locals agreed that they will paint in various colors their buildings as a way of beautifying their neighborhood. Nit much can be done when people refuse to leave their home.
Who would want to give up their little patch on the beach? La Perla is part of the fabric of San Juan. Mr Pilot is really just reaching for things in desperation. Purposefully looking for the worst (and older) pictures of Panama city but omitting the crumbling road infrastructure of Uruguay (ranked among worst on the continent) and the Campamentos of Santiago.
Although I agree with Evangelist and others, a few years GDP is not enough and even then it doesn't tell the whole story. I've been to Eastern Europe and not just the flagship cities but secondary cities and rural areas and many LatAm countries are pretty much on par in many aspects. I found some things in Colombia even more advanced than Poland or Slovakia in fact although being part of EU requirememts has helped to attain more cohesive infrastructure developments whereas in LatAm its far more variable from place to place.
I was trying to find slums in santiago but they were all pictures from the 80's and no longer applicable or they were of santiago de cuba. Also pictures after some natural disaster.
Uruguay has very crappy public transport system; montevideo has no metro etc.
Puerto rico's san juan is shown in postcards just as the picture I sent. Google it yourself
*current* slums in Santiago look like California's or London's. (See Cerro Navia, Santiago's most modest community)
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