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its easy to talk when you go to these countries as TOURIST with the U.S. DOLLAR and stay in nice hotels in a bubble. Try being the common man in those country and try to make ends meet.
Argentina? are you kidding me? 30% inflation rate. They are ranked #51 in the world in GDP per capita at $13,500. Puerto Rico, a U.S. Territory is ranked # 26 with an inflation rate below 2% and P.R. is going thru rough times right now. Argentina is in worse position by far.
Brazil is nice if you are part of the elite class or a tourist with money....the majority in the country live in extreme poverty.
Venezuela with all their oil is a lost cause.
Mexico like Brazil....if you are part of the elite class or a tourist with money that can live in a bubble then Mexico is nice but for the rest of the people in Mexico is not nice at all. Government very corrupt at all levels, can't trust the police and the Drug Cartels pretty much runs most of the country. Kidnapping people for money is very common down there.
Also, they have a lot more problems than people see. While someone traveling to Chile comes there and sees nice streets, palm trees and nice buildings... they don't see that most of the workers are working 45 hour weeks and making 400 dollars a MONTH.
People there are poor, very poor. There are a lot of problems in that country, and while it might be able to be considered "first world" there are a a lot more third world problems that will take more than a couple years to work out.
That being said, Chile is the best country in Latin America in terms of safety and overall best place to live. It is expensive though.
Living in Chile and having a Chilean wife opened my eyes to a lot more of Chile than just being a tourist. I can tell you that if I spent 2 weeks in Chile doing a tour of the country and going home I would have a complete different idea.
Definitely not, but there are elements such as education, healthcare, transportation where cities like Cali and Recife supersede Panama city.
Although a substantial amount of investment has been plugged into Colon recently it's not even to the level of cities like Manta or Santa Marta. Still has a long way to go.
I love Americans who go to these countries as American Tourists with the U.S. DOLLAR and American Passport who are in a bubble while in those countries and say silly things like those places are great and it has potential but they don't put themselves in the shoes of the ordinary people in those countries. The ordinary folks in those countries don't have the luxury of getting paid in U.S. DOLLARS and don't have our opportunities. We just go there as tourists and as long that we spend a lot of American Dollars in their country, we are going to be treated very well. Meanwhile the common folks in those countries struggles badly under those systems.
Argentina: $1 U.S DOLLAR = 15.01 Argentinian Pesos U.S. Inflation 1.5% Argentina 30%
Venezuela: $1 U.S DOLLAR = 9.51 Venezuelan Bolivar Venezuela Inflation 180% the worst inflation in the world and they have OIL, you take their oil and they will be in worse shape.
the only people that lived well in those countries are the "elite" class, the top government officials, the tourists and foreigners who bring money in to spend....the common people in those country have it very bad. That goes for Mexico and Brazil.
None in the short or medium term. I would say Costa Rica has the most potential because it's relatively uncorrupt compared to other countries and the industries there are stable, but I'm being optimistic.
You can't simply look at gross domestic product and make that conclusion. On paper, countries such as Brazil, Chile, and Argentina(or Nigeria or South Africa in Africa) do look good until you remember that that political corruption is rampant, the living standards for the average person is not great(there are plenty of places where people live in shanty towns), tertiary educational attainment is low, inequality is high, the middle classes are tiny. The last two points are particularly important since stronger middle classes play a considerable impact in how institutions are shaped. Latin America and those countries in particular have a problem with having weak institutions and low levels of accountability to make their institutions perform better.
Yes it's true that a country that as Argentina(or Cuba) was on the upswing in the 19th century and was once a major exporter IIRC and it had the potential to grow, but those days are gone. The region(like much of Africa and Southeast Asia) is still haunted by it's colonial history that was disruptive to existing institutions or that failed to install new ones for the sake of enrichment. City states such as Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan didn't really have those setbacks. So long as the issues that I outlined in the second paragraph continue to exist, the region will continue to be susceptible to populist left & right(Chile) experiments.
I love Americans who go to these countries as American Tourists with the U.S. DOLLAR and American Passport who are in a bubble while in those countries and say silly things like those places are great and it has potential but they don't put themselves in the shoes of the ordinary people in those countries. The ordinary folks in those countries don't have the luxury of getting paid in U.S. DOLLARS and don't have our opportunities. We just go there as tourists and as long that we spend a lot of American Dollars in their country, we are going to be treated very well. Meanwhile the common folks in those countries struggles badly under those systems.
Argentina: $1 U.S DOLLAR = 15.01 Argentinian Pesos U.S. Inflation 1.5% Argentina 30%
Venezuela: $1 U.S DOLLAR = 9.51 Venezuelan Bolivar Venezuela Inflation 180% the worst inflation in the world and they have OIL, you take their oil and they will be in worse shape.
the only people that lived well in those countries are the "elite" class, the top government officials, the tourists and foreigners who bring money in to spend....the common people in those country have it very bad. That goes for Mexico and Brazil.
I agree to the sentiment of what you are saying. When people come to many of these countries with foreign money that has a higher value then the local currency (ex USA, UK or Canada) they get a lot more value for their money and end up being able to live a lifestyle they might not be able to have where they are from. This often allows them to live in more affluent areas of the country and to be less exposed to the social and economic issues in that country. They often get the impression that things are so wonderful here because their foreign income allows them to access the best the country has to offer. If the person coming from out of these countries has to actually work in the country making the local currency I am sure their experience would be different.
Some countries in Latin America have it better than others, but living condition in Chile or any other Latin American country overall falls fairly far behind what is considered standard in Portugal and Greece, even at the worst of the crisis.
Yet The central part of Chile, mainly Santiago reminds me mostly (infrastructure wise) of California. Parts looks like Spain. Other parts look French, but none look like far behind Portugal or Greece.
Run down buildings, littery, gritty atmosphere, old transportation system, NO SUBWAY, etc etc.
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I agree..
