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You do realize that Peru is enroute to become a top 10 world agricultural producer and the northern South American countries on the Andes have climates similar to that of coastal western Europe in places due to altitude.
In fact the Andean plateau that surrounds Bogota is the size of Switzerland and is classified as a Cfb climate by the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system. Same as much of France, the UK and the Benelux countries due to similar yearly average temperatures, rainfall and humidity.
Practically every crop known to man in the world can be grown on the Andes.
Just where are they going to get the water from?
Ive been all over the Andes in Peru. and the majority of it is too steep for mechanized farming and the pampas are so rock filled that they are almost impossible to farm on. All you find are cattle and few of those. The only decent places are in canyon floors where there are alluvial fan deposits which are few and far between. and really hard to get to.
Only the countries with a temperate and/or subtropical climate with at least a decent amount of annual rainfall have a shot at becoming a 1st world nation.
This is mainly due to the requirements of food production to fuel the human capital required to build a robust economic infrastructure.
The only other model out there is to try to be another Singapore and rely heavily on foreign investment.
The Latin American countries that straddle the equator, a.k.a the poverty belt, will likely remain mired in economic dysfunction, at least until the next great climate change shifts the world in their favor.
With that being said, Chile, Argentina and Brazil's subtropical southern region have the best chance right now primarily due to their current climate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jvalens
Yes, some of the areas at high elevation would escape most of the disadvantages of being on the equator. What you would end up with is partial 1st-world nations where those regions with the most productive farmland have a decent level of development, but the other parts of the country remain 3rd-world.
in the case of Colombia, the most suitable areas for developing large-scale agroindustry are the Eastern plains and the Caribbean plains, which have a tropical climate. most of the Andean land isn't suitable for agriculture.
Just where are they going to get the water from?
Ive been all over the Andes in Peru. and the majority of it is too steep for mechanized farming and the pampas are so rock filled that they are almost impossible to farm on. All you find are cattle and few of those. The only decent places are in canyon floors where there are alluvial fan deposits which are few and far between. and really hard to get to.
in the case of Colombia, the most suitable areas for developing large-scale agroindustry are the Eastern plains and the Caribbean plains, which have a tropical climate. most of the Andean land isn't suitable for agriculture.
Not for cool climate crops. Boyaca is known as the garden of Colombia for this exact reason.
Also you have the cauca valleys stretching from Cauca all the way to Antioquia where a vast expanse of flat fertile land exists.
Dryer regions with good irrigation systems provide higher quality yields. Just look at California.
Also not all the Andes are like the Peruvian Andes anyway.
Californias water comes from local sources and in implemented on mostly low lying areas in open top canals It would cost trillions to duplicate today.
Peru.s water comes from rapidly melting glaciers in the tops of the Andes.
It an almost impossible task. They would have to build masses of high pressure pipelines and power generation plants to pump the water up and down the mountains. Very, very expensive.
I'm sorry to say but Argentinians have a weird relationship with Chile and find any chance to put down their neighbor. Same with Peruvians. I just find it difficult to believe they can be impartial when it comes to Chile's success.
Chile may not be right at first world but it's the closest thing to it as far as LATAM is concerned and it sure blows Argentina away. I'm a US American from Texas who's visited several countries that are first world and chile is miles ahead of that game over its neighbors. Argentina to me had the culture, the history and the flavor of a European country but still the poverty and corruption of the third world.
Chile to me felt very Anglo-German by comparison, very well run, very efficient, and highly organized.
One of the most ridiculouss statements i have ever read in this forum. I know personally many chilean guys that would say it is complete bulls** if i read to them just what have posted here. Heck, even if you ask any chilean about the topic the very most of them (with the exceptions of internet trolls like Mr.Pilot, who even fake his nationality in order to troll) wouldn't say such a joke like that.
But not content with that you went even further comparing Chilean poverty with California's. Massive lol.
Yeah sure, because in California you can see cities like Antofagasta or neighborhoods like some in the south of Santiago, right sir.
Quote:
Originally Posted by radiolibre99
Argentina seems as though it clearly was on top before Chile exploded on the scene. I don't have a bias against Argentina except this insistence by them to never give an inch to Chile. It looks as though one could easily see that Argentina was once a powerful country going through some hard times but when I say miles ahead I mean that those things you brought up as far being cleaner, less corrupt, less crime ridden, more organized is exactly what makes chile miles ahead. That goes a long way. Just on corruption alone it makes a night and day difference. Chile doesn't have the large crime ridden Bolivian drug cartel controlled slums in BA that Chile does. I saw third world level poverty in Argentina while I was there and the level of modernity between the two countries was apparent.
You think they're not miles ahead because Chile had to catch up to you and surpassed you. But you're still in a relatively more modern country that's ahead in LATAM but clearly took a nosedive somewhere and is now suffering some poverty and major corruption issues.
The reason being is that the shadow of the dictatorship still rules Chile. As bad as that sounds, the strict less tolerance of corruption, business needs come first mentality and rigid organizational style of government still affects chile's political system. In that regard Argentina is more democratic, chaotic and socialist.
The bolded is very suspicous for coming out of a TRUE american. Is more like a statement you would expect from a CHILEAN BORN (or maybe other, because there are a lot of argentina-haters mexicans in the web too) immigrant living in the US, instead
One of the most ridiculouss statements i have ever read in this forum. I know personally many chilean guys that would say it is complete bulls** if i read to them just what have posted here. Heck, even if you ask any chilean about the topic the very most of them (with the exceptions of internet trolls like Mr.Pilot, who even fake his nationality in order to troll) wouldn't say such a joke like that.
But not content with that you went even further comparing Chilean poverty with California's. Massive lol.
Yeah sure, because in California you can see cities like Antofagasta or neighborhoods like some in the south of Santiago, right sir.
The bolded is very suspicous for coming out of a TRUE american. Is more like a statement you would expect from a CHILEAN BORN (or maybe other, because there are a lot of argentina-haters mexicans in the web too) immigrant living in the US, instead
Oh look, another Argentinean person who is upset that someone doesn't think the highest of the country as far as the basket case economy you guys have there. I never said that it was as poor as California but I said specifically Los Angeles. Have you ever been here before? Los Angeles Is The Poorest Big City: LAist
It's where I live now and while it's not third world poor it has a lot of working class barrios with immigrants. So that wasn't necessarily a compliment to Chile, just that it's poverty is different. I was trying to say that it's not an extremely poor country but that it's poverty is something you'd see in Eastern Europe. Please learn to read.
And accusing me of being Chilean is absurd. I have ties to Chile and am biased toward it because it's where I lived for a year and grew to have many friends and I found it safer and more organized than when I crossed the border into Mendoza. I wasn't trying to say that Argentina is like Peru or Haiti by comparison to Chile. It looks modern and developed but that it's not nearly as organized, it's more corrupt, it has drug cartel problems, it has more crime, it's inflation rate is higher, it's economy is not as strong. The barrios of Buenos Aires are worse than Santiago. This isn't anything controversial and to me that has Chile blowing Argentina out of the water.
Even your logic doesn't make sense, so a Chilean person will never write why I say so that means I am Chilean born in the US? I doubt any Chilean will say that Argentina is better.
Look, I spent a lot of time in Chile and have a lot of Latino friends because I play soccer, but the thing I never understood about you Argentineans is the insistence to not admit certain things that might make Argentina look bad. And coming from a total outsider, the time I spent in Chile was great and if I am biased toward it it's because it treated me really well and I thank them for it. They have a really well run country and while it's not perfect it's still ahead of Argentina. Sorry if you don't agree but that's MY opinion, and you don't have to get paranoid and accuse everyone of being a Chilean spy.
This is what I find funny bout Argentineans, they say oh were are different from Chile, we look different, we speak different, we act different but when someone brings up the economy and how there is almost a night and day difference in the structure, then all of a sudden you guys are like no, no, no it's almost the same. we are the same in modernity and governance. LOL.
One of the most ridiculouss statements i have ever read in this forum. I know personally many chilean guys that would say it is complete bulls** if i read to them just what have posted here. Heck, even if you ask any chilean about the topic the very most of them (with the exceptions of internet trolls like Mr.Pilot, who even fake his nationality in order to troll) wouldn't say such a joke like that.
But not content with that you went even further comparing Chilean poverty with California's. Massive lol.
Yeah sure, because in California you can see cities like Antofagasta or neighborhoods like some in the south of Santiago, right sir.
The bolded is very suspicous for coming out of a TRUE american. Is more like a statement you would expect from a CHILEAN BORN (or maybe other, because there are a lot of argentina-haters mexicans in the web too) immigrant living in the US, instead
You've got a pretty deep conspiracy theory going on there. Lol
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