What
are the main challenges facing Latin America?
Introduction:
Refer to a piece of recent news about Latin America that raises the
main area(s) you want to focus on e.g. the democratic deficit and its
role in the failure of many Latin American countries to meet the
challenges involved in stimulating economic development and dealing
with corruption, poverty and social inclusiveness. For examplehttps://ambbuenosaires.esteri.it/ambasciata_buenosaires/it/ambasciata/news/dall_ambasciata/2019/03/inaugurazione-del-primo-seminario.html
Line
of argument: This essay will argue that it is the democratic
deficit that is the underlying problem.
Outline
the real political progress towards democracy in much of Latin
America after the end of the Cold War and the substantial economic
growth of the late 1990s and 2000s. This means the continent should
now be in a position to reduce poverty, consolidate living standards
and play a more significant role in international relations, both as
a market, Mercosur, attempting to achieve greater integration and
within other forums (e.g. Brazil within the BRICS).
Point
out that the economic outlook, however, has worsened in most, though
not all, Latin American countries since 2010, with falling growth
rates, higher inflation and continuing large disparities of wealth.
This economic slow-down (with average GDP growth for the area
estimated
at 0.7% in 2018 and only 0.9%
for 2019) has now become a serious challenge and
indicative of the need for wide-ranging, structural economic changes.
Argue
that, despite the above, the deeper challenge, as illustrated by the
current situations in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela is
political, a failure to make the transition from a theoretical
version of democracy as embodied in a constitution, to effective
democracy, a system capable of overcoming the main social and
political challenges: corruption, waste, accountability, bureaucracy,
a bad business environment, poverty, disparities of wealth, a weak
welfare system, crime, migration and discrimination. Use these ideas
to say something about the current difficulties of each of the
countries mentioned in order to underline that the situation is
dramatic and the future uncertain for each of them. You need to
include the role of ruling
élites
and the military in welcoming or resisting change.
Conclusion:
In 'Culture Matters 'Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica and
1987 Nobel Peace Prize winner, argued that Latin America has four
cultural traits to overcome: Resistance
to change, Absence of trust, Commitment to democracy and Militarism
(see the end of the previous notes on the blog for his view or the
link below). The next decade will tell us if Latin America will be
able to break through these barriers and escape from these
stereotypes.
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