![]() This can be seen in patent applications, for instance. There has also been a glaring lack of strategic vision, by both governments and companies, and a short-sighted policy of just doing what was easiest. Thus, not everything can be blamed on China’s slowdown, a strong dollar and the gradual ending of Quantitative Easing (QE) by the US Federal Reserve. Manufacturing competitiveness dropped in most Latin American countries in the decade from 2007 to 2012, contrary to the growth registered between 20. Manufactured products have recorded annual growth rates ranging from 10% in Mexico to 36% in Chile in 2002-07, but from -8% in Colombia to 6% in Mexico in 2007-12 according to a BBVA analysis. Even the recent upswing in raw materials has been unable to generate a significant increase in exports to GDP. ![]() Some studies indicate that the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in most of the region’s countries has declined from 2007 to 2012, after an upward trend in the previous five years. Mexico has also benefitted from the US bonanza through the NAFTA agreement, although growth is now contracting somewhat. Chile, in turn, has succeeded in attracting investment and fostering innovation with well thought-out schemes. This is in stark contrast to other ideologically similar regimes in the region, such as Evo Morales’ Bolivia, who have done somewhat better. It is not enough to distribute wealth amongst the poor if they are not provided with a future, something Chavism has signally failed to do. One of the worst is Venezuela, whose regime, first with Chávez and now with Maduro, has been unable or unwilling to invest in the future and even undermined the present by failing to adequately maintain its vital oil industry, not to mention other basic products that are becoming increasingly scarce. There are certainly differences between countries, roughly between those in the Pacific Alliance and those in Mercosur. Should an economic slowdown become entrenched in Latin America, the rise of the middle classes could see a reversal. There has been an excessive dependence on the export of raw materials, with a strong bias towards China, which is the now the leading trading partner of many countries in the region but whose economy is now slowing down. Now that the cycle is reversing and that the IMF’s forecasts for the region are becoming gloomier, it is increasingly evident that the good years have not been exploited sufficiently to implement reforms and invest for the future, by creating new industries, for instance. And this is not to mention, with certain notable exceptions, the reinforcement of democracy, despite persistently high levels of corruption (the Petrobras case in Brazil is a good example, although the Chávez regime in Venezuela, which set off vowing to put an end to it, has ultimately become structurally corrupt itself). During the period, Latin America multinationals, the multilatinas, have also emerged and begun to invest in the outside world, and especially in Spain, in a reverse move from what was the norm in the 90s. Their societies and economies have benefitted from bankarisation (Chile is ahead), although they are still far from the rates normal in developed countries. Over the past few years there has been a reduction in the region’s endemic inequality and, according to the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), 56 million Latin Americans have escaped poverty in the 10 years from 2002 to 2012. Their demand is to be able to continue rising, not to fall back down again. ![]() ![]() The middling sort are the dynamic part of these societies that are now most vocally opposed to corruption in Brazil and elsewhere. Some studies calculate that being middle class involves having a daily income per person of at least US$4.35-15.23 (around €14.17) in 2010 purchasing power parities, a level inapplicable in either Europe or the US. The World Bank estimates that 34.4% of the region’s population is already middle class. In this respect, the region has made good use of its time. Latin America –many of its countries, states and companies– have taken advantage of the economic growth of recent years to boost the creation of a middle class which, in turn, should be the basis for future development.
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