The allure of the 'Forgotten Continent'

Michael Reid, a contributor to The Economist,  once stated that Latin America is overlooked by the rest of the world as it is neither 'poor enough to evoke Africa’s moral crusade, nor as explosively booming as India and China.' Personally, I find the history and politics of Latin America to be fascinating and believe that the future of this vast continent, with it's colossal inequalities, it's huge oil reserves, it's vast drug production and it's shaky democratic foundations will greatly affect the existing world order. 

Both local and global political issues have always fascinated me and if there is a development which takes my interest from another part of the world I will give my views on it here. However, I will primarily focus on Latin American developments.

I first became seriously interested in Latin American history when I visited Peru and Bolivia with my family in 2007. Whilst on the shores of Lake Titicaca I met a very interesting man, I've long since forgotten his name but his words stuck with me and have made a deep impression. The man, let's call him Gerardo, told me of how he had left Bolivia (for Europe) in the 1980s in order to escape the economic turmoil which characterised the era and the persecution by military Juntas which he feared could return if things got too out of hand. The Juntas, which have scarred much of Bolivia's history, did not return and in the early 2000s he returned to a Bolivia which had been ruled democratically for almost two decades and which was now economically stronger. Bolivia had reformed and used it's vast wealth of natural resources such as Hydrocarbons in order to facilitate this growth after a long slump however it was clear that Gerardo believed that Bolivia's future could be even greater. He spoke of his hope for Bolivia's future with so much passion it was difficult not to agree with him that Bolivia's, and indeed Latin America's, future COULD be very bright given the right circumstances. The early 21st century has seen economic growth throughout most of Latin America and this has coincided with a period of greater co-operation between the countries of Latin America, many of which have been at odds with each other since their independence in the early 19th century. With this greater cooperation there have been talks of Bolivia being granted access to the sea, a privilege which it lost in the disastrous War of the Pacific with Chile back in 1883. The excitement which I felt in Gerardo's voice as he told me this was comparable to a child's on Christmas eve and so I realised that at that moment this man was the physical embodiment of the hope and expectation of an entire nation and an entire continent which  could have a glorious future.

Bolivia is yet to be granted that access to the sea and its economy lags behind the rest of Latin America's, it is also ruled by a nationalist, Socialist President who is distrusted by many of the liberal democracies of the West, as are Venezuela and Ecuador; Peruvians have also recently elected a President who has Socialist and Nationalist leanings. However, these countries have been relatively unaffected by the global recession. The more export orientated nations of Latin America such as Brazil and Chile have also fared very well in this current economic climate and are now flexing their economic muscles around the world. Only time will tell whether or not countries like Brazil and Chile will become as economically powerful as the West, whether the Socialist experiments of the other nations will work or whether Latin American co-operation will last, however, one thing is certain, the future looks fascinating.