Posted: December 31, 2002
Here is a hopeful note to end 2002, a year that saw most of Latin America sink back into the turbulence of decades past. Thanks to Glenn Reynolds' InstaPundit, I came across a UPI analysis by James C. Bennett who predicts that a "Hispanosphere" will coalesce over the next decade or two, following the example of United Europe. He envisions political-economic integration in Spanish America, which means not including Brazil. He writes:
Two trends have emerged in Latin America which, between them, may mark a permanent break with the past practices that have kept these regions in poverty. One is the relative opening of their economies to market forces, most fully in Chile, but also significantly in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and elsewhere.
This opening is breaking down the cozy symbiosis between the political class and the economic monopolies, which has historically dominated Latin American societies. Observers such as Hernando de Soto, Mario Vargas Llosa and Claudio Veliz have all written extensively, from their various perspectives, on this phenomenon.
The other is the explosive, and mostly unnoticed growth of religious diversity, particularly in the form of evangelical Protestantism and the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons).
Interesting. When I visited Peru a few years ago, I told students that promoting economic ties with neighboring countries was absolutely essential for keeping up with the rest of the world. I think most Latin American people are realizing they must set aside their petty parochial differences and move on. I'm not about to preach to them about religion, however.