Immigration in Latin America

Recently, I read the NYT article on Haitian Immigrations in Chile and I began to bombard myself with a number of different questions that I knew I had no answer.

Photo by Metin Ozer on Unsplash

For instance:

• Which Latin American country or countries has a good track record of welcoming them into society? I know that historically Argentina and Uruguay received a large influx of mostly European immigrants in the 20th century.
• Which countries have welcomed or have been forced to deal with an influx of immigration for neighboring countries are from the region? I know much has been made of the mass exodus from Venezuela in recent years, but are there other examples?

From my experience living and working in a number of different countries I can say that Latin American countries are not set up to handle large influxes of immigrants and those groups that do settle for an extended period tend to stay within their own communities – thinking of the Japanese and Chinese communities in Peru.

I hope Latin America can work to improve how immigrants are treated as the issue of immigration across the Western Hemisphere is not going away anytime soon.

Is it time for Uruguay to Flex?

This recent article in Baron’s by Eric Farnsworth and Carlos Mazal – The U.S. Should Cozy up to Uruguay: Here’s Why – brings up how Uruguay (yes, Uruguay – the country many in the U.S. don’t even know it exists, just ask John Oliver, could become a strategic regional partner for the U.S.

As the article points out, many scoff at this idea just because Uruguay is often an afterthought geographically nestled between two of South America’s behemoths – Brazil and Argentina.

However, Uruguay has much going for it that should bring it to the top of the list of potential U.S. allies in the region. Also, helping Uruguay is many of its South American neighbors are dealing with their own issues from new a new constitution in Chile to what looks to be an incompetent government that cannot get out of its own way in Peru. And of course there is Venezuela.

As the authors suggest the U.S. should welcome the opportunity to engage in a region that it has long turned its back to unless it had an urgent need – fighting terrorism. It is doubtful that the U.S. can full undo the inroads that China has made in the region, but at the very least it should be willing to listen to countries like Uruguay that are willing to work something out.

It might be small but it can punch above its weight.

The Pan-American High…Railroad

There has been too much going on in Latin America at the moment with COVID, falling economies, and the usual political drama that I have decided to take a moment and go back in time and look at some historical developments in the region.

To do this I pulled out a good old fashioned book – “The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas” by Eric Rutkow.

Having lived and traveled throughout the better half of my adult life, I have always been drawn to the immense transportation challenges that the region presented and continues to present. One thing that I always found myself pondering was the lack of a railroad that linked, at the very least, a good portion of the Pacific coast from say Guayaquil to Santiago. I saw this as a wasted opportunity for the region.

I am only about 1/3 of the way through and I am enjoying the tale of the attempts of constructing a railroad from the U.S. to the Tierra del Fuego. I do find it sadly humorous that many of the issues that plagued the first attempt at a regional rail network continue to plague the region today.

All for now, back to the book and I will tackle more on Latam politics going forward.

Not Invited

It is looking like Uruguay is working hard to establish itself as a solid pro-democracy player in Latin America with the new president elect’s decision not to invite certain other Latin American leaders to the inauguration ceremony.

Before I would have taken a harder line on this and said that one should invite the neighbors over to your party just to maintain, at the very least, a decent relationship. However, the countries that LaCalle Pou has signaled out as unworthy for his party deserve it as they have been sullying the block for some time. It will be interesting to see how this plays out given Uruguay’s relative stability for the last 20 years. With the the turbulence that has taken place across the region Uruguay has been a relatively calming presence even though most people in the U.S. could not place it on a map.

Another lost Decade in Latin America?

Depending on how you do your math, another decade came to a close or is very close to coming to a close. That always brings about a flurry of analysis of the decade that has passed and regional analysis forms a part of that standard fare of decade roundups.

Many of the articles related to Latin America were focused on another “lost decade”, how ever one wants to interpret that – economic, cultural, political, strategic. The definition of “lost” is so broad that it starts to lose its significance. Also, to be lost means that at some point it must have been found. One could argue that Latin America has never really be found and has been moving from different levels of “lostness” to other levels of “lostness”.

Until then I will wait until I find some articles talking about all those “found” decades in Latin America, whatever that means.

Elections in Peru

We are less than a week away from congressional elections in Peru and as what should come as a surprise to no one who follow Peru is this headline from El Comercio.

10 Candidates are being investigated for corruption.

Perhaps you might not believe that is too bad considering there are 100 or so spots in Peru’s congress. However, once you did a bit into the story you will find that they are only talking about those that are running in Lima.

The point of this special congressional election as called by President Vizcarra was that the populace was so dissatisfied with Congress that they wanted to throw all those corrupt bums out on the street and start over. Well, if things hold it looks like Peru will be starting over right where they left with a divided and corrupt congress.

The more things change the more they will remain the same. Peruvian congressional approval ratings will most likely be polling in single digits within weeks of being sworn in.

 

 

Lots Going On in Latam

I, as well as many who follow the region, have spent the last month or so just trying to keep up on all the news and events unfolding from the Rio Grande to the Tierra del Fuego. From elections to social unrest, crazy levels of violence, to corruption fallout there has been too much to try to even follow. It almost feel Trump like with the news churn from day to day and hour to hour.

With everything going on I am doing what I can to try to make sense of it all. I do not want to get into the ideological mindset of trying to fit everything into one grand theory box. Instead, what I see are many similarities of what is going on in Latam to how thing are currently in the U.S.

Government corruption at levels not before imagined …..Yep

A president running roughshod over established political and social norms…..You bet

A polarized public…..Sure thing

Un Popular Government from the Executive through the Legislative…..Definitely

Middle class feeling squeezed…..All signs point to Yes

What is missing is any type of large scale mobilization that really confronts the issues that the country is facing. Maybe, the U.S. is waiting until the next election in 2020, but I even have my doubts about that shaking this country loose.

 

 

Tourism Turns Troublesome

People like to see things and experience newness. Traveling to a different country and seeing something that for many was once only accessible via tv and before that books. As this article points out, tourism is booming and that is becoming a problem. Some of the world’s most popular sites are completely overrun with camera toting and cell phone selfie grabbing throngs of all ages. Mount Everest can now have longer lines that Best Buy on Black Friday.

Having worked in tourism for a number of years in Peru and still follow the industry closely, I can speak to this first hand. When I was first in Peru in the early 2000s, the remnants of Peru’s Shining Path rebellion was finally starting to fade and visitors to Cusco and Machu Picchu were starting to dramatically increase. What started then has not shown signs of slowing.

Visitors to Machu Picchu went from just over 500k to over 1.5 million in just over a decade. This has taken place even as the cost and complexity (tickets, reservations, permits, etc.) to visit one of the world’s most famous destinations has increased.

As the article points out, congestion pricing is a way to go to help alleviate the stress the world tourism boom is placing on these world wonders. However, as is the case with Machu Picchu, the market is doing what it can to tame some of the demand. Increasing costs and regulating the number of visitors is one way to handle this surge but one need to be wary as many will say that these world wonders are for all to enjoy and should not become only accessible by the well to do.

Travel Warnings

And so it has started.

Countries issue travel warnings for the U.S. 

Throughout my travels in Latin America and even during my time living there I always had friends and family siting the U.S. State Departments warnings about travel in Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, etc.

I always found this to be a one-way street as if they believed that everything in the U.S. was perfect and safe at all times. I know that most of this comes from knowing your surroundings and being comfortable, but the U.S. is no different from other countries and sadly, based on the recent events, the U.S. presents even more risks.

This is a big change for many, to see other countries send out warnings about travel in the U.S., but the U.S. has been issuing these warnings for a long time. If you are a parent and your child said they wanted to study in the U.S., how would your react?

 

Another Peru Political Crisis

In his speech to the nation for Peruvian independence day, President Martín Vizcarra pulled a somewhat of a surprise move and put forth a a plan to move elections up by a year in hopes of ending the political deadlock between the executive and legislative branches in Perú.

Perú has been hampered by political deadlock, crisis, stalemate, – your favorite word – for the last 2, 3, 10, 50, 100, 200, years. Feel free to select your favorite time frame while you are at it. Will this fix the problem. Maybe, maybe not but at least it looks like someone is trying and hey if not there is always surfing.