The New Latin American Landscape

For decades, Latin America has been accumulating a social liability of considerable proportions. Precariousness in education and health, food insecurity in a large stratum below the poverty line, violence, unemployment, and unlawfulness sharpen the incorrigible skepticism of opinion makers. Nevertheless, Latin America is an immense territory of possibilities to be exploited with independence, pragmatism, and proper vision of the future. The most promising news is that the region as a whole, despite insufficient progress in the smallest and poorest countries, is very close to meeting the targets in the fight against hunger. The greatest regional challenge is to harmonize economic expansion and the social profit that it represents. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.