Poverty declining in Latin America

[Rahlgd]

Poverty is falling in Latin America, and so is inequality – a rare cause for celebration in a world otherwise plagued by financial woes – and yet another sign that the balance of global economic power is shifting to emerging economies.


The percentage of those living in poverty in 2010 dropped to 31.4 per cent from 48.4 per cent in 1990, according to a report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. This is the lowest rate since experts began collecting data in the 1970s.


The region deserves kudos for transforming itself in the past two decades, thanks to structural reforms and sound economic management, especially in Mexico and Brazil, which comprise two-thirds of Latin America’s economy.


Public-sector fiscal prudence, lower inflation and debt reduction have helped fuel economic growth and rosier long-term investment picture. This, combined with transfers of wealth to the poor, resulted in rising standards of living for millions. “The macroeconomic success of Brazil, and other countries, has been complemented by the micro-policies, such as increased social spending and poverty reduction,” noted Jonathan Hausman, vice-chair of the Canadian Council for the Americas.

Latin America’s GDP expanded by 5.9 per cent last year, and is forecast to be about 4.5 per cent this year. Of course the region still faces many challenges: high crime rates in Venezuela; Mexico’s drug war; and Brazil’s infrastructure hurdles as it prepares for the 2014 World Cup. Inequality is still the highest in the world, even though it too has fallen in the last two decades, while rising in the U.S. and Canada.


Still, the report is well-timed, on the heels of a visit from the International Monetary Fund’s managing director to Brazil, Mexico and Peru, cap in hand, to ask the countries to consider providing aid to the ailing euro zone economies. Such a role reversal would have been unimaginable five years ago. Latin America’s long-term advances may be difficult to sustain, but they will also be difficult to completely reverse.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/poverty-declining-in-latin-america/article2282552/

[timetraveller]

Absolute utter crap ..!!

Christ the people that wrote did so from the comforts of there own home a miles from the true realities .

[hulaku]

Absolute utter crap ..!!

Christ the people that wrote did so from the comforts of there own home a miles from the true realities .

And where exactly are you writing from ? Your favela ????

[Rahlgd]

Absolute utter crap ..!!

Christ the people that wrote did so from the comforts of there own home a miles from the true realities .

Christ did that person that wrote this do so from the uniformed comforts of a European suburb thousands of kilometers away from Latin America? Get your ignorant head out of your ass. Have you ever lived as a poor Latin America?

[archibald harry tuttle]

How can you question it? Chavez did a away with poverty, iliteracy, narural disaster and inequality a the end of the founding meeting of the CELAC. I saw him that day on live TV signing away all of latin america's problems in a piece of paper and congratulating all the insane presidents that joined him for the occasion. It was so written therefore it must be true.

[Rahlgd]

Baselessly beat at it as much as you want. Statistics from multiple sources, not just ones subservient to the nations in question all report the same thing. You can't argue with raw numbers.

[hulaku]

How can you question it? Chavez did a away with poverty, iliteracy, narural disaster and inequality a the end of the founding meeting of the CELAC. I saw him that day on live TV signing away all of latin america's problems in a piece of paper and congratulating all the insane presidents that joined him for the occasion. It was so written therefore it must be true.

Yes a poor nation can never do good for its own poor people right.

The OP has posted an article which shows the positive steps that have been taken by Latin American nations in their fight against poverty. And it got posted in the Globe and Mail which happens to be a Canadian newspaper.

And in case you did not know Chavez rules just one nation in Latin America.

Just because you live in the land of milk and honey does not give you the right to be cynical about the progress that poorer nations are achieving towards eradicating poverty.

[Fisker]

You can't argue with raw numbers.

If everybody at mp.net felt they couldn't argue against raw numbers, this place wouldn't be half as entertaining... :)

[Universals]

Obviously the SA economy is on the upward trend.

[timetraveller]

Christ did that person that wrote this do so from the uniformed comforts of a European suburb thousands of kilometers away from Latin America? Get your ignorant head out of your ass. Have you ever lived as a poor Latin America?


A classless society in any Country will never be achieved whereby all is equal and looked after no matter there income ,, i

[Rahlgd]

A classless society in any Country will never be achieved whereby all is equal and looked after no matter there income ,, i

WTF kind of response is that? That dosen't even make sense.

[sepheronx]

From what I gathered, as much as Brazil faces lots of issues in regards to poverty, high crime, and corruption; not many countries can make claim they did away with any of those (with some even having this issue increaseing). But, in the end, Brazil is a nation where if you want decent price and quality production, well, it is there. And on top of that, they have the population to help make that happen. Argentina is doing quite well too! Pretty much, the Latin American countries, if they can pull together or at least stop the bickering (Venezuela and Colombia), then they can easily top the list of being the biggest economies.

[Tropical_ulcer]

How can you question it? Chavez did a away with poverty, iliteracy, narural disaster and inequality a the end of the founding meeting of the CELAC. I saw him that day on live TV signing away all of latin america's problems in a piece of paper and congratulating all the insane presidents that joined him for the occasion. It was so written therefore it must be true.

you see that they mention mexico and brazil,they dont have chavez,thats why they have increased

[timetraveller]

WTF kind of response is that? That dosen't even make sense.


You never heard of that saying before that's why . !!!!!


There will always be people living in squalid conditions who are out of work .. poor , going hungry .. even at the worse case resorting to eating there fellow human , already happening in North Korea ... and whilst rich people get richer and those who are rich play the media into assuming they are helping the less fortunate .. if that being the case Bono of U2 would have donated their entire proceeds from there last tour to help the less fortunate .. That would NEVER HAPPEN !!!


the article you posted quoting figures does not prove anything .. it's genuine results that should be provided along with visual evidence ,

[Rahlgd]

You never heard of that saying before that's why . !!!!!


There will always be people living in squalid conditions who are out of work .. poor , going hungry .. even at the worse case resorting to eating there fellow human , already happening in North Korea ... and whilst rich people get richer and those who are rich play the media into assuming they are helping the less fortunate .. if that being the case Bono of U2 would have donated their entire proceeds from there last tour to help the less fortunate .. That would NEVER HAPPEN !!!


the article you posted quoting figures does not prove anything .. it's genuine results that should be provided along with visual evidence ,


What the **** are you going on about? Comparing North Korea to Latin America? Last time I checked their weren't people running around killing and eating people all over Latin America due to starvation, and obesity is actually becoming a major problem. WTF do you mean their are no genuine results? In Brazil alone 40 million people have entered the middle class since 2002.

Have you ever lived in anywhere in or for that matter even been to Latin America? I go back and forth between Mexico, Chile and Brazil annually and even within that short time things have always improved every time I go back, less poverty, decreasing polarization, improved infrastructure, higher wages, etc.

[Ordie]

Latin America in general is on the up and up.

Several factors

1) Apart from internal strife in Mexico and Colombia, Latin America is at peace.
2) With exception of Cuba, Latin American nations are Democracies where the legitimacy of the government is not in question.
3) They've been through the debt crisis a decade ago. They went into shock treatment, recovered, and re-balanced themselves with liberal economic policies and social welfare programs.
4) Communications and transportation between Latin American markets are seamless.

The big issue is one of education, cultivating an entrepenurial culture, the rule of law and transparency.
Brazil and Chile, though entrepenurial, do not have accessibile means of cultivating higher education.
Argentina has a good educational system, but lacks the entrepenurial culture.
Mexico has issues with the the rule of law, and monopolies that squander potential start ups.
They all have issues with transparency.

On the bright spot, they have the resources, infrastructure, political stability and direct access to the world markets to make it work. From Latin America you can produce and export finished goods directly to Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia. They are in the same times zones as the United States. And English is considered a second language for many of these nations and gives them a competitive advantage over Asia.

[archibald harry tuttle]

Yes a poor nation can never do good for its own poor people right.

The OP has posted an article which shows the positive steps that have been taken by Latin American nations in their fight against poverty. And it got posted in the Globe and Mail which happens to be a Canadian newspaper.

And in case you did not know Chavez rules just one nation in Latin America.

And in case you did not know i said Chavez was presiding the founding meeting / ceremony of the CELAC. If you are going to lecture someone make sure you know what you are talking about in the first place.

[archibald harry tuttle]

you see that they mention mexico and brazil,they dont have chavez,thats why they have increased

Sure it depends how you measure poverty. And i guess data from them is always trustworthy: Corruption Perceptions Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index)

[Wahnsinn]

I find Brazil to be pretty expensive, I get stuff sent over to me if I end up there. The cities feel like any European city but I always find it strange to see people living in mud huts whilst some of their compatriots live in high rise tower blocks.

[Ordie]

I find Brazil to be pretty expensive, I get stuff sent over to me if I end up there. The cities feel like any European city but I always find it strange to see people living in mud huts whilst some of their compatriots live in high rise tower blocks.

The urban development of the country has always been disjointed with no central planning.

There are some exceptions as in the case with Curitiba. Which is considered a model of sustainability and its high quality of life.

Sao Paulo is akin of New York being dumped on Los Angeles.

The Favelas, even though started as slums, have evolved into real organic communities.

[Rahlgd]

The urban development of the country has always been disjointed with no central planning.

There are some exceptions as in the case with Curitiba. Which is considered a model of sustainability and its high quality of life.

Sao Paulo is akin of New York being dumped on Los Angeles.

The Favelas, even though started as slums, have evolved into real organic communities.

The Brazilian government is starting to destroy the favelas en masse and replacing them with state funded apartment towers with police substations in every tower and letting former favela dwellers move in for government subsidized low prices. Mexico is just starting to do something similar although in their case the Mexican government is paying private companies such as Urbi, Homex and Cemex for the building and transformation of informal housing and slums into inexpensive planned communities and providing access to cheap government financing although they have a long way to catch up to Brazil. Peru is following a combination of the two.

[Rahlgd]

Sure it depends how you measure poverty. And i guess data from them is always trustworthy: Corruption Perceptions Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index)

Yes, corruption is very prevalent in Latin America but what dose this have to do with that? Data being used in this is from the WTO, World Bank and IMF.

[Ordie]

The Brazilian government is starting to destroy the favelas en masse and replacing them with state funded apartment towers with police substations in every tower and letting former favela dwellers move in for government subsidized low prices. Mexico is just starting to do something similar although in their case the Mexican government is paying private companies such as Urbi, Homex and Cemex for the building and transformation of informal housing and slums into inexpensive planned communities and providing access to cheap government financing although they have a long way to catch up to Brazil. Peru is following a combination of the two.

I think its a big mistake. The least the government can do is to extend the grid into these areas.

[Rahlgd]

I think its a big mistake. The least the government can do is to extend the grid into these areas.

Are you specifically reffering to what Brazil or Mexico or Peru are doing or all of them? I can't say much about Brazil as I don't know alot about how the favelas are integrated into the local social fabric but as far as Mexico goes I think it is a good thing. Making organized networked low income suburbs that have a standard set on par with that of developed nations while still being inexpensive seems like a godsend for many of the fringe slum suburbs on the edges of Mexican cities. Couple that with the increased competence of local police (at least in Mexico City) and I think theirs a very good chance to solve many of the problems that plaugue Mexican cities. Note that in Mexico many new planned communities include brand new modern schools with full tech infrastructure.

[Ordie]

Are you specifically reffering to what Brazil or Mexico or Peru are doing or all of them? I can't say much about Brazil as I don't know alot about how the favelas are integrated into the local social fabric but as far as Mexico goes I think it is a good thing. Making organized networked low income suburbs that have a standard set on par with that of developed nations while still being inexpensive seems like a godsend for many of the fringe slum suburbs on the edges of Mexican cities. Couple that with the increased competence of local police (at least in Mexico City) and I think theirs a very good chance to solve many of the problems that plaugue Mexican cities. Note that in Mexico many new planned communities include brand new modern schools with full tech infrastructure.

All of them.

The government should just set up the grid at an empty lot. (Sanitation, water, schools and electricity). Let the people build homes.
If they invested in building a home, they will take better care than being a tenants at an apartment block.

[sterrius]

The government should just set up the grid at an empty lot. (Sanitation, water, schools and electricity). Let the people build homes.

They already tryed that and failed ordie. Most of the time those areas are ignored by the private sector (And later public sector too) and those people suffer being away from public transport, services and too far away from their original jobs.


In the end most are forced to leave the new home for the old one.

Thats why they changed tactics, and the one is currently working better. (Never going to say its perfect or dont have flaws, but its showing some progress).

[Ordie]

They already tryed that and failed ordie. Most of the time those areas are ignored by the private sector (And later public sector too) and those people suffer being away from public transport, services and too far away from their original jobs.


In the end most are forced to leave the new home for the old one.

Thats why they changed tactics, and the one is currently working better. (Never going to say its perfect or dont have flaws, but its showing some progress).

I've seen 'colonias' in Mexico evolve from shantys into actual neighborhoods over time. They may start out with scraps of metals and over time replace them with cinderblocks, drywalls and tar roofs. I've visited 'villa miserias' in Buenos Aires where Wi Fi connectivity was the norm.

What is unusual in Latin America is that the shanty towns are located in the hills with million dollar views, and the opposite is true in the United States.

[Rahlgd]

All of them.

The government should just set up the grid at an empty lot. (Sanitation, water, schools and electricity). Let the people build homes.
If they invested in building a home, they will take better care than being a tenants at an apartment block.

These public projects are meant for those too poor to afford to build their own home up to what the governments consider to be modern minimum standards. Keep in mind that they are only building these for those who are the poorest and have very limited means of upward mobility or those who would not be able to afford these homes without significant financing.


I've seen 'colonias' in Mexico evolve from shantys into actual neighborhoods over time. They may start out with scraps of metals and over time replace them with cinderblocks, drywalls and tar roofs. I've visited 'villa miserias' in Buenos Aires where Wi Fi connectivity was the norm.

What is unusual in Latin America is that the shanty towns are located in the hills with million dollar views, and the opposite is true in the United States.

I personally think both can work but the non planned alternative has lot of problems. A good number of Peripheral shanty towns on the edges of cities at least in Mexico have been able to slowly turn into true modern neighborhoods with utilities, prevalence of technology, and at least moderate connection to modern infrastructure. However safety and security and still remain big issues in these unplanned urban sprawls and many of the buildings aren't up to modern standards. Itzapalapa outside of Mexico City is an excellent example of both the advantages and flaws of this system.

[gaijinsamurai]

I'm not very optimistic about Guatemala.

[Ordie]

I'm not very optimistic about Guatemala.

I share your thoughts.
Beautiful country with lots of eco tourism potential. (Like Costa Rica)
Unfortunately they have historical governance and civil society problems.

[Ordie]

I personally think both can work but the non planned alternative has lot of problems. A good number of Peripheral shanty towns on the edges of cities at least in Mexico have been able to slowly turn into true modern neighborhoods with utilities, prevalence of technology, and at least moderate connection to modern infrastructure. However safety and security and still remain big issues in these unplanned urban sprawls and many of the buildings aren't up to modern standards. Itzapalapa outside of Mexico City is an excellent example of both the advantages and flaws of this system.

The entire city of Managua was one big refugee shanty town since the 1974 earthquake. That earthquake literally flattened the historical city. The entire population moved to the otherside of the hill and set up cardboard homes. Over time, the dirt tracks became paved roads, and the refugee camps became real homes (some of them with swimming pools). People took the initiative to wire their own homes to the nearest utility pole. One of legacy of this period is the lack of street names and addresses. And also the archaic street grid.

Old Managua is still in ruins. Somoza and the Sandinistas didn't bother in rebuilding or restoring the historical areas. To visit colonial sites one must travel to Leon or Granada.