Felipe Doña de SasÃa
MBA 2015 candidate at London Business School
Co-Chair Latin America Business Forum 2015
Latin America is a region of contrasts. The mix of an ancient cultural heritage, colonial influence, the distance from Europe and the sheer size of the continent has shaped Latin America’s unique culture, society and forms of government.
Today is no different. Latin America is torn between two different forms of government. Countries as Argentina, Venezuela, and (in a lesser way) Brazil impose excessive state controls and autocratic policies. On the other side, countries as Chile, Perú and Colombia are keen to embrace free markets, globalization and democracy and liberalism. David Luhnow could not describe it better in his article “The Two Latin Americas†on the Wall Street Journal.
Argentina, however, is a particularly perplexing case. A country that sixty years ago was a developed economy, with immense natural resources, an educational system that was the envy of Latin America, and a cultural heritage comparable to that in Europe, now lies in misery. A broken economic system, social unrest and unchecked corruption are nowadays commonplace in Argentinian society.
Unfortunately the populist fever is spreading. In Chile government proposed four different reforms, including fiscal, education, pensions and labor, characterized by little analysis, little consensus among the governing parties, plagued with loopholes and, to the opinion of many, solving very little in the end. Moreover, the arrogance of the ruling political coalition, who has majority in congress and whose extreme wings claim that they shouldn’t look for consensus among parties, exacerbate social tension and weaken democracy.
Pemex, Mexico’s state oil company, expects to cut capital spending this year and says it will be “very difficult†for already falling production not to be affected further as it is forced to cut $4bn from its budget due to the oil price shock.
Just over a month to go, and Mexican car exports to Argentina and Brazil (which Mexico has overtaken as No. 1 Latin American car maker) should be back on track after a three year system of quotas. That’s the plan, at least.
Former president Bill Clinton apologizes to Mexico for the war on drugs which he blames for fueling violence in the country
February 14, 2015
Clinton spoke at the Laureate Summit on Youth and Productivity in Mexico where he told the audience that the war had backfired and led to violence which is crippling the country.
Mexico is being squeezed in a difficult global economic environment. In mid-2014 Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim said “Last year (growth) was low, I think that this year it will be relatively low too, but I think next year will be much better.â€
Mexico's Grupo Bal, the owner of the world's largest silver producer, has launched an oil company to take advantage of a landmark opening of Mexico's energy sector to private investment, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.
Mexico, Walmart acts to improve farmworkers' lives
February 14, 2015
The Mexican government has formed an alliance of produce industry groups that will work on enforcing wage laws and improving housing, schools and health care for laborers at export farms following a newspaper's investigation of abuses at agribusinesses supplying major U.S. supermarket chains and restaurants.
