Towards an uncertain future speaks for itself. Latin America has had a long history of uncertainty where the consequences of events are unpredictable and most likely to result in the repetition and normalization of certain institutions. It has been a long history of violence, conflict, disillusion and a cyclical story of certain aspects and conditions.
I was expecting Dawson to discuss more on corruption and how this has been a recurring phenomenon across the area and the impacts it is having. Also, it would have been interesting to know more about Chavez, especially because of the current situation Venezuela is having as a result of these left turns through the region.
To me, the most important and complex aspects of Larin America is that in general, the region seems to follow a trend. What is happening in one part of the region is most likely to happen in another. It is one of those things that perplexes me because this helps explain the region as a whole, although there are some outliers, there are certai patterns of progress that help outline the region in broad terms. Not to say this is good or bad, it is simply very interesting to see how a region could on its own lift itself up, but still hasn’t.
My question this week is more broad: how do you think the future of Latin America will be? Will it break away from this cyclical pattern of history?
Thanks for your post. I am hopeful that shifting globalization will empower Southern nations and regions like Latin America. I was really surprised and happy to learn how in the last 15 years or so many Latin American nations have reduced the inequality (in contrast to Canada and the US where inequality has skyrocketed) and I hope that trends like this continue. A couple of the videos did mention how climate change will bring about unique challenges to poorer regions and regions that rely on agricultural industry. I hope that government and technology can help to deal with these looming problems that will disproportionately affect many areas in Latin America.
In response to your question, I think it would require quite a lot of change in order for Latin America to break from this cyclical pattern. Given that many of these nations share the same foundational institutions/policies/ideologies, I think to break from the pattern would mean a break from what has been the norm for these societies. However, this does not mean I lack faith in Latin America’s ability to be reborn from the ashes; I think the Latin American people have the necessary perseverance to find a way (with support, of course) to break this corrupt and unequal cycle. Overall, awesome post!