Bolivia and Paraguay are both landlocked neighbors in South America. Neither have had the luxury of strong economies. Between 1932 and 1935, the two countries fought the bloodiest conflict on the continent in the 20th century. At dispute, was a region known as “Gran Chaco” which was incorrectly believed to contain substantial oil deposits. Control…
Venezuelan governor Henrique Capriles is the opposition candidate against Hugo Chavez in the country’s presidential elections scheduled to take place on October 7, 2012. Supporters of Hugo Chavez had recently set up roadblocks during a visit by Mr. Capriles to a coastal city. It appears that stones were thrown in addition to arson and numerous…
Next month, Venezuela will hold elections, and despite the dramatic failures of anti-Western leftist president Hugo Chavez, the opposition candidate is campaigning as a more extreme version of Chavez. Venezuelan governor Henrique Capriles will represent an alternative to Chavez. Citing increased violence, poor infrastructure, and a flailing economy, Capriles is making a populist proposition to…
Argentina and Venezuela are in the unenviable position of rounding out the bottom of this year’s Index of Economic Freedom, produced by The Heritage Foundation. Out of 179 nations ranked on a variety of criteria defining economic freedoms, Argentina and Venezuela find themselves in a category labeled “repressed.” Argentina sits at 158 on the list,…
Chile now ranks higher than the United States, and all of Central and South America according to the annual Index of Economic Freedom, produced by The Heritage Foundation, which has tracked economic freedom around the world for over a decade. According to the data compiled for this year’s rankings, Chile moved to number 7 on the…
Most who view South America from the outside undoubtedly think of the Spanish language first when picturing the continent, with the obvious exception of Brazil. While Spanish is obviously the most common official language, the fact is that more individuals in South America speak Portuguese than Spanish. Portuguese speakers currently outnumber Spanish speakers 196 million…
Mercosur is a full customs union encompassing Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay y Uruguay. On Tuesday, the 31st of July, Venezuela joined that group making it one of the largest economies in the world at an estimated $3.3 trillion dollars. Recently, a similar economic agreement made up of largely western countries (Mexico, Chile, Peru and Colombia) named…
Transparency International (TI) has published their Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) since 1995, which ranks countries “by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.” The higher the number, the better. 2011’s results included 183 countries and territories around the world, including South America. Out of all the countries surveyed throughout…
Since completion in 1914, the Panama canal has been vital for maritime trade between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by cutting through the Isthmus of Panama to eliminate the lengthy and dangerous Cap Horn route looping around the southern tip of South America. As far back as 1825, the newly established Federal Republic of Central…
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