Changes in Latin America: Consequences for Human Development

Abstract

This article looks at Latin America's political shift over the last several years. The author argues that these changes have largely been misunderstood and underestimated in the United States for a number of reasons. First, Latin America's unprecedented growth failure over the past 25 years is a major cause of these political changes and has not been well-understood. Second, the collapse of the International Monetary Fund's influence in Latin America, and in middle-income countries, is an epoch-making change. Third, the availability of alternative sources of finance, especially from the reserves of the Venezuelan government, has become very important. Finally, the increasing assertion of national control over natural resources is an important part of the new relationship between Latin America and the United States. For these and other reasons, the relationship between Latin America and the United States has undergone a fundamental and possibly irreversible change, and one that opens the way to new and mostly more successful economic policies.