At the turn of the 20th century, Argentinans enjoyed living standards fully 90% of contemporary Western Europeans[1]. Today, that is just 37%. In fact, 6 of the world's 30 richest countries were in Latin America in 1900. Today, Latin America's richest country ranks #55 in GDP per capita.
What is plaguing Latin America is NOT the legacy of colonialism, but the legacy of revolutionary left-wing leaders and the bad economic ideas of the left.
Naimi Klein's The Shock Doctrine attempts to explain the dismantling of the South American states by disaster capitalism, of extreme "austerity" and brutal military rule, neither of which sounds very "left-wing" if you ask me.
When you push something hard in one direction, naturally it will bounce back in the other. You go from extreme right-wing to extreme left-wing as a reaction. Neither policy is ultimately productive.
That's a good one... maybe you don't remember what the "left-wing leader" did in the '70s, or '90s, or what happened up until 2003.
Or maybe you are reading 6,7,8's account of history, very well written in Newspeak.
[1] http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php/thebearslairview?art_id...
What is plaguing Latin America is NOT the legacy of colonialism, but the legacy of revolutionary left-wing leaders and the bad economic ideas of the left.