Why the interest in Latin America..

I was interested originally in doing a land trip across the planet by land. I would have begun in New York and flown to Dublin to begin a land trek that would take me all the way to Tokyo via Shanghai without ever setting foot on an airplane. I was interested in the cultures, the people, the hardships especially the region of Central Asia (have you seen Borat yet?) and the Indian subcontinent. There was a problem. It seemed at that point in time that the U.S./Iran standoff would only increase with time and Lebanon had just been attacked by Israeli forces. Obviously we all know of Iraq and the situation there so I would have had to completely alter my direction. I ended up putting it off..

Now, I have a new opportunity to do something good for society once again and since the problems in the Middle East are not only socio-economic, I have to wait to be able to fulfill that dream.

My next option was an obvious choice; Central & South America. This land notorious for guerrilla attacks, kidnappings, people running, swimming, dying to get to the United States, high unemployment and low education rates has received a completely unjustified bad reputation. Mankind has always chosen to judge a mass of people for the mistakes of a few. Yes, Bolivia is pressing to freely export coca leaves and Colombia has a huge problem with it's ongoing 40 year 'civil war' between the government and drug guerrillas. However, South America is also a land with welcoming people, full of culture and rich in history. South America contains the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls, the largest river (by volume), the Amazon River, the longest mountain range, the Andes, the driest desert, Atacama, the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest, the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia, the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca, and the world's southernmost town, Puerto Toro, Chile.
The continent, like many others, became a battlefield of the Cold War in the late 20th century. The governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay were overthrown or displaced by U.S.-aligned military dictatorships in the 1960s and 1970s. Their governments detained tens of thousands of political prisoners, many of whom were tortured and/or killed (on inter-state collaboration, 'Operation Condor'). Economically, they began a transition to neoliberal economic policies. They placed their own actions within the U.S. Cold War doctrine of "National Security" against internal subversion. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Peru suffered from internal conflicts (Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and Shining Path). Revolutionary movements and right-wing military dictatorships have been common, but starting in the 1980s a wave of democratization came through the continent, and democratic rule is widespread now. Allegations of corruption remain common, and several nations have seen crises which have forced the resignation of their presidents, although normal civilian succession has continued. International indebtedness became a notable problem, as most recently illustrated by Argentina's default in the early 21st century.

In recent years South American governments have drifted to the left, with socialist leaders being elected in Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, and a leftist president in Argentina and Uruguay. Despite the move to the left, South America is still largely capitalist.
With the founding of the South American Community of Nations, South America has started down the road of economic integration, with plans for political integration in the European Union style.

As of 2002, South America's unemployment rate was 10.8 %.

Due to histories of high inflation in nearly all South American countries, interest rates and thus investment remain high and low, respectively. Interest rates are usually double that of the United States. For example, interest rates are about 22 % in Venezuela and 23 % in Suriname. The exception is Chile, which has been successfully implementing free market economic policies since the 1980s and increased its social spending since the return of democratic rule in the early 1990s. This has led to economic stability and interest rates in the low single digits.

The South American Community of Nations is a planned continent-wide free trade zone to unite two existing free-trade organizations—Mercosur and the Andean Community.

The economic gap between the rich and poor in most South American nations is considered to be larger than in most other continents. In Venezuela, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and many other South American countries, the richest 20 % may own over 60 % of the nation's wealth, while the poorest 20 % may own less than 5 %. This wide gap can be seen in many large South American cities where makeshift shacks and slums lie next to skyscrapers and upper-class luxury apartments.

The key to fulfill my goal is to help as much as I can with education and with children. I know one person can't change a whole society or the world. But for me to sit and consume myself with my own problems doesn't really get me anywhere either. I'm better off helping the ones that have not had an opportunity. Here are examples of the GDP per capitas (an average of what citizens in given countries make in a year) for countries in Latin America compared with those of The United States, Spain & Portugal (former colonizers).

GDP per capita (PPP) 2005
The first number is the rank in the world, followed by the country and then the actual $ amount.

8 United States 42,100
22 Spain 27,226
31 Puerto Rico 18,500
33 Portugal 17,456
53 Mexico 7,298
54 Chile 7,124
62 Uruguay 5,274
67 Venezuela 5,026
69 Argentina 4,799
70 Panama 4,794
72 Costa Rica 4,620
74 Brazil 4,320
88 Peru 2,841
92 Ecuador 2,761
95 Colombia 2,656
105 Guatemala 1,995
116 Paraguay 1,228
121 Honduras 1,148
125 Bolivia 993
130 Nicaragua 850