Why is neoliberalism back in Latin America? | Business & Economy | Al Jazeera
▻http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/07/neoliberalism-latin-america-170711085354385.html
Curiously enough, some 25 years later neoliberalism has made a comeback to the region. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru have proud neoliberals serving as presidents these days.
And this is just when the whole world - Donald Trump in the US, Theresa May in the UK, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey to name but a few - is clearly going protectionist.
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Latin America could not keep pace with other rising states and started to consider an anachronistic repertoire of solutions. In the end, under the risk of “playing the sucker”, developing countries from the Western hemisphere decided to open their economies to the outside world, without enjoying any reciprocity in terms of tariffs and trade preferences.
Why so? Despite all bad memories that neoliberalism evokes in Latin America, political leaders appear to be self-assured: That is the only way to economic salvation. There is no alternative!