Dos América Latinas

David Luhnow escribió un artículo en el WSJ sobre las 2 América latinas: una próspera, con baja inflación, inversiones y crecimiento. Nosotros somos parte de la otra, la América latina decadente, cerrada y hasta ciega diría. ¿así que un tratado de libre comercio nos iba a dañar? Miren a la otra américa latina antes de contestar.

There is good reason to think the Pacific-facing countries have the edge. Much of the continent is "paying the costs of exaggerated protectionism and…irresponsible policy," said Alan Garcia, Peru's former president, at a recent conference in Mexico City. "That is not the Latin America that I see in the future. I see the future in countries like Chile—which has been a good example of how to do things for a while—Colombia, Peru and Mexico."

(...)

A key moment in creating the two Latin Americas came in 2005, when Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela (then led by Mr. Chávez) lined up to kill the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas—a free-trade zone stretching from Alaska to Patagonia and promoted by President George W. Bush. Troubled by the FTAA's demise, the Pacific Alliance set out to create its own free-trade area, eliminating tariffs on 90% of goods and setting a timetable to eliminate the rest.
The diplomacy practiced by this half of Latin America differs too: While the Atlantic bloc often views the U.S. with suspicion or outright hostility, the Pacific countries tend to have closer ties to Washington. "We set out to create the Pacific Alliance because we wanted to set ourselves apart from the populists," said Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former Peruvian finance minister. "We wanted a thinking man's axis."

Increíble, y admirable, el cambio de mentalidad de Alan García.