<div>Mike, of course, does things differently from everybody. Conditions in Latin America follow:</div>
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<div>Latin America in 2013 is very similar to what it was four years ago; a<br>region with huge economic and political potential but still dogged by numerous<br>internal conflicts and widespread social problems. The recession</div>
<div>slowed growth considerably in almost<br>every country in the Southern part of the Americas and even caused</div>
<div>economic contraction in several others. As a result, crime and corruption are</div>
<div>as prevalent as ever. The production and distribution of narcotics has</div>
<div>become more serious; an impoverished part of the world to begin</div>
<div>with, the economic slowdown has forced many people to turn to the drug</div>
<div>trade to support themselves, as well as increasing domestic<br>consumption among despondent Latin American youths.</div>
<div><br>Brazil, possessing the largest and most developed economy in Latin<br>America, has emerged somewhat unscathed from the recession. Increased<br>industrial output and the development of offshore oil deposits have<br>
boosted the gross national income, though the per capita income of the<br>average Brazilian is the same as it was four years ago. Furthermore</div>
<div>government corruption, especially at the lower to mid-levels, has</div>
<div>hampered growth in the financial and service sectors. Street crime is<br>still prevalent and the increase in the South American drug trade has<br>caused significant headaches for Brazilian authorities; Brazilian drug<br>
cartels are generally regarded by the DEA and Europol as the largest</div>
<div>and most sophisticated syndicates, quickly becoming the top</div>
<div>suppliers of ecstasy and other designer narcotics to the United<br>States, Canada and EU.</div>
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<div>Conditions in Chile and Argentina are similar to those of Brazil. Though<br>far from ravaged by the recession, growth has been painfully slow and corruption</div>
<div>is on the rise. The tourist industry has suffered particularly in<br>Argentina, with traditional tourist destinations such as Beunos Aires</div>
<div>and Cordoba seeing an increase in street crime, especially armed robbery.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Columbia has suffered more extensively; though the FARC is now effectively</div>
<div>defunct, the country is still experiencing considerable instability.<br>Corruption of the government and police runs extremely high and the<br>cocaine cartels are behind it, pumping coke and even heroin into the</div>
<div>hungry and lucrative North American markets. Acts of violence and terrorism</div>
<div>against anyone and everyone who threatens the extremely vicious<br>criminal organizations is rampant, and the corrupt and impotent central<br>government seems powerless to stop it. This in turn has led to a<br>backlash of vigilantism by angry Columbia citizens.</div>
<p>Hugo Chavez has entrenched himself as the undisputed dictator-for-life<br>of Venezuela. All elections are widely considered shams by the<br>international community and violence against critics and opponents of<br>Chavez are widespread. Chavez has continued to pursue a policy of<br>
hard-line socialism for the Venezuelan economy and nationalized or<br>banned almost all 'gringo' companies. Foreign investment has fallen to almost<br>zero, as has tourism. Unfortunately this rise in xenophobia and poor<br>
economic planning, combined with a decreased demand in Venezuelan oil<br>due to increased Brazilian output, has resulted in a considerable<br>deterioration in the standard of living. Many are beginning to compare<br>Chavez to Robert Mugabe and Venezuela to Zimbabwe.</p>
<div>The governments of Ecuador and Bolivia have closely followed Venezuela's</div>
<div>path of socialism and 'gringos out!' rhetoric, though not with the</div>
<div>same fervor. Opposition is still more vocal and successful in these</div>
<div>two countries, although state violence against dissenters is on the</div>
<div>rise. A side effect of Venezuela's poor economic performance is<br>that Chavez is not able to bankroll his allies in foreign countries to<br>anywhere near the same extent as he was before, thus hampering dreams<br>
of a socialist revolution throughout the rest of Latin America.</div>