Reports analyze vulnerabilities

-Contributed by Alison Bowen

Experts continue to analyze the Latin American economy, always a topic for discussion.

The 13th European Union-Rio Group met April 18 in the Dominican Republican. According to the Inter Press Service News Agency, the foreign ministers of Latin America and European Union discussed the extreme poverty crises in neighboring Haiti (photo). Read much more here.

The World Economic Forum reported April 18 that Latin America’s economies are less vulnerable to the shifting patterns of other countries, but that social and economic inequalities in the region still are present and a problem.

Latin America is the “most unequal region in the world,” according to information in the 16-page report reported in the The World Bank.

The WEF report says 25 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day, in spite of economic growth in the last few years.

Strengthening commodity exports could be affected by downturns in the Chinese economy or rising United States protectionism, according to The World Bank article.

The organizers of the Davos meetings also warned about anti-globalization sentiments across the region, according to the article. The forum will be holding a two-day conference on Latin America in Santiago, Chile, beginning April 25., according to the United Press International.

The WEF stressed that the mood in Latin America is upbeat.

Links: United Press International, The World Bank, Inter Press Service News Agency

Image: Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Amnesty International