The Economist looks ahead at 2009

The latest edition of The Economist provides its prognostications for the world in 2009. Its forecast for the year ahead touches on numerous global issues like the conflict in Afghanistan and expanding online frontiers. The magazine also mentions Latin America in a variety of ways:

* Eye on elections: Elections throughout Latin America in the year ahead will decide in which way the region will head. Moderate leaders on both the left and right could win the presidency in countries like Chile, Uruguay, and El Salvador. Populist leaders in Bolivia and Ecuador could consolidate their power.

* Guantanamo will close: The U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay will shutdown next year; an estimate that should be expected from the incoming Obama administration. The tricky part, according to the magazine, will be the “moral minefield” of what do with detainees.

* More international cooperation: Increased multilateral cooperation will be vital in the year ahead according to a piece penned by Brazilian president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. In areas like climate change and international trade “collective action is the only way forward” said Lula.

What are your predictions for the year to come?

(Hat tip: Metafilter).

Image- BBC News
Sources- The Latin Americanist, The Economist, Metafilter