Author Archive for Jane Bussey
Jane Bussey is editorial director of the Latin Trade Group and the BRAVO Business Awards.
What will China bring to the Latin American decade?
As this edition of Latin Trade goes to press, Beijing authorities announced new rules allowing companies and financial institutions to move yuan offshore for investment. (The renminbi is the official name for China’s legal tender.) The easing of currency regulations, albeit on a trial basis, points to the expanding role of Chinese companies in mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures in Latin America. As a series of stories in this issue about the Chinese conquista shows, Chinese trade activity has turned into hyperactivity on the acquisition front as these companies, most of them state-run, seek operating control of projects that secure raw materials needed by a nation with a shortage of arable land, minerals and energy.
U.S. Military: Mission: Possible
The U.S. military takes on a redefined role in 21st century Latin America, its visibility heightened by the absence of free-trade and other initiatives.
Challenges and successes in 2010
After the economies of most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean rapidly reignited in 2009—many within a year of the global financial meltdown—there is little surprise that 2010 has proven to be a solid year for many and a stellar one for a number of nations and several sectors in the region. Even Mexico, one of the countries hardest hit during 2009, has rebounded—although the recovery has yet to replace the jobs, output and advances lost during its recession.
In praise of our winners
Change sometimes comes slowly in Latin America and the Caribbean. But when it does come, the results are often dramatic. How else to explain the present state of Brazil, which shows every sign of sustaining its newfound global prominence; or Colombia, which emerged from drug and leftist guerrilla violence with a reenergized economy and culture?
Building Links with a BRIC
For seasoned diplomat Thomas A. Shannon, his January arrival as U.S. ambassador to Brazil reflected a homecoming of sorts.
Mexican Theater Chain Spearheads South-South Expansion
MEXICO CITY — Movie-theater executive Alejandro Ramírez was already expanding his company’s winning multiplex concept into new markets in South America when a visit to a U.S. business school sparked the idea he consider a continent halfway across the world.
Google Strikes Gold in Latin America
A mere five years after formally launching localized services in Latin America, Google dominates the regional search engine market. Its name has entered the popular lexicon – as a verb – in Spanish, just as it has in English. Its social networking site Orkut is wildly popular in Brazil, besting competitors like Facebook.
Latin 500: Walmart Revs Up Regional Presence
MEXICO CITY — When storm clouds began to gather over the global economy, the largest retailer in Latin America – and one of the region’s 10 largest companies overall – hunkered down to weather the downturn.
Heavyweights endure
If there is a phrase to describe the evolution of our list of top companies from a decade ago, it would be mergers and acquisitions. Top corporations in Latin America have changed hands and changed names, but most of the biggest companies have withstood the trials and tribulations of local, regional and global economic dislocations.
Ten Under Ten: Wireless Wonders
Engineering duo endeavors to get fellow Panamanians online
Ten Under Ten: Integrating Company Systems
IT spin-off of Mexico’s Cemex paves its own road to success
Latin America and the Caribbean Skirt the Worst in this Crisis
The financial contagion flowing from Greece into the rest of the euro zone has a familiar ring in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mexico’s Tequila Crisis and Argentina’s foreign debt default have receded, but not disappeared, from memory.
A Tough Act To Follow
Brazil’s captivating president has nine months, as of this writing, before he departs the Planalto Palace. But historians in a hurry — journalists — have started to examine his legacy even though Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is not expected to ride off into obscurity. The extraordinarily charismatic politician is likely to have a second or [...]
The Chinese Are Still Coming
As trade, investment and lending ties deepen between Latin America and China, some leaders discover that relationships can be complicated.
Winds of Change
Around the hemisphere, one of the first reactions to the earthquake in Haiti was not just horror but concern about the safety of friends and family. Here at Latin Trade, we were no different. So amid the tragedy, learned that past Bravo Business Award winner Michel Chancy took on a new responsibility as secretary of state in charge of distribution of food aid. We wish him well in his efforts to help in the rebuilding of his country.
New Impressions
Call it Latin America Inc. – the wide-scale rebranding of the continent. But will the new image of the region take root with the rest of the world?
Workplace Issues Are Bottom Line Matters
As companies across the region knuckle down during the financial crisis, one survey shows that great places to work are still those that interject fun into the daily slog.
Leader of the Year: Felipe Calderón Hinojosa – Chief Executive for a Changing Nation
Steeped in the traditions of Mexico’s conservative political forces, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa was a youthful stalwart of the National Action Party that his father Luis Calderón co-founded. The 47-year-old Calderón, who was born in Morelia, Michoacán, fought against the odds to reach the top.
Editor’s Note: Into the Storm and Beyond
With this edition of Latin Trade, we bring you two issues in one: both the commemorative issue to showcase the 15th BRAVO Business Awards, including past winners and the honorees of 2009, and some of our regular features, including the economic outlook for 2010 in countries around the region.
For Airlines, Loyalty In Hard Times
Frequent flyer programs, almost three decades old in the United States, are taking off at Latin American airlines.
Editor’s Note: All Over the Map
It is possible to examine an economy by looking at personal finances, the rate of economic growth or the levels of poverty and each vision will present a different reality.
Sergio Fajardo – The Mathematical Answer
The former mayor is headed across Medellin’s bustling Plaza Mayor convention center. But every few steps, Sergio Fajardo stops to greet well-wishers, shake hands with a business executive or pose for a photograph with coffee stand employees or others. In his uniform of blue jeans, button-down shirt and sports jacket, the photogenic former mathematics [...]
Canal Expansion
For the United States, completing the Panama Canal marked one of the most daring engineering feats of the early 20th century. Now, nearly 100 years later, Panama has launched the boldest canal expansion of its history in the midst of a grim global recession.
Trade Notes
Development funds could become crucial to a region dependent on highly volatile sectors, such as tourism and sugar production, which are being battered by the global economic crisis.
IDB Roundup
The IDB meeting in Medellin, Colombia this March was as much a place to ply new ideas, as it was for broaching the issue of raising new capital.
Editor’s Note: Emerging Issues
Latin Trade’s main feature in this issue takes a look at a number of aspiring leaders, who may be ready to make a run for president, hoping to parlay a track record of practical solutions in local government or long sojourns in politics into national electoral appeal. The political profiles are not about making predictions [...]
Frail State, Frayed Relations: Mexico, the United States and the Drug Wars
In 2005, when almost 1,000 people were killed in the rising narcotics violence in Mexico, most people dismissed comparisons with the bloodshed Colombia had experienced in prior years. But by 2008, when 6,000 people died in gangland-style slayings, gruesome torture-killings and full-scale massacres, the violence had crept into the public consciousness and Mexicans began referring to the carnage as simply “war.”
Itaú: Muscling In, Branching Out
With broad smiles and a clasp of hands, Roberto Setúbal and Pedro Moreira Salles – captains of Brazilian finance – christened the largest commercial bank in Latin America and set sail on a business adventure that is already exploring expansion possibilities across the region.
Whither Panama?
Industry leaders gather for a frank talk about the future and Panama’s hopes of weathering the global recession.
The Hot Spot
Panama is experiencing a boom thanks to sun, surf and New World charm
