Author Archive for LT

Wine Time in Mendoza

Diageo, the world’s largest drinks company, shrugged off the downturn in global wine sales and upped its long-term bet on Mendoza, with its ideal climate and hit varietal Malbec, Juan Pedro Tomás reports from the Argentine province.

Ten Under Ten

Latin America is full of opportunities and talent.

After The Crisis

With the global crisis retreating, Latin America and the Caribbean must focus on steps to boost growth to improve regional competitiveness.

The Americas: A System under Stress

By Margaret Daly Hayes
The Inter-American system is under stress.  It is fragile, fractured and at risk of failing.
There no longer exists a clear, shared vision of a “hemisphere community” that in the past has seemed to provide organization to the Americas.
The current stresses in this system derive from its evolving political organization, its growing economic [...]

Atlas of Disaster

Latin America and Caribbean are no strangers to disasters, either natural or man-made. The earthquakes in Haiti and Chile this year are only the latest natural calamities that have befallen the region. Here are some of the other most destructive events in modern history.

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It’s Good to be Slim

Mexicans have long felt the might of Carlos Slim – the tycoon famed for buying on the cheap who has been elevated to the No. 1 spot among the world’s richest people by Forbes. His family’s net worth, built on investments in 200-plus companies, represents 6 percent of Mexico’s total gross domestic product. Slim makes [...]

Grace Under Pressure

In its 88-year history, Jamaican conglomerate GraceKennedy survived many downturns. Now it is aiming for the global stage.
By Keith Collister
KINGSTON, Jamaica — With dozens of food and financial subsidiaries, along with philanthropic foundations and sponsored sports events, GraceKennedy Limited is a fixture in Jamaica and among Jamaica’s expatriate communities worldwide. In the future, if [...]

Best of Latin America

Readers’ Choices
Hotels, Airports, Restaurants and More

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Latin Trade Digital Edition

Latin Trade is pleased to offer a digital edition, allowing you to browse the complete magazine.
Click here now.

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Lula’s Legacy: What the President Leaves Behind

By THIERRY OGIER
SÃO PAULO — Kilometer by kilometer, workmen are laying tracks across the northern sertão region of Brazil, to create the Transnordestina railroad that will link the arid hinterlands to Atlantic seaports. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva revitalized the ambitious transportation project as a centerpieces of his hallmark Growth Acceleration Program three years [...]

Stagnant Productivity Stems Growth

Stagnant productivity is causing poor growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, the IDB says.

Risk and Reward: A Banker’s View

Itaú-Unibanco’s Roberto Egydio Setúbal talks to Latin Trade in a wide-ranging interview in Miami during the Latin American Banking Federation (FELABAN) meeting.

Ricardo Martinelli: How a Supermarket Magnate Came to Lead the Nation

Panamanian entrepreneur Ricardo Martinelli enjoyed the wealth and acclaim accorded to a captain of retail and industry. But his experience in government sparked a determination to make a difference in the lives of Panamanians.

Indicators – Then and Now

Last year’s economic forecasts for 2009 were outdated – almost from the moment they were made. But as 2009 draws to a close, the question is by how much? A closer look at this year’s forecast, made in December 2008, and an estimate some eight months later in July show major discrepancies. Both sets of [...]

The 15th Annual Latin Trade Symposium & BRAVO Business Awards

Led by Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, winners of the 15th bravo Business Awards walked down the red carpet to the evening gala to receive their 2009 awards for excellence and achievement. More than 350 leading business executives, government officials, academics and environmental and humanitarian leaders attended the 15th bravo Business Awards dinner and ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami on October 30.

LT Holiday Gift Guide

Extravagant and not-so-extravagant gifts for your loved ones: from a BMW Z4 to a simple bottle of her perfume to a five-figure all-electric motorcycle.

Murder, Headlines and Statistics

Even as these reports of killings lead the news in a number of countries, governments fight back with their own statistics.

Outlook 2010: Consensus Economic Forecast

Five years of stellar growth came to a crashing halt late last year as the global economic recession took hold. A year later, governments around the world have instituted economic stimulus packages that seem to have stemmed the worst effects of the crisis and have set the stage for a recovery in 2010 – at [...]

15th BRAVO Business Award Winners

This year marks the 15th award ceremony – a milestone in searching for and recognizing the deserving champions of trade, finance, technology and politics, as well as some of the lesser-known heroes in social fields in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Celebrating the 15th Bravo Business Awards 1996 – 2009

This commemorative issue also honors the previous 14 groups of BRAVO Business Award winners by providing updates on their lives and careers on the following pages.

Commodities Rising

Last year’s sharp decline in global commodity prices posed a huge factor in the slowing economies in much of Latin America and the Caribbean. But rising commodity prices offer relief to many of the region’s big exporters.

Fatal Roadways

Residents of Latin America and the Caribbean have a higher chance of dying in highway accidents than their counterparts in Europe and North America. At the high end, road accidents kill more than 3,300 people per million vehicles in Paraguay each year. Only about 100 people per million vehicles die in the Netherlands or Australia, [...]

The LT 500

The LT 500: Latin America’s 500 largest companies, including both privately held and publicly traded companies, as well as the largest state-run companies.

For the Region, Oil is Still King

Skyrocketing oil prices made 2008 the best of times and the not-quite best of times for oil companies in Latin America.

Indicators – July-August 2009

Latin American and world economic indicators are provided to us by Focus Economics. To see the July-August Indicators please click on the link.

War of Words

The rhetoric has escalated since June 28, when the Honduran military arrested and exiled President Manuel Zelaya. Despite overwhelming international support for restoring him to power, public opinion in Honduras remains bitterly divided.

A New World [Religious] Order?

Pope Benedict blames the “pernicious effects” of greed and a misplaced desire for technological advancement at any cost, as the reasons for the economic recession gripping the globe.

The China Syndrome

Chinese financial authorities have carped about the dollar’s role as the sole world reserve currency, most recently at the G8 meeting of industrialized nations in L’Aguila, Italy. The world will rely on the greenback for international transactions for the foreseeable future. But China is already testing the waters in Latin America, where the country has [...]

A Tale of Two Regions: Capitalism versus Socialism

An opinion poll showing only 53 percent of Americans considered capitalism a better system than socialism raised questions over whether the financial crisis was taking a toll on faith in the free market.

Emerging Leaders

In the region of new democracies, is this the shape of things to come?