The Latin American economy during the first decades of the 21st century

This paper looks at Latin America’s performance during the long economic cycle between 1998 and 2014 and its aftermath. The persistence of Latin America's economic vulnerability to external shocks is confirmed, as well as the difficulties in maintaining sustained growth rates associated with processes of structural change. Thus, the gap with the leading countries remains, and Latin America has not been able to emulate the successful experiences of other emerging countries. It is also confirmed that, despite the important achievements in terms of social development during the recent growth cycle, the high structural inequalities have not been broken. The expansive phase, driven by the super cycle of commodities prices, left Latin America once again facing a new phase of crisis and/or stagnation, in which previous achievements were under threat even prior to the COVID - 19 crisis, with all its negative consequences.