COPENHAGEN — Shortly after he was elected Uruguay's first left-leaning president, Tabare Vazquez declared that, "We have to reconstruct the future from the limitations of our own times."
Reconstruction and transformation are occurring across Latin America. A "pink tide" has brought politicians like Vazquez to center stage, posing a challenge for North America and Europe. Reform and high commodity prices are buoying the region. Latin America's economies are doing better now than they have in a long time.
But reconstruction doesn't happen overnight. The "limitations" that Vazquez spoke of are vast. Latin America is still far from being able to compete with the might of China or India. And it continues to have the widest gap between rich and poor. The richest 10 percent of its people earn nearly half the total income, while the poorest 10 percent earn just 1.6 percent. In contrast, the top 10th in industrialized countries earn 29.1 percent of total income, while those in the bottom 10th earn 2.5 percent.