South American Problems

Central America is plagued by Drug Cartel, corruption and poverty. The US is seeing Welfare Migrant Caravans with Welfare Migrants from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. These countries are bunched together just south of Mexico. The Drug Cartels move through these countries to invade the US.

Central and South American countries struggled to establish and maintain effective economies and effective governance since their colonial period ended. These countries should have adopted Constitutions similar to the US, but didn’t.

The wealthy colonial land owners who ran these countries continued to retain control without their European masters. These countries continued to be divided by a small elite and a large, permanently impoverished majority. 

The introduction of democracy and the ability of the population to elect their governments made these countries permanently unstable with few exceptions. This caste system lacks a sizeable middle class.

South American governments that were established in the 1800s and 1900s concentrated on maintaining their profitable agricultural and raw material production and trade and ignored their rural poor. This has resulted in Civil Wars, Communist take-overs, overspending, hyperinflation, sovereign bankruptcy and drug cartels.

Progress has been made in Chile because of mining, Brazil because of development, Colombia after they expelled the drug cartels, Mexico because of US manufacturing and others, but the poor populations continue to lack jobs.

The economic viability of countries depends on the establishment of strong private property rights and the rule of law. Government priorities should include the establishment of pathways for poor families to work their way out of poverty legally. They don’t need government welfare, but should concentrate on making their economies as self-sufficient as possible. This depends on their natural resources and wide-spread individual initiative.

Like Afghanistan, Central America needs to become free from illegal drug cartels and government corruption. Poor families grow, process and sell illegal drugs to the cartels as their most profitable cash crop. Drug cartel infested countries need to follow the plan Columbia used to eliminate drug cartels.

Voters need to be wary of politicians who promise welfare benefits. These end in economic collapse and poverty becomes universal, like Venezuela.

Welfare Migrants have been leaving Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras and have been recruited by Drug Cartels and Soros non-profits to pay to join Migrant Caravans to invade the US. All of these countries have poor populations and all have had Civil Wars prompted by Communist rebels. None of these countries are on top of the list for investment by multinational companies. Companies only do business with countries who have voted against private property rights when the need their raw materials. They try to avoid owning facilities and equipment that can be seized by the governments.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader