The IMF’s latest forecasts for the region’s economies are cautiously optimistic. And this is where the country with the highest growth worldwide is located.

Hopes for the positive effects of nearshoring were high, but the reality so far has been different. Western companies are hardly relocating, but China is seizing the opportunity.

Many Argentinians wish that the president’s reform program would succeed. He has also become the new beacon of hope for German business and politics.

Brazil is becoming the blueprint for expansion in the industrial value chains and in R&D. This is competition for Western companies in particular.

After the re-election of Nayib Bukule, his policy of a firm hand against crime but also the rule of law could find imitators in the region.

The chances of this are good. Global interest in the region is growing and it remains stable in a world of increasing crises.

The region is increasingly being drawn into the disputes of the world powers and local conflicts are threatening to become geopolitically charged.

President Lula in particular is strongly committed to achieving a result. Will the EU go along?

Guyana, Brazil and Argentina are increasing production, while Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela are losing ground.

The country could benefit more than almost any other from the changes in geopolitics and the energy transition. But this requires a clear reform course.