Thread: Financial crisis: Latin America hit hard

Financial crisis: Latin America hit hard

Few governments will be praying for a quick resolution to the financial crisis as devoutly as those in Latin America.

By Andrew Downie in Sao Paulo
Last Updated: 7:27PM BST 12 Oct 2008

Countries across the continent have been hit hard with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru all seeing billions wiped off share values and their currencies plummeting.

The crisis was a rude awakening for a region that was enjoying a decade of rapid and sustained growth. Brazil is the world's tenth biggest economy and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had given its neighbours a lesson in fiscal responsibility.

In August, Brazil had a record $218 billion in foreign reserves, annual inflation of six per cent and a currency hitting a nine-year high against the dollar.

But the value of Brazil's stock exchange has now fallen by half and the currency has lost 53 per cent of its value against the dollar. Becuase Brazil and its neighbours rely on foreign trade, especially exporting commodities, lower world growth will damage them. But compared to the developed world, their predicted slowdown is relatively benign.

Economists forecast that regional growth in Latin American will be 1.5 - 2 per cent next year, compared to the predicted recession in North America and Europe.

"Without the support of strong growth and robust commodity prices, Latin America's fiscal stance is likely to worsen," said Gray Newman, head of LatAm research at Morgan Stanley.

But he added: "Latin American appears to be in better shape than in the past to deal with a downturn in the global economy."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... Financial-
crisis-Latin-America-hit-hard.html

LOL.....so Mexico is losing it's ass

Well gee....maybe that's what one gets when one is too damned lazy to actually get off their collective rearends and actually MAKE something of themselves instead of living as a parasite off a neighboring, successful country

If Latin America's financial systems are paralleling those of the rest of the world, does that mean that the U.S. is still an attractive place to escape to?

I would imagine self-deportations would increase if Latin America was unaffected by the crisis. Maybe this means FEWER illegals will leave the US?

Well you know they are all staving down there. See article below.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/ap_ ... lf_ton_man

Yahoo! News
World's heaviest man marries in Mexico
By MARK WALSH, Associated Press Writer Mark Walsh, Associated Press Writer Sun Oct 26, 11:53 pm ET

MONTERREY, Mexico – The world's heaviest man has tied the knot.

Manuel Uribe, who hasn't left his bed in six years, married his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis Sunday in northern Mexico.

Wearing a white silk shirt with a sheet wrapped around his legs, Uribe smiled as Solis, 38, walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress, a tiara and hot-pink lipstick.

He later broke into tears as a notary declared the couple husband and wife in a civil ceremony attended by more than 400 guests. For the traditional first dance as newlyweds, Uribe and Solis held hands and swayed to a romantic ballad.

A popular local norteno band played accordion-heavy tunes at the reception, which featured a banquet of meat and buttered vegetables.

Uribe's mother, Orquedia Garza, said the groom steered clear of the five-tier wedding cake.

"He didn't break his diet," she told The Associated Press. "His doctors are here and they are watching him very closely."

The wedding, which was closed to most media, will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on Uribe, the 43-year-old former mechanic said.

"I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life," Uribe told hordes of reporters earlier as they followed him through the streets of Monterrey.

A flatbed truck was brought in to tow his custom-made bed decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows to the wedding at a local event hall. Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.

Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230 pounds (560 kilograms), earning him the Guinness World Record as the world's heaviest man.

He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Solis, whom he met four years ago.

Uribe said he's gunning for a new title: world's greatest weight loser.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

* Privacy Policy
* Terms of Service
* Send Feedback
* Help

Originally Posted by Disillusioned

Well you know they are all staving down there. See article below.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/ap_ ... lf_ton_man

Yahoo! News
World's heaviest man marries in Mexico
By MARK WALSH, Associated Press Writer Mark Walsh, Associated Press Writer Sun Oct 26, 11:53 pm ET

MONTERREY, Mexico – The world's heaviest man has tied the knot.

Manuel Uribe, who hasn't left his bed in six years, married his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis Sunday in northern Mexico.

Wearing a white silk shirt with a sheet wrapped around his legs, Uribe smiled as Solis, 38, walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress, a tiara and hot-pink lipstick.

He later broke into tears as a notary declared the couple husband and wife in a civil ceremony attended by more than 400 guests. For the traditional first dance as newlyweds, Uribe and Solis held hands and swayed to a romantic ballad.

A popular local norteno band played accordion-heavy tunes at the reception, which featured a banquet of meat and buttered vegetables.

Uribe's mother, Orquedia Garza, said the groom steered clear of the five-tier wedding cake.

"He didn't break his diet," she told The Associated Press. "His doctors are here and they are watching him very closely."

The wedding, which was closed to most media, will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on Uribe, the 43-year-old former mechanic said.

"I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life," Uribe told hordes of reporters earlier as they followed him through the streets of Monterrey.

A flatbed truck was brought in to tow his custom-made bed decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows to the wedding at a local event hall. Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.

Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230 pounds (560 kilograms), earning him the Guinness World Record as the world's heaviest man.

He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Solis, whom he met four years ago.

Uribe said he's gunning for a new title: world's greatest weight loser.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

* Privacy Policy
* Terms of Service
* Send Feedback
* Help

I am Numero UNO! Feed Me!!!

LawEnforcer, you made my day!!!

Good God

Must've been living on a steady diet of remittances........