Década Perdida

[1] In general, the crisis was composed of unpayable external debts, taxes, and volatile inflation and exchange rates, which in the majority of the countries in the region were fixed.

In response to the crisis, the majority of the nations had to abandon their economic models of industrialization by substituting with imports, and they adopted a growth strategy oriented toward exports.

The countries who previously were regional leaders like Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela were left with diverse effects that hadn’t been overcome.

Meanwhile countries that had fallen behind previously like Chile, Brazil, Peru, and Colombia stood out in the late 20th century with high economic growth and a better social wellbeing in relative terms.

During the second half of the decade, almost all the countries of the subcontinent traversed periods of no growth or an economic recession, which led to a turbulent political and social scene.

However, the commercial war between the United States and China and a new increase in the value of the dollar worsened the regional economic situation in Latin America even more.