A century ago, Latin America as a region was evolving in economic, social and political terms. In 1920, the Mexican Revolution (1910) and its 1917 constitution, and the effects of World War I (1914-18) were still important reference points for economic and political developments for the region. The export oriented Latin American economies produced a relative period of prosperity in a number of countries, such as Argentina (beef and wheat), Mexico (henequen, sugar, mining), and Chile (copper, fruits). This in turn, produced a relative grow in the middle class, the emergence of local working classes, immigration from Europe, and an expansion of democracy from the upper class to a small emerging middle class. And yet, in spite of that evolution, the region as a whole and in each specific case showed in the 1920s levels of fragility, underdevelopment and inequality. Governments were run top-down by strong men supported by small group of wealthy families who controlled the pace and depth of policies. Concentrated economic and political power resulted in the exclusion of women, indigenous groups and rural residents. In the 1920s, in great part due the export economic model Latin America was connected to the global economy and thus was vulnerable to the ups and downs of demand. A century later in 2020, the region has also made impressive progress in many economic, political and social dimensions, but remains vulnerable and prone to risks and crisis. Why?
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