# Latin America: why nobody cares? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613 "2011-04-08T00:52:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/21 "2011-04-08T02:57:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Which, itself, hasn’t been a part of the UK for the better part of a century. 🙂 > > (Sorry, I’m kidding around a bit. Clearly, you know the subject matter better than this admittedly ignorant American.) Don’t worry. You may be surprised we have the statue of an American in our main port, who developed our early raildoads… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/22 "2011-04-08T03:07:50Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > Of course, Latin America is not ignored by Spain, France, Italy, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia at all. They know us, particularly Germany. It is methodically ignored by Britain, though. Just judging by the media presence. > The example of Africa and BBC is not correct. BBC has several programs on Africa, like Africa Business Report. > On Latin America, the only things you can ever see is about poverty in the upper Andes or something about drugs in Colombia, and that is it. First of all, Africa has tons of English speakers, plus a lack of pan-African television news, so the BBC fills in some of that need. What would be the point of a BBC Latin American Business Report that wasn’t in Spanish? Germany is particularly interested in Latin America? I’ve never heard of that. Can you elaborate? > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > You may consider that an example of the UK’s “huge influence in Latin America”, but it sounds pretty tangental to me, compared to the UK’s colonization in other parts of the world. Well, O’Higgins was perhaps a poor example, but places like Argentina were hugely affected by British influence and trade. I’m not certain it was due entirely to the British, but Argentines even drove on the left-hand side of the road until the 1940s. As for the British not caring about Latin America, I’m not certain that’s true. Certainly it’s a bit low on the list, which consists of Europe (neighborhood), Australia-New Zealand (former colony/anglophone), South Asia (recent colony, huge numbers of immigrants), U.S.A. (largest economy/anglophone/Hollywood), Africa (recent colonies/many of them anglophone), East Asia (huge economy), then Latin America (few colonies, few English speakers). I also doubt that Latin American importation of US goods is due to lack of care. Rather, they are getting the goods from the same place we do: Asia. It’s cheaper from there and the US is manufacturing fewer and fewer goods every day. It’s silly to think that these economic trends are due to a fit of pique! ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/23 "2011-04-08T03:11:33Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Germany is particularly interested in Latin America? I’ve never heard of that. Can you elaborate? Germans migrated in large numbers to South America up to the middle of the 20th century, particularly to Brazil, and they were some of the founders of the development of Brazil, Argentina and other countries of the region, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture. The curiousity of Germans for the region seem to be stronger than other developed countries. Besides, it is known Germans are very skillful to speak foreign languages, so Spanish is easy for them to master. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/24 "2011-04-08T03:15:02Z")
Well, as someone who watches (and reads) a fair amount of U.S.-based news reporting, I don’t think you’re off-base, but I also don’t think it’s a particular ignorance of Latin America. In general, the U.S. news media, when it’s covering foreign stories, does focus on the “bad stories” (war, political unrest, disasters)…but it also tends to focus on those areas which are probably perceived to be more relevant to American viewers: - English-speaking areas - Nearby neighbors - Economic powers (though usually not “upcoming” powers) - Oil-producing countries - Countries whose leadership is antagonistic to the U.S. - Countries with particular partisan support among U.S. citizens (i.e., Israel) Outside of those areas, most Americans don’t hear much about what’s going on in the rest of the world (and, you’re right, don’t seem to be too inclined to care). When Colombia was struggling with its drug war, it got attention in the news here (that’s now shifted to Mexico). In the 1980s, Nicaragua was in the news here, due to the Reagan Administration’s support of the contras, which spun into the “arms for hostages” debacle. And, Venezuela now gets some coverage, largely because it’s (a) an oil producer, with (b) a leader who likes to antagonize the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/25 "2011-04-08T03:16:18Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > That’s quite wrong. Latin America is the main importer of U.S. goods, for instance. A topic that is declining because the lack of care of Americans on theirs customers. First of all, I’ll point out that I am Canadian. No country in Latin America is a major trading partner–trade does occur with the countries of Latin America, of course, but our largest trading partner is the United States. Similarly, the Americans’ largest trading partner is us. “Each country is the largest trade partner of the other,” says Wikipedia. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_%E2%80%93_United_States_trade_relations). Secondly, you obviously know that there is more to the English-speaking world than just the United States. How has Latin America’s trade with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, India, South Africa, and Kenya (among others) been doing? Note that I’m not being snarky. I’m genuinely interested in what you would like us to know. I’ve already said that I know who Bernardo O’Higgins is. I also know about Juan and Evita Peron, that Costa Rica is a stable constitutional democracy that doesn’t have an army, that Simon Bolivar was the “Great Liberator,” that Panama was once part of Columbia, and that Paraguay was once ruled by Alfredo Stroessner. But I will admit my ignorance in many areas. What would you suggest that I should know? ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/26 "2011-04-08T03:17:53Z")
Indeed. Perhaps the reason Americans ignore what is going on here is that the development and progress is happening today in other countries, rather than in Mexico, Venezuela or Cuba. ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/27 "2011-04-08T03:22:26Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > First of all, I’ll point out that I am Canadian. No country in Latin America is a major trading partner–trade does occur with the countries of Latin America, of course, but our largest trading partner is the United States. Similarly, the Americans’ largest trading partner is us. “Each country is the largest trade partner of the other,” says Wikipedia. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_%E2%80%93_United_States_trade_relations). > > Secondly, you obviously know that there is more to the English-speaking world than just the United States. How has Latin America’s trade with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, India, South Africa, and Kenya (among others) been doing? > > Note that I’m not being snarky. I’m genuinely interested in what you would like us to know. I’ve already said that I know who Bernardo O’Higgins is. I also know about Juan and Evita Peron, that Costa Rica is a stable constitutional democracy that doesn’t have an army, that Simon Bolivar was the “Great Liberator,” that Panama was once part of Columbia, and that Paraguay was once ruled by Alfredo Stroessner. But I will admit my ignorance in many areas. What would you suggest that I should know? Interesting. I lived in Canada for five years when young and I loved your country. Louis Riel was my hero. And -believe me or not- I enjoyed winter time, because no matter it was freezing cold, it was also sunny. What I would like to be known from Latin America? Well, the contributions of the region to arts, literature, culture, science and technology. And curious things, like the project of Peron to build the first fusion reactor of the world, that ended when they discoverer the German scientist they recruit was crazy… really crazy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/28 "2011-04-08T03:32:50Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > What I would like to be known from Latin America? Well, the contributions of the region to arts, literature, culture, science and technology. And curious things, like the project of Peron to build the first fusion reactor of the world, that ended when they discoverer the German scientist they recruit was crazy… really crazy. Well, I’m not sure if this makes you feel any better or not, but too many Americans don’t know about the contributions of _any_ other countries in those areas. In other words, don’t feel particularly slighted. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/29 "2011-04-08T03:33:52Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > Interesting. I lived in Canada for five years when young and I loved your country. Louis Riel was my hero. And -believe me or not- I enjoyed winter time, because no matter it was freezing cold, it was also sunny. Cool! (No pun intended, BTW.) Where did you live here? I am in Alberta, which tends to have bright, sunny days in winter. I have also lived in southern Ontario, which had mostly grey winter days, though when the sun shone, it was glorious. > [@](#): > > What I would like to be known from Latin America? Well, the contributions of the region to arts, literature, culture, science and technology. Can you give me some suggestions? Which authors would you recommend, for example? And are they available in an English translation? _Yo hablo solo un poquito de Espanol._ I only speak a little Spanish. And please excuse me if I got that wrong. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/30 "2011-04-08T03:45:05Z")
Bad premise. I’m an American on the Canadian border with a broad interest in the politics of both of my immediate neighbors. I get more from Latin America than I do my perfect neighbor. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/31 "2011-04-08T03:53:26Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > Besides Cervantes, Borges and Garcia Marquez, very few are known there. > > Please, comment. Cervantes is considered Latin American? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/32 "2011-04-08T03:57:11Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > What I would like to be known from Latin America? Well, the contributions of the region to arts, literature, culture, science and technology. Go into any Barnes and Noble or Borders bookstore in the U.S. and you’ll find shelves of Vargas Llosa, Fuentes, Bolaño, Allende, and of course, Garcia Marquez. (Coehlo doesn’t count as literature, but you’ll find **rooms** of that stuff.) And those are just contemporary authors (R.I.P. Bolaño) with multiple titles, not counting classics like Borges, Neruda, Paz, etc. Sure, it would be nice if there were even more interest, but it’s still there and in proportion to our general lack of reading books in translation. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/33 "2011-04-08T03:58:18Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Cervantes is considered Latin American? Stop tilting at windmills. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/34 "2011-04-08T10:28:38Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Stop tilting at windmills. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/35 "2011-04-08T11:07:12Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Germany is particularly interested in Latin America? I’ve never heard of that. Can you elaborate? > [@pinguin](#): > > Germans migrated in large numbers to South America up to the middle of the 20th century, particularly to Brazil, and they were some of the founders of the development of Brazil, Argentina and other countries of the region, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture. The curiousity of Germans for the region seem to be stronger than other developed countries. Besides, it is known Germans are very skillful to speak foreign languages, so Spanish is easy for them to master. German chiming in. I know that there’s a good chunk of German immigrants in South America, but what makes you think that this is the cause of a special focus to the region in the German media? I’ve been following all kinds of German media for over 30 years now, and I’ve never encountered a “special curiosity of Germans for the region”. Actually, I’d guess the two continents which are referenced the least in German media are Australia and South America (besides Antarctica ;)). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/36 "2011-04-08T11:26:45Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’ve been following all kinds of German media for over 30 years now, and I’ve never encountered a “special curiosity of Germans for the region”. Too late to edit: I just noticed that the part in quotation marks is no direct quote of **pinguin** , but a slight paraphrase of his/her words. Sorry for that, it was unintentional, but I don’t think that it misrepresents his/her argument. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/37 "2011-04-08T12:17:39Z")
One reason you might not see a lot of Latin American news on the major networks is that there are several large Spanish language networks available on broadcast/cable/satellite TV. There are also many Spanish language radio, newspapers and magazines widely available. Many who are interested in Latin America tend to use those sources, not leaving much of a market for the major English-language outlets to target. They just can’t compete when a large part of that demographic use those dedicated sources. I’m sure this isn’t the only reason for the lack of attention you perceive, but I think it’s at least a part of it. But I wouldn’t know, living in South Florida as I do, Latin America is definitely not ignored around here. ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/38 "2011-04-08T12:53:43Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Cervantes is considered Latin American? Cervantes is not Latin American? :eek::eek: Jesus, we have one writer less in our list of celebrities :smack: ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/39 "2011-04-08T12:59:59Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I think this is purely confirmation bias. The OP could just as easily have been written about Africa instead of Latin America. When was the last time you heard any news story about Africa on BBC World that wasn’t about a coup, massacre, or unrest? Never. Bad news is interesting news. And right now, Latin America is probably the most stable it’s ever been (with the exception of Mexico) so there isn’t a lot of bad news to report. Being ignored is actually a good thing. I think you just hit upon the real reason- Latin America as a whole, is pretty stable. We hear about stuff in Mexico all the time these days, because they’re right on our border, and there’s been an explosion in recent years of drug violence, up to and including the killing of judges, mayors, etc… We don’t hear about say… Paraguay, Argentina or Chile much, unless there’s an natural disaster of some kind(we did hear about the Chilean earthquake a couple of years ago), or something else of true note. Unfortunately, we hear about places like Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador, because their leaders are making statements about our government and people frequently. By that same token, Montana doesn’t make the national news much either, and for the same reasons. California, New York, Texas and wherever there’s some kind of disaster or human interest story going on. ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613/40 "2011-04-08T13:08:51Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Cool! (No pun intended, BTW.) Where did you live here? I am in Alberta, which tends to have bright, sunny days in winter. I have also lived in southern Ontario, which had mostly grey winter days, though when the sun shone, it was glorious. I lived in Saskatchewan, right besides Alberta. > [@Spoons](#): > > Can you give me some suggestions? Which authors would you recommend, for example? And are they available in an English translation? _Yo hablo solo un poquito de Espanol._ I only speak a little Spanish. And please excuse me if I got that wrong. 🙂 Well, there are many superb Latin American writers. If you haven’t done as yet, try Jorge Luis Borges. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-america-why-nobody-cares/577613.md?page=3)