‘Goldilocks’ of Latin America democracy? Uruguay’s model of stability.
The strongest democracy in the Americas isn’t the United States or Canada, but a small, quiet nation home to 3 million people and four times as many cows.
Nestled between Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay has long been considered something of an exception in a region of headline-grabbing political turmoil and economic crises. It boasts the highest GDP per capita and lowest poverty rates in Latin America, with a social safety net rivaling some European countries.
To be sure, it’s no utopia: Disparities exist, and many lament what can be a prohibitively high cost of living.
But geographic and historic advantages have laid the foundation for Uruguay’s success story, including lots of pasture, few people, and the absence of a marked social hierarchy dating back to the colonial.
