Latin America in the knowledge era

By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 20/01/2025

Guest columnist.
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In 2025, my native Bolivia celebrates two centuries of its foundation, and, believe it or not, the idea that we are a rich country thanks to the abundance of natural resources is still firmly established. To date, in universities and schools, it is taught that Bolivia will be an economic power and an important geopolitical player thanks to raw materials such as gas or lithium.

While it sounds nice and helps to increase the chauvinism of many of my compatriots, it is nothing more than an empty statement, since the existence of natural resources in a territory is no guarantee of anything. Do you want proof?

Bolivia is a vast country, and the valleys of Cochabamba, Tarija and Chuquisaca have temperate climates 90% of the year, perfect conditions for flower production. However, one of the largest flower producers in the world is Holland, one of the countries with the least amount of sun throughout the year and a cold climate. The explanation is very simple: Holland has institutional frameworks that respect and safeguard private property and allow free initiative, for example, genetic research into cold-resistant flower varieties. On the other hand, Bolivia is a bureaucratic hell full of absurd regulations that force entrepreneurs to spend 1,200 hours in state offices.

Another case, Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves on the planet, however, thanks to 21st Century Socialism, it concentrates half of the poor in America, even surpassing Haiti in poverty. In this regard, Juan Enríquez Cabot, expert in bioeconomics and professor at Harvard, in an interview with the journalist, Andrés Oppenheimer, explains:

The former Soviet Union, the country with the most natural resources in the world, has collapsed. And neither South Africa with its diamonds, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela and Mexico with their oil, nor Brazil and Argentina with their agricultural products, have managed to overcome poverty. Most of these countries have more poor people today than they did twenty years ago. On the other hand, countries without natural resources, such as Luxembourg, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Israel and Hong Kong, are among those with the highest per capita incomes in the world.

The case of Singapore is very interesting, since after its independence in 1965, it asked to be annexed by Malaysia, its neighbour. Obviously, given the conditions of extreme poverty, the clamour was rejected. Its president, Lee Kuan Yew, faced with the bleak outlook, first made English the official language, and second, set about attracting technology companies from all over the world. No populist recipes or folkloric education, private property was guaranteed and highly competitive citizens were trained.

Note the stark contrast with education in the region. The major Latin American universities are full of students pursuing degrees that offer little job prospects or are totally divorced from the knowledge economy of the 21st century. Even worse, they are factories of absurd and obsolete ideas. Where do they think so many socialists come from who then feed the enormous bureaucratic apparatus?

In the specific case of Bolivia's public universities, the low academic level is compounded by large financial embezzlements, since, despite constant budget increases, they all have deficits. In other words, higher education institutions are run like any other bureaucratic office, but extremely poorly.

In conclusion, while the world is making great strides towards the knowledge economy, we remain stuck in populist tales and the clutches of Castro-Chavism.

«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».