A RISING U.S. LIFTS ALL AMERICAS:

Economies booming in Latin America (JANE BUSSEY, 12/16/04, Miami Herald)

Surpassing even the most optimistic recent forecasts, the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean are on course to expand by 5.5 percent this year, the region's best economic performance in more than 20 years.

The region reaped a windfall from surging world commodity prices, stoked by Chinese demand for crude oil, grains and metals, according to the respected Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

South Florida, as a main hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, has seen trade, tourism and business transactions rebound as the region's economies have recovered. An economic revival means more money to spread around on South Florida shopping trips, vacations, condo sales and purchases from industrial goods to phone equipment.

The numbers, which are preliminary, show that Latin American and Caribbean economies improved even more than the positive data the commission had forecast earlier this year and represent the best performance since the region's debt crisis began in 1982 and a slight improvement over the 5.2 percent expansions in 1994 and 1997.

The surest way to kill Marxism/Socialism in Latin America is with economic growth.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 16, 2004 12:00 PM