I constantly lament the fact that the rest of the world ignores South America. Despite the fact that the region has growth rates that match Asia and a culture that is just as colourful, Latin America is sadly missing from news programmes around the World. Even the venerable BBC only sits up and notices Argentina when the topic is either Maradona or the Malvinas.
This is an old observation that I had to modify recently. The truth is South America also ignores South America even when the news is awful enough to warrant sensational headlines. Would any of us have heard about a recent Bolivian air crash that killed eleven people if one of the survivors had not survived four days in the jungle? A crash in Russia at the same time got maximum coverage.
The Chilean student riots were briefly commented on whilst the UK riots got blanket coverage. A train crash in Germany seems to deserve more ink in Buenos Aires than a bus disaster in Peru. We all know about the crime rates on the US Mexico border but are blissfully ignorant of the gang violence taking place in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that makes Tijuana look like Finland. Is this journalistic laziness or an inherent inferiority complex that makes us look west for events as what happens here is frankly not very important?
