ABSTRACT
Latin America is a region of great linguistic, ethnic, geographic, and economic diversity, both within and between countries. Despite this diversity, Latin American countries share a history of political turmoil and a pattern of political development. The Latin American countries differ not only in people and economics, but also in geography. Geographically, Latin America is a land of extremes: high mountains that are virtually impassable, lowlands that are densely tropical and difficult to penetrate, and such extremes of heat, rainfall, and climate that make living and working difficult. The Latin American economies were founded on a basis that was rapacious and exploitative. Latin American elitism stems from the Iberian tradition of nobility, the feudal landholding system, and a powerful tradition in Spanish-Portuguese political theory that holds that society should be governed by its "natural" elites. Democracy and economic liberalism are still weak and unconsolidated in Latin America.
