ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the development of the Latin American model of Human Resource Development and analyses its relationship to the process of economic transformation, using Chile as a case study. It attempts to unravel the complexities behind these developments and critically assess whether Chile has the potential to become the first puma of Latin America. The chapter begins by outlining the characteristic of the 'Latin American model of skill formation', enabling to portray the composition of the Chilean education and training (ET) system prior to economic restructuring. It analyses the role played by the country's ET reforms in supporting Chile's economic restructuring, especially in relation to their relative success and failure, enabling to evaluate whether the reforms facilitated economic restructuring in Chile. Finally, the chapter argues that in order to achieve the status of a puma further democratic reforms are required to enable the government to cut-back on military expenditure and use the resources for social developments, including ET.
