In the 20th century the region of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) was marked by the rise and fall of powerful dictators who ran the economy much like they ran the country. Statist models that actively pursued import substitution industrialization (ISI) were common during this time in many Latin American countries. Eventually, the authoritarian governments fell and were replaced by representative and constitutional democracies (many corrupt, but democracies nonetheless). With the passage of time, the new democracies have tried limit the extent of government corruption, mostly due to pressures from the developed countries and from civil society. With consolidated democratic regimes, the region's economic situation is improving and LAC countries are closer to trade liberalization and integration with their neighbors than ever before. The World Bank and the U.N. Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean estimate that the region's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.5% in 2003 (slightly more than the population growth rate of 1.3% - 1.4%), compared with a 0.4% - 0.8% contraction in 2002. Those LAC countries that have adopted sound fiscal policies and oriented their economies toward greater foreign investment and rules-based trade proved more resilient to the recent global economic downturn than those that did not take such outward-looking, market-based steps.
             In the late 20th and early 21st centuries advances in communication and transportation technology, combined with a free-market ideology, have given goods, services, and capital unprecedented mobility. The developed countries want to open world markets to their goods and capital and take advantage of the abundant and cheap labor in the developing nations, a policy often supported by Latin American elites. The developed countries use international financial institutions and regional trade agreements to compel the poor developing countries to "integrate&q...