Number of babies born with HIV decline 78% in Latin America, Caribbean --PAHO/WHO report

Monday, December 15, 2014 | 1:51 PM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The number of babies born with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean declined by 78 per cent between 2001 and 2013, according to a new report from the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The report: Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Congenital Syphilis in the Americas, takes stock of progress in the region’s countries toward the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

Using data from PAHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS, the report estimates that 10,700 babies were born with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2001.

By 2013, the number had declined 78 per cent to just over 2,300, representing around 5 per cent of all babies born in the region to mothers with HIV.

The countries and territories of Latin America and the Caribbean have set the collective goal of reducing that proportion to less than 2 per cent by 2015. So far, nine countries and territories have reached that goal: Anguilla, Barbados, Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the United States.

“We need a final push to ensure that 100 per cent of pregnant women have access to sexual and reproductive health services, including HIV testing and antiretroviral treatment, which can save their lives and reduce the chances of transmitting the virus to their babies,” said Massimo Ghidinelli, chief of PAHO/WHO’s HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Hepatitis Unit.

In 2013, 87 per cent of the 11 million women who gave birth in Latin America and the Caribbean attended at least four prenatal visits, a benchmark for adequate prenatal care. An estimated 74 per cent had access to HIV testing and counselling—up from 62 per cent in 2010—and 93 per cent of HIV-positive mothers-to-be received antiretroviral treatment, a significant increase over the 59 per cent who received treatment in 2010 and only two percentage points short of the target for 2015.

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Number of babies born with HIV decline 78% in Latin America, Caribbean --PAHO/WHO report

ILO warns of higher unemployment in Latin America and Caribbean

Monday, December 15, 2014 | 8:37 AM    

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found an “unusual pattern” in this year’s urban employment rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, which continued to fall despite warning signs of economic slowdown.

The ILO report titled “Labour Overview for Latin America and the Caribbean 2014,” noted that the region’s urban unemployment rate may reach 6.3 per cent in 2015, which means that there will be some 500,000 more without jobs.

“There are warning signs,” said Elizabeth Tinoco, the ILO’s regional director. “The concern is that we are creating fewer jobs despite unemployment remaining at a low level,” she added.

Although unemployment has not risen due to this slowdown in growth, there has been a sharp reduction of new jobs reflected in the employment rate, which fell by 0.4 percentage points to 55.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2014.

“This means that at least one million (fewer) jobs have been created,” Tinoco said.

The ILO said that this “scenario of uncertainty” comes after a decade in which the region enjoyed significant economic growth. The unemployment rate dipped to record lows and allowed for a higher quality of jobs.

The urban unemployment rate of young people dropped from 14.5 per cent to 14 per cent but still remains between 2 and 4 times higher than that for adults. What’s more, the unemployment rate for women is 30 per cent higher than that for men, and 47 per cent of urban workers work in the informal economy.

“Many people who temporarily left the workforce in 2014 will return to search for a job next year, together with young people entering the labour market. The region will have to create nearly 50 million jobs over the coming decade, just to offset demographic growth,” Tinoco said, adding “we are talking about almost 15 million people unemployed.

“So we have to face the huge challenge of rethinking strategies to push growth and a productive transformation of the economy to foster economic and social inclusion through the labour market,” Tinoco said.

The ILO is calling on countries in the region to prepare for the possibility of a labour market which has to take specific measures to stimulate employment and protect individual incomes.

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ILO warns of higher unemployment in Latin America and Caribbean

Latin America and Caribbean exports stagnate for 3rd straight year

SANTIAGO, Chile — Latin America and the Caribbean’s foreign trade will experience its third year of stagnation in 2014, due to minimal growth in the region’s exports and a slight decline in its imports, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reported yesterday.

According to the United Nations organisation, the value of the region’s exports will grow just 0.8 per cent on average this year after rising 23.5 per cent in 2011, 1.6 per cent in 2012, and falling 0.2 per cent in 2013. The region’s imports are seen falling 0.6 per cent in 2014, after rising 21.7 per cent in 2011, and 3.0 per cent in 2012 and 2013.

“The weak performance of the region’s foreign trade is primarily due to a limited dynamism in the external demand from some of its main markets, particularly the European Union, as well as an important decline in intra-regional trade. This is compounded by lower prices for numerous commodities that the region exports, especially minerals,” ECLAC said in its annual report titled ‘Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2014′.

The report indicates that exports from Mexico and Central America will be more dynamic in 2014, with a 4.9 per cent overall rise in value, linked to a better economic behaviour of the United States, while the Mercosur’s external sales will show a decline of 2.3 per cent.

In the document, ECLAC underscores Latin American and Caribbean countries’ minimal participation in the world’s three main global value chains (North America, Europe, and Asia). With the exception of Mexico, the region is not an important provider of non-commodities intermediate goods to these chains, nor does it carry much weight as an importer of intermediate goods originated in these world regions.

According to ECLAC, the participation in international value chains can bring multiple potential benefits for the development of inclusive trade, which is to say, trade that favours growth and productivity, reduces structural heterogeneity, improves the well-being of the majority (employment and salaries), and reduces inequality.

The report adds that to expand the opportunities associated with a new approach to trade, based on greater intra-regional and inter-regional co-ordination of value chains, it is essential that countries adopt active policies linked to increased investment in infrastructure, innovation, science and technology, as well as inclusive financing policies that leverage small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“This will allow them to climb to rungs that have

more value-added, with improvements in the innovation of processes and products,” ECLAC said.

In the document, ECLAC also calls on countries

to particularly strengthen regional integration and co-operation, since they represent an essential path for diversifying the region’s production and exportation structure.

Although South American and Central American countries export twice the number of products to other regional partners than they do to the United States and the European Union, and eight times the volume exported to China, there is still a low level of trade within Latin America and the Caribbean, with a limited degree of productive integration.

“In 2013 the percentage of the region’s exports going to countries within the same area was 19 per cent, whereas the European Union exported 59 per cent of its total sales to members of the same group, and Asia-Pacific countries, 50 per cent,” the report said.

“The regional market is key to developing value chains in Latin America and the Caribbean. Deepening this market is an indispensable strategy for advancing towards a global insertion that is more conducive to structural change,” Alicia Barcena, ECLAC’s executive secretary, emphasised upon presenting the document.

For that reason, ECLAC indicates that countries’ industrial policies must be reformulated and shifted from an exclusively national vision to a regional or sub-regional one in which protectionism and competition to attract foreign investment through “incentive wars” are avoided, while at the same time these nations make progress towards a regional market with shared rules.

“Improving the quality of regional countries’ global insertion is fundamental for advancing towards sustainable and inclusive growth. This requires co-ordinating industrial and trade policies,” Barcena said.

The report also analyses the intra-regional and extra-regional relations of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), putting a central focus on the need to strengthen regional integration in the production arena. In fact, said ECLAC, the proportion of intra-regional trade for countries in Caricom does not exceed 15 per cent.

The document concludes that officials must urgently address the obstacles hindering the transformation of Caribbean countries’ production and exportation structures.

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Latin America and Caribbean exports stagnate for 3rd straight year

Chikungunya spreads in Latin America

Saturday, September 27, 2014 | 8:49 AM    

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — An excruciating mosquito-borne illness that arrived less than a year ago in the Americas is raging across the region, leaping from the Caribbean to the Central and South American mainland, and infecting more than 1 million people. Some cases already have emerged in the United States.

While the disease, called chikungunya, usually is not fatal, the epidemic has overwhelmed hospitals, cut economic productivity and caused its sufferers days of pain and misery. And the count of victims is soaring.

In El Salvador, health officials report nearly 30,000 suspected cases, up from 2,300 at the beginning of August, and hospitals are filled with people with the telltale signs of the illness, including joint pain so severe it can be hard to walk.

“The pain is unbelievable,” said Catalino Castillo, a 39-year-old seeking treatment at a San Salvador hospital. “It’s been 10 days and it won’t let up.”

Venezuelan officials reported at least 1,700 cases as of Friday, and the number is expected to rise. Neighbouring Colombia has around 4,800 cases but the health ministry projects there will be nearly 700,000 by early 2015. Brazil has now recorded its first locally transmitted cases, which are distinct from those involving people who contracted the virus while travelling in an infected area.

Hardest hit has been the Dominican Republic, with half the cases reported in the Americas. According to the Pan American Health Organization, chikungunya has spread to at least two dozen countries and territories across the Western Hemisphere since the first case was registered in French St. Martin in late 2013.

There have been a few locally transmitted cases in the U.S., all in Florida, and it has the potential to spread farther, experts say, but Central and South America are particularly vulnerable.

“There are going to be some very large populations at risk down there, much larger than the Caribbean,” Weaver said.

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Chikungunya spreads in Latin America

Russia hoping Cuba can help spur trade with Latin America

Peter J. Marzalik

MOSCOW, Russia, Thursday July 16, 2014, EurasiaNet – Amid deteriorating relations with the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to diversify a Russian economy that is tightly linked to European markets. Fittingly, an old Soviet-era satellite state seems eager to lend a helping hand.Emilio Lozada, Cuba’s ambassador to Russia, led a trade delegation in June to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, a resource-rich republic located 500 miles east of Moscow on the Volga River. Garcia met with Tatarstan’s chief executive, Rustam Minnikhanov, to discuss Cuba’s efforts to emulate the “Tatarstan model,” which has seen the autonomous republic emerge as one of Russia’s most prosperous regions during the post-Soviet era.

Lozada explained that Cuban officials, in studying Tatarstan’s economic experiences over the past few decades, seek to “find many useful things for ourselves,” the Tatar-Inform news agency reported.

Cuba by no means represents an alternative to Europe, but the Kremlin is still very interested in encouraging Cuban trade. In late May, prior to the Cuban delegation’s trip to Tatarstan, two major Russian energy companies, Rosneft and Zarubezhnetf, signed joint exploration agreements with the Cuban energy concern, Cupet.

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Underscored by its recent gas deal with China, Russia is intent on reorienting trade away from Europe. Toward this end, the Kremlin hopes an expansion of commerce with Cuba could act like a wedge, opening broader ties with Latin American states.

The diversification push stands to make Russia less vulnerable to economic pressure, especially sanctions exerted by the United States and European Union in response to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Annual trade turnover between Russia and Latin America stood at 16.2 billion dollars in 2012, according to International Monetary Fund data.

The Kremlin’s revived interest in Latin America was also evident in Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s recent tour of the region. Lavrov sought to bolster relations with old allies, such as Cuba and Nicaragua, as well as woo traditionally anti-Communist states, especially Chile and Peru.

During their Kazan meeting, Lozada and Minnikhanov discussed ways Tatar businesses in the oil, pharmaceutical, and tourism sectors could help bolster economic development in Cuba.

“I think that this is a very useful undertaking. These contacts were started [back in the Soviet era], and now they need to be restored, to work actively with Cuba; through it they can access all of Latin America,” Shamil Ageev, the chairman of Tatarstan’s Chamber of Commerce, asserted.

While many Russian regions are struggling, Tatarstan has comparatively thrived over the past two decades. The republic produces 32 million tons of oil per year and possesses reserves estimated at more than one billion tonnes. In addition, Tatarstan hosts the Kamaz truck factory, the Kazan helicopter plant, and Tupolev aviation production facilities.

Cuba’s ties to Tatarstan date back to the early 1990s, a time known among Cubans as the special period, when the island’s economy imploded due to the Soviet Union’s collapse and cut-off of aid from Moscow.

“We will never forget that late in the 90s, when our country experienced serious difficulties, Tatarstan opened an economic representation in Cuba,” Ambassador Lozada said in Kazan.

“Cooperation between Russia and Cuba are getting stronger and diverse ties between Tatarstan and Cuba develop within its framework. We are your friends and Tatarstan is open for you,” Mintimer Shaimiev, the former long-time Tatar president who now serves as a senior advisor to the autonomous republic’s government, was quoted as telling the visiting Cuban delegation.

Editor’s note: Peter J. Marzalik is an independent analyst of Islamic affairs in the Russian Federation. This story originally appeared on EurasiaNet.org.

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Russia hoping Cuba can help spur trade with Latin America

FATCA unlikely to impact persistent tax evasion in Latin America

Capital flight from developing countries of the South. (Credit: Tax Justice Network)

Emilio Godoy MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Friday July 4, 2014, IPS - The U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is unlikely to contribute much to combating persistent tax evasion in Latin America, which will require more national and multilateral instruments, experts say. FATCA, as it is better known, was approved in March 2010 and finally came into force on Jul. 1 after a number of delays. It is a reciprocal agreement, which means that other countries may learn which of their citizens have accounts in the United States. The law requires governments and financial institutions worldwide to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) financial information about U.S. citizens who are resident or have assets abroad. “The limiting factor for developing countries is that it is bilateral. Mexico, for example, would benefit from receiving information about its residents who have accounts in the United States, but these residents may also have accounts in other jurisdictions,” analyst Andrés Knobel of the London-based Tax Justice Network told IPS.

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Knobel and other experts consulted by IPS say that tax evasion and avoidance have reached such proportions that firm national policies and multilateral instruments will be needed to combat them. FATCA could coexist with and support these. Knobel also complained that, although there is reciprocity between the U.S and its partners, the exchange is unequal. The U.S. “demands more information from its partners but gives less. The information is supposed to be for tax purposes, but the authorities decide what they use it for,” he said. Under FATCA, banks, investments funds and other financial institutions must identify U.S. citizens’ accounts abroad and notify the IRS of their account numbers, balances, names, addresses and U.S. identification numbers. The law covers investments greater than 50,000 dollars. Institutions that fail to comply risk the withholding of 30 percent of any payments originating in or passing through U.S. territory. The IRS has registered over 77,000 institutions worldwide out of a total of between 200,000 and 400,000 that should adhere to FATCA. In Latin America 3,800 institutions have come to an agreement with the IRS so far, while 800 have not. The U.S. has signed bilateral agreements with over 70 countries, in two categories. The first requires financial institutions to report information about U.S. citizens to their national tax authority, which is to advise the IRS. The second calls for the financial agency to report the information directly to the IRS. “FATCA has potential for preventing tax evasion, but better mechanisms are needed to process the information quickly and take action as a result,” academic Benito Rivera, of the Faculty of Higher Studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told IPS. “Agreements have been signed, but fiscal paradises have not been touched, although some transactions have been identified,” he said. In its report on Tax Administration 2013, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said that in Chile, taxpayers’ fiscal debt had increased continuously between 2005 and 2011. Average growth during this period was 13 percent. The country has a tax burden of nearly 20 percent of GDP. Mexico, with a tax burden of 18 percent, had similar growth figures, although data since 2010 are lacking. This is also the case with Brazil, which has a tax burden of 32 percent, and Colombia, with 17 percent. In Argentina the tax burden has fallen by 48 percent, although the level of tax debt is still high. Its present tax burden is 33 percent. The OECD estimates that at least 500,000 individuals in Latin America have a combined fortune of seven trillion dollars, with no certainty that they are paying appropriate taxes. The Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) puts income tax evasion at nearly 50 percent in Argentina, 47 percent in Chile, 64 percent in Ecuador and 42 percent in Mexico. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also warned of tax avoidance and evasion by means of “financial engineering.” In the document “Spillovers in International Corporate Taxation,” published in May, the IMF indicates that foreign direct investment (FDI) that leaves Brazil turns up in known fiscal paradises like the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. In another example, it says that FDI arriving in El Salvador comes from countries like Panama and the Cayman Islands. “With FATCA, more information will be available, but there will be loopholes for rich companies and individuals to avoid the exchange of their information,” Knobel said. He recalled that “for a long time, organisations have been asking for automatic information exchange. We asked for public registers of final beneficiaries, the real owners of any financial activity that takes place.” The U.S.-Mexico FATCA agreement, signed in November 2012, shows the disparity in the information provided. Mexico is required to report the total amount of interest, dividends and other income generated and paid by the account assets, as well as total income from sales of possessions that are recorded in the account. But the U.S. will only inform Mexico of the total amount of interest paid on a deposit account, dividends or any other source of income. In the case of Chile, the national tax authority must ask U.S. account holders for their tax identification number and written consent. It must report annually to the IRS the number and balance of non-consenting accounts. Under the agreement, the U.S. “shall cooperate with Chile to respond to requests to collect and exchange information on accounts held in U.S. financial institutions by residents of Chile.” There are at least 60 tax havens in the world, including U.S. territories like the northeastern state of Delaware, which has big tax discounts. For this reason, Washington has negotiated favourable bilateral agreements. The Tax Justice Network’s 2013 Financial Secrecy Index ranks the U.S. in sixth position, behind Switzerland, Luxemburg and Hong Kong, among others. In Latin America, only Panama is placed among the top 20. In February, the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs criticised the FATCA in its report “Offshore Tax Evasion: The Effort to Collect Unpaid Taxes on Billions in Hidden Offshore Accounts.” The report criticised the thresholds for reporting accounts, the failure to aggregate data from different institutions and potential tax evasion through offshore shell companies. The law will not solve the problem of reporting information; its regulations have created a number of loopholes, the report says. “It will take a few years for it to meet its goals. It would be desirable for the competent authorities to meet regularly to analyse procedures and speed of action,” Rivera said.

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FATCA unlikely to impact persistent tax evasion in Latin America

Latin Americans cheering for each other, for now

Sunday, June 22, 2014 | 2:35 PM    

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Latin Americans are cheering for each other at the World Cup. But that camaraderie will disappear in a few days when the knockout games arrive.

For now, there’s Latin fusion.

Brazilian Samba is drowned out by Mexican Mariachi or by Cumbias from Colombia. Mexicans roam around in giant, drooping sombreros. Argentines wear masks depicting Maradona, Lionel Messi or Pope Francis. Uruguayans lug around thermos bottles of hot water for their famous herbal tea, called mate.

Latin Americans have felt at home in Brazil, and the results show.

Four have already clinched a spot in the knockout stage — Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica. And four more have a chance to make the final 16: Uruguay, Mexico, Ecuador and host Brazil.

Fans from neighbouring countries have swarmed into Brazil — in buses, vans, and at least one on a bicycle all the way from Mexico.

Argentines blanketed Rio’s Copacabana beach, spilling out of trucks and motor-homes parked from one end to the other along the 4-kilometer-long (2.5-mile) promenade. Most arrived without tickets. About 50,000 were encamped in Rio, and the Argentine embassy expects 100,000 for the final group match against Nigeria on Wednesday in Porto Alegre.

Fans have hugged, drank, danced in costumes and belted out a cappella renditions of national anthems at the kickoff. Stadiums have been deafening, driven partly by passionate Latinos.

“The influx of Latin American supporters is above our expectations,” said Roberto Alzir, a top Rio de Janeiro state security official in charge of policing the World Cup.

There have also been a few ugly street scenes, one with Brazilians and Argentines in Belo Horizonte hurling beer bottles and insults at each other. In Rio, about 100 Chileans fans rampaged through the Maracana media area, and at least 10 Argentine fans were detained after jumping fences at the famous stadium to see their team play Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“When they said the World Cup would be in Brazil, we started packing,” said Argentine Juan Jose Martinez, who drove 36 hours in a van non-stop from Cordoba, Argentina, with friend Pedro Luis Esquivel and two others.

It’s been costly. Argentina’s recent debt crisis has seen the peso plunge in value against Brazil’s real.

Munching on a fast-food burger and fries, the two estimated the price for the meal in Brazil was four times that in Argentina.

“It’s not Brazil’s fault,” said Martinez, who works as a casino croupier. “It’s the fault of Argentina with the wrecked economy we have. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so you do it.”

The next two World Cups in Russia and Qatar will be too far away, not to mention language problems. Though Brazilians speak Portuguese, Spanish speakers can usually communicate with them- or guess what’s being said.

“I feel very at home here,” said Cristhian Recalde, who travelled from Guayaquil, Ecuador, with his brother Roger.

“I spent 1 1/2 years in Europe — in Spain. They speak Spanish, but I did not feel as welcome there.”

The World Cup is a double treat for many — football and vacation.

Roger Recalde called the World Cup one of South America’s “natural wonders.” He listed it with Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina; Machu Picchu in Peru; and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.

“I had a list of the places I wanted to go in South America, and I can check Brazil and the World Cup off the list,” he said.

Unless they are playing against another Latin team, everyone seems to be cheering for neighbours.

“This is a cup where we want the South American continent to win,” Roger said.

The charity may end when the knockout round starts Saturday.

Mexico or Brazil could face Chile. Colombia could get Uruguay or Costa Rica. Argentina might play Ecuador.

In 2010, three of the four semi-finalists were European. In 2006, all four were. But Latin fans can be encouraged. All previous six World Cups held in Latin America have been won by Latin Americans.

Many Argentines say, if eliminated, they would root for any Latin American team, except Chile, which sided with Britain during the 1982 Falklands War.

Other Latin Americans are willing to cheer for others — but not Argentina.

“We know the reputation of Argentines is not to so good around Latin America,” said Martinez, the casino croupier. He blamed that on residents of the capital Buenos Aires, who like big-city dwellers in New York or Paris, can be disliked in the rest of the country.

Pedro Astudillo and his wife Paola Zuleta traveled from Antofagasta in the far north of Chile with son Nicolas and daughter Valentina.

The boys took in a game.

“And the girls went shopping,” Pedro said.

The trip cost 6 million Chilean pesos, or US$11,000.

Mexican brothers Francisco Sanchez and Alfredo Machuca, from the U.S.-Mexico border city of Matamoros, said they would support any Latin American team if Mexico were eliminated.

“But to be honest, we identify more with people in Colombia than others from the south like Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil,” Sanchez said.

His brother, wearing a green Mexico shirt, chimed in.

“We have our tequila, and Colombians have guaro — or aguardiente — which we love.”

The United States and England are often described as two countries separated by a common language. Sanchez said Spanish-speakers face the same problem.

The Spanish word “buey” can be one source of confusion. The word, pronounced like “whey,” means ox or, specifically, a castrated bull. Mexicans toss it out as a jestful insult to such an extent it’s become equivalent to the American slang “dude.”

Non-Mexicans are puzzled when they hear themselves being spoken to as cattle.

“That confuses for sure,” Sanchez said. “It would sound like you’re calling someone an animal.”

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Latin Americans cheering for each other, for now

Latin Americans cheering for each other, for now

Sunday, June 22, 2014 | 2:35 PM    

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Latin Americans are cheering for each other at the World Cup. But that camaraderie will disappear in a few days when the knockout games arrive.

For now, there’s Latin fusion.

Brazilian Samba is drowned out by Mexican Mariachi or by Cumbias from Colombia. Mexicans roam around in giant, drooping sombreros. Argentines wear masks depicting Maradona, Lionel Messi or Pope Francis. Uruguayans lug around thermos bottles of hot water for their famous herbal tea, called mate.

Latin Americans have felt at home in Brazil, and the results show.

Four have already clinched a spot in the knockout stage — Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica. And four more have a chance to make the final 16: Uruguay, Mexico, Ecuador and host Brazil.

Fans from neighbouring countries have swarmed into Brazil — in buses, vans, and at least one on a bicycle all the way from Mexico.

Argentines blanketed Rio’s Copacabana beach, spilling out of trucks and motor-homes parked from one end to the other along the 4-kilometer-long (2.5-mile) promenade. Most arrived without tickets. About 50,000 were encamped in Rio, and the Argentine embassy expects 100,000 for the final group match against Nigeria on Wednesday in Porto Alegre.

Fans have hugged, drank, danced in costumes and belted out a cappella renditions of national anthems at the kickoff. Stadiums have been deafening, driven partly by passionate Latinos.

“The influx of Latin American supporters is above our expectations,” said Roberto Alzir, a top Rio de Janeiro state security official in charge of policing the World Cup.

There have also been a few ugly street scenes, one with Brazilians and Argentines in Belo Horizonte hurling beer bottles and insults at each other. In Rio, about 100 Chileans fans rampaged through the Maracana media area, and at least 10 Argentine fans were detained after jumping fences at the famous stadium to see their team play Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“When they said the World Cup would be in Brazil, we started packing,” said Argentine Juan Jose Martinez, who drove 36 hours in a van non-stop from Cordoba, Argentina, with friend Pedro Luis Esquivel and two others.

It’s been costly. Argentina’s recent debt crisis has seen the peso plunge in value against Brazil’s real.

Munching on a fast-food burger and fries, the two estimated the price for the meal in Brazil was four times that in Argentina.

“It’s not Brazil’s fault,” said Martinez, who works as a casino croupier. “It’s the fault of Argentina with the wrecked economy we have. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so you do it.”

The next two World Cups in Russia and Qatar will be too far away, not to mention language problems. Though Brazilians speak Portuguese, Spanish speakers can usually communicate with them- or guess what’s being said.

“I feel very at home here,” said Cristhian Recalde, who travelled from Guayaquil, Ecuador, with his brother Roger.

“I spent 1 1/2 years in Europe — in Spain. They speak Spanish, but I did not feel as welcome there.”

The World Cup is a double treat for many — football and vacation.

Roger Recalde called the World Cup one of South America’s “natural wonders.” He listed it with Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina; Machu Picchu in Peru; and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.

“I had a list of the places I wanted to go in South America, and I can check Brazil and the World Cup off the list,” he said.

Unless they are playing against another Latin team, everyone seems to be cheering for neighbours.

“This is a cup where we want the South American continent to win,” Roger said.

The charity may end when the knockout round starts Saturday.

Mexico or Brazil could face Chile. Colombia could get Uruguay or Costa Rica. Argentina might play Ecuador.

In 2010, three of the four semi-finalists were European. In 2006, all four were. But Latin fans can be encouraged. All previous six World Cups held in Latin America have been won by Latin Americans.

Many Argentines say, if eliminated, they would root for any Latin American team, except Chile, which sided with Britain during the 1982 Falklands War.

Other Latin Americans are willing to cheer for others — but not Argentina.

“We know the reputation of Argentines is not to so good around Latin America,” said Martinez, the casino croupier. He blamed that on residents of the capital Buenos Aires, who like big-city dwellers in New York or Paris, can be disliked in the rest of the country.

Pedro Astudillo and his wife Paola Zuleta traveled from Antofagasta in the far north of Chile with son Nicolas and daughter Valentina.

The boys took in a game.

“And the girls went shopping,” Pedro said.

The trip cost 6 million Chilean pesos, or US$11,000.

Mexican brothers Francisco Sanchez and Alfredo Machuca, from the U.S.-Mexico border city of Matamoros, said they would support any Latin American team if Mexico were eliminated.

“But to be honest, we identify more with people in Colombia than others from the south like Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil,” Sanchez said.

His brother, wearing a green Mexico shirt, chimed in.

“We have our tequila, and Colombians have guaro — or aguardiente — which we love.”

The United States and England are often described as two countries separated by a common language. Sanchez said Spanish-speakers face the same problem.

The Spanish word “buey” can be one source of confusion. The word, pronounced like “whey,” means ox or, specifically, a castrated bull. Mexicans toss it out as a jestful insult to such an extent it’s become equivalent to the American slang “dude.”

Non-Mexicans are puzzled when they hear themselves being spoken to as cattle.

“That confuses for sure,” Sanchez said. “It would sound like you’re calling someone an animal.”

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Latin Americans cheering for each other, for now

VIDEO: Rio: Latin America"s first "smart city"?

As well as playing host to the World Cup and Olympics, Rio de Janeiro has ambitions to become Latin America’s first smart city.

From the operation centre into which data from 900 cameras around the city is fed, to the famously chaotic favelas, technology is playing a role in improving the lives of citizens.

Jane Wakefield reports.

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VIDEO: Rio: Latin America"s first "smart city"?