Uruguay Is Proof That Democracy Can Still Deliver

Uruguay Is Proof That Democracy Can Still Deliver
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou speaks during a press conference in the Executive Tower in Montevideo, Uruguay, Jan. 23, 2021 (AP photo by Matilde Campodonico).

Last week, Uruguay’s central bank reported that the country’s economy grew by 7.7 percent in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year. The news confirmed that the South American country has returned to its spectacular pattern of 17 consecutive years of economic growth, after a brief interruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

As in much of the world, Uruguay’s growth is likely to slow amid efforts to tame inflation. But the small Southern Cone country, tucked away on the Atlantic coast and wedged between neighboring giants Brazil and Argentina, remains a remarkable success story in areas that go way beyond the economy.

We don’t hear much about Uruguay. It stays out of the headlines precisely because just about everything is going so well.

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