What Latin America’s success story can teach its neighbours

A VISITOR’S LASTING memory of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, may be that it’s not very memorable at all. Unlike the fashionable beaches of Rio de Janeiro or the splendour of Buenos Aires’s poshest districts, few parts of the city stand out. The centre (pictured) is pleasant but many buildings look in need of a lick of paint. The most famous feature is the Rambla, a coastal avenue which is possibly the longest continuous pavement in the world.

Montevideo’s dullness, however, is a symptom of Uruguay’s quiet success. The country boasts Latin America’s largest middle class, comprising almost two-thirds of the population, compared with an average of around a third elsewhere. It has the region’s highest income per capita, some of its lowest levels of inequality, and has more or less eliminated extreme poverty. In 2019 just 0.1% of the population earned less than $1.90 a day, according to the World Bank. Its capital may lack glamour, but it is short of corruption, too.

And whereas other Latin American governments floundered during the pandemic, Uruguay’s took a sensible middle course. Luis Lacalle Pou, the centre-right president, focused on vaccinations and testing rather than long lockdowns. Fully 70% of the country of 3.5m received two jabs in six months. It was the first country in the region to reopen schools....