[cloudmountain]

Of more concern is their abysmal poverty, from corrupt politics, police, banking and military...all thanks to the few VERY wealthy, powerful families who run everything.

But, then, that's the story for every country south of our border, for Asia and for Africa.

[Bookshelf]

There is an exception to your paradigm: If you could combine the states of Parana, Sta. Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Mato Grasso do Sul, you would have a nation as prosperous and as advanced as any in South America. And the state itself would be larger than Paraguay, Uruguay, or equal in size to both Paraguay and Uruguay combined.