Over the last decade, politics in traditionally liberal Latin America has begun to shift to
the right, with nations like Venezuela and Brazil withdrawing support for their liberal
leaders.
But there is one country that remains firmly to the left - Uruguay.
This quiet nation is considered to be the most progressive in South America, with a
strong social safety net, comprehensive individual rights, tolerance, and inclusion.
So we wanted to know, how powerful is Uruguay?
Well, in the scope of Latin America, Uruguay is tiny.
At less than 70,000 square miles the entire country could fit inside the US state of Missouri.
Uruguay is home to nearly three-and-a-half million people, roughly 90 percent of whom
are of European descent, as the country saw an influx of Spanish and Italian immigrants
in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Uruguay also has a small economy.
Its GDP of roughly $50 billion dollars is comparable to Panama or Costa Rica.
That said, its economy is stable, with a regionally high per capita income, low unemployment and
a virtually no extreme poverty.
During the 2008 global economic crisis, Uruguay was the only South American nation that avoided
a full-blown recession, and today it has the largest middle class and the lowest levels
of corruption in the region.
It also ranks high in measures of economic freedom, human development, standard of living
and institutional stability.
Uruguay’s economy is built on two main characteristics: a free market and strong social support.
The country was Latin America’s first ‘welfare state’, due to high taxation and robust
social spending, even earning it the nickname “the Switzerland of South America”.
Recent regulatory reforms have made doing business and investing in Uruguay extremely
efficient, as the cost of licensing is relatively low, and it reportedly takes just seven days
to start a business.
Judging by its government spending, Uruguay seems to prioritize social programs over defense.
The country has a meager military of roughly 25,000 personnel, and a defense budget of
less than half-a-million dollars.
By comparison, neighboring Brazil’s armed forces are roughly 80 times larger, with 2
million personnel, plus nearly $32 billion dollars spent each year on defense.
But despite its low defense budget, Uruguay maintains a robust presence in UN peacekeeping,
contributing more peacekeeping troops per capita than any other country in the world.
Uruguay’s small military is unlikely to be an issue, as the country sees little domestic
dissent and has almost no ongoing international disputes.
Uruguay is widely considered to be the safest and most stable country in Latin America,
and is often the first in the region to embrace liberal causes.
Uruguay legalized women’s suffrage in the early 20th century, legalized abortion in
2012.
Then, in 2013, legalized same sex marriage and became the first country in the world
to fully legalize marijuana.
Uruguay may be the most progressive country in Latin America, but with a small military
and economy, it's not a particularly powerful country on the world's stage.
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Uruguay beats out much of the region in terms of stability, but in population, military
strength and sheer size, Uruguay pales in comparison to its southern neighbor, Brazil.
So how powerful is Brazil, anyway?
Find out more in this video.
Aside from the Brazil military, leading UN peace-keeping missions to Haiti and the Congo,
the military's primary role has been state security, safe guarding a total of 8.5 million
square kilometers of land and 4.4 million square kilometers of territorial waters.
Brazil also operates on large-scale military operations to protect the Amazon rainforest,
which includes jungle defense forces on the ground and an extensive surveillance network
to ensure it's secure.
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