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1 1 (February 8, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govekmv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ a Research Service Latin America and the Caribbean: Issues for the 118th Congress February 8, 2023 According to the Biden Administration's National Security Strategy, No region impacts the United States more directly than the Western Hemisphere. This assertion relates to the region's extensive commercial and migration ties to the United States, the economic and security benefits the United States derives from democratic stability in the region, and the potential threats posed by criminal organizations or geopolitical competitors operating in the region. By some accounts, the region's economies and democracies have performed worse over the past decade than at any time since the 1980s. Given the potential impact conditions in the region may have on U.S. interests, the 118h Congress may monitor developments in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Biden Administration's approach to the region. Congress also may shape U.S. policy in the region through appropriations measures or other legislation. Challenges in the Region Over the past decade, living standards have stagnated or declined in many Latin American and Caribbean countries. Annual economic growth in the region averaged 0.6% per year from 2014 to 2019, following a decline in international prices for the region's commodity exports, and contracted by 7.0% in 2020 during the first year of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. Although the region's economies grew by an average of 7.0% in 2021 and 3.9% in 2022, average per capita incomes have yet to fully recover and Latin America's poverty rate (32.1%) remains above pre-pandemic levels. Many governments in the region ran large fiscal deficits as they enacted economic support measures to mitigate the 2020 downturn and accelerate economic recovery. This increased debt burden, combined with rising financing costs, has left many governments with limited resources to respond to slowing economic growth (projected to average 1.8% in 2023) or address popular demands for more generous social welfare systems, higher quality public services, and improved public safety. Governments' inability or unwillingness to meet citizens' expectations, or rein in corruption, appears to be fueling anti-establishment sentiment throughout the region. Several countries have experienced large- scale protests, and candidates from incumbent political parties have lost 16 consecutive democratic presidential elections in Latin America since 2018. In some cases, electorates have turned to outsiders Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12092 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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