Latin America has a high population and although major cities such as Buenos Aires and Lima are overcrowded, the continent does not have that problem. The workforce varies between those who have no education and those who attend the countries' universities that have some of the highest standards in the world. There is high unemployment and low employability.

Extensive farmland, rainforests, the Pampas and river and oceans are just a few of the natural resources that Latin America possesses. The people grow corn, soybeans, coffee, coca, orange juice and many other products. The Amazon basin supports 30% of all known plant and animal species, including 2,500 types of fish, 50,000 types of plants, and untold millions of insects. The Pampas are excellent for horse wrangling and cattle-raising. Latin America's major rivers and two oceans provide easy transportation and extensive fishing.

Mineral resources are very rich. Forty eight percent of the world's copper and forty two percent of the world silver are mined in Latin America. Other products include petroleum, tin, bauxite, iron ore and natural gas to name a few.

However although Latin America is rich in resources, incompetent and corrupt governments, cutthroat multinational corporations and a wilful neglect of future prosperity have all contributed to an economy on the verge of implosion. Neo-colonial powers have taken much and contributed little to the society they exploit.

The Green Revolution was an attempt to exploit the farmland. High yield hybrid seeds, developed in the first world, and were sold, along with special pesticides and fertiliser, to Latin America and other third world countries. They managed to treble Mexico's food output from 1945 to 1975. Food supply kept pace with the population explosion. However the seeds required heavy doses of fertiliser and petroleum products were a key ingredient in the production of the fertiliser. The oil crises made the fertiliser too expensive, and the farmers were unable to afford it. Plants were also more susceptible to water logging and disease. Ultimately the Green Revolution was termed a failure for although food production was dramatically increased, the poor could not afford to buy food. Recently farmers have noticed a dramatic drop in soil fertility. The Green Revolution could have had disastrous affects on biodiversity.

Farmers in Latin America are using genetically modified seeds in order to assure their livelihoods. Twenty percent of soybeans in last years crop were genetically altered. MERCOSUR countries simply cannot afford not to exploit the advantages offered by biotechnology, as most countries do not have agricultural subsidies. The GM seeds are trademarked to five multination corporations who have complete control. Farmers have been sued for attempting to replant seeds.

Three countries now rely on the production and sale of coca, the plant used in the manufacture of cocaine, to maintain their economies afloat and profit from their natural resources. Small farmers are finding it more profitable due to lack of taxes and control by corporations. In Columbia the E. U. and U. S. are funding coca-spraying with pesticides and fungi, destroying the small farmers who depend on it although it has a negligible influence on drug trade. The Columbian Army to which E. U. and U. S. aid is going, is allied with illegal drug traffickers and the use of the fungus in Colombia would damage crops other than cocaine, and develop mutations that could lethally affect humans with immune deficiencies. A survey carried out by Professor Jeremy Bigwood found that that the mortality rate among hospital patients who were immune-deficient and infected by the fungus was 76 per cent, which amounts to biological warfare. So although the people of Columbia are exploiting the resources available to them, neo-colonial powers are attempting to thwart their progress.

Another example of first world interference is the rainforest, where multinational corporations such as Smurfit Carton de Colombia who produce cardboard. In 1974 the company received a concession of a species-rich tract of rainforest with high biodiversity. When they sold it in 1993, in favour of another area, they left the environmental, social, economic and cultural devastation. The Irish-owned corporation stole land from the Paez Indians, brought criminal charges against those of its workers who organised or joined trade unions and allowed forest fires to rage out of control, in order to plant the devastated territory.

The exploitation of Latin America's physical resources has been a mixed success, controlled by neo-colonials in a majority of cases. Capital to begin extraction of raw materials such as silver and copper, came from private or first world government loans and foreign investors. The system was successful until the oil crises and prices soared. Suddenly Latin America found itself unable to pay off the loans and the countries became dependant on trade. Most countries in Latin America have one major export. In addition the raw material is exported to one importer and the country is thereby dependant not only on the world economy but also on the stability of its export partner. The first world imports raw materials from Latin America and exports the finished products back to them at exorbitant prices.

Thus although Latin America is rich in human, natural and physical resources, it has not been able to profit from this capital. For the major characteristics of resource exploitation in Latin America is the continued interference from neo-colonial powers and multinational corporations, which leaves the area impoverished, having destroyed much of its biodiversity and leached the capital from the host country leaving it with a crippling debt. It is not positive exploitation.

1 Rodney and Graham, Reports of the current state (1818)