RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to a recent report from the Treasury Department, investors from the United States are rapidly fleeing the once most promising and three largest countries of Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina).
A total of US$16.3 billion of US investments pulled out of Brazil, US$11.5 billion left Mexico and US$6.1 billion have departed Argentina in February 2021, compared to the same month of 2020.
But in relative terms, it means 25% of the US investments in Argentina chose to leave, as did 10% of the capital invested in Brazil, while only 7% of what had been placed in Mexico chose to seek other destinations.
Most of the “swallow capitals”, as they are called in Latin America, correspond to government bonds and corporate securities. According to the official report, Mexican stocks, bonds, and corporate securities in the hands of US investors totaled US$152.8 billion. In the case of Mexico, 3% of the flows correspond to corporate bonds and 9% to government papers.
Analyst agrees that the peculiar ruling styles of Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Mexico’s Andrés López Obrador, who are regarded as “populist” or even “extremist” are other elements that often scare American investors.
The same criterion has been applied to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Not surprisingly, Russia placed fourth in the withdrawal report.