Latin America Power Map
The Rio Times · Power Desk
Latin America Power Index
Key findings
October 2026 edition · derived from the published scores
- Brazil leads the index with 75.0 points, ahead of Mexico on 71.4.
- Brazil does not lead every pillar: Uruguay in state capacity & security (88), Argentina in future resources (68), Mexico in economic relationships (90).
- Mexico is the clearest case of size without state strength: 2nd in economic weight, 12th in state capacity.
- Uruguay punches above its weight: 1st in state capacity despite ranking 11th in economic size.
- On the published alignment rule, 8 of the 14 countries lean towards Washington, 4 hedge and 2 lean towards Beijing.
The index
Rio Times Latin America Power Index · October 2026 edition · six pillars, scored 0 to 100 · weights: Economy 25% · State 20% · Military 15% · Future 15% · Influence 15% · Relations 10%
| Country | Economy | State | Military | Future | Influence | Relations | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Brazil | 89.6 | 55.6 | 100.0 | 66.0 | 71.0 | 58.8 | 75.0 |
| 2. Mexico | 84.5 | 45.8 | 87.7 | 56.7 | 69.9 | 89.7 | 71.4 |
| 3. Chile | 57.8 | 86.3 | 70.2 | 61.5 | 37.6 | 64.5 | 63.6 |
| 4. Argentina | 67.3 | 60.9 | 67.5 | 68.2 | 63.7 | 22.8 | 61.2 |
| 5. Peru | 61.0 | 59.9 | 70.5 | 36.8 | 41.3 | 52.1 | 54.7 |
| 6. Colombia | 60.5 | 50.3 | 90.7 | 33.8 | 28.3 | 37.8 | 51.9 |
| 7. Uruguay | 29.5 | 87.9 | 46.3 | 22.6 | 52.4 | 27.1 | 45.9 |
| 8. Ecuador | 40.7 | 45.3 | 55.3 | 31.0 | 14.1 | 38.8 | 38.2 |
| 9. Costa Rica | 40.5 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 21.3 | 14.0 | 60.4 | 36.5 |
| 10. Paraguay | 33.1 | 54.6 | 41.8 | 12.8 | 21.9 | 52.8 | 36.0 |
| 11. Panama | 33.5 | 63.6 | 11.4 | 22.5 | 15.4 | 57.4 | 34.2 |
| 12. Bolivia | 13.2 | 49.4 | 54.6 | 17.4 | 13.0 | 24.3 | 28.4 |
| 13. Venezuela | 29.1 | 7.9 | 81.2‡ | 38.4 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 27.0 |
| 14. Cuba | 0.0‡ | 53.2 | 45.9‡ | 18.9 | 13.0 | 1.8 | 22.5 |
‡ scored with incomplete data: Military means for Venezuela and Cuba (SIPRI publishes no defence spending; armed forces only); Economic weight for Cuba (fewer than half of the indicators published).
The business lens
For companies, banks and investors · country exposure, strengths and warning signs on fixed thresholds
Country Dossiers Are for Members
Members read the full Power Index dossier for each of the 14 countries:
- all six pillars, with every indicator, its year and its source;
- the business lens: rating, key numbers, strengths and warning signs;
- the edition report as a PDF.
Membership also opens more than 500 members-only guides to living, working and investing in Latin America and Africa.
Become a member: first month US$1
Already a member? Log in. Firms, banks and research teams: the full indicator data and use in client material come with an institutional licence.
Daily Power Watch
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 · today’s signals are news; they do not change the index
Who aligns with whom
Closer to Washington · hedging · closer to Beijing · computed from published data
Closer to Washington
- ArgentinaJavier Milei
- ParaguaySantiago Peña
- PeruKeiko Fujimori
- ColombiaAbelardo de la Espriella
- EcuadorDaniel Noboa
- PanamaJosé Raúl Mulino
- Costa RicaLaura Fernández
- ChileJosé Antonio Kast
Hedging
- BoliviaRodrigo Paz
- BrazilLula
- MexicoClaudia Sheinbaum
- UruguayYamandú Orsi
Closer to Beijing
- CubaMiguel Díaz-Canel
- VenezuelaDelcy Rodríguez
Show the evidence behind the groups: UN votes, trade shares, memberships
The evidence behind the alignment groups
| Country | UN votes with US, % | US share of trade, % | China share of trade, % | BRICS | Belt and Road | Ties with Taiwan | US major non-NATO ally | Shield of the Americas | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 68.0 | 9.1 | 17.0 | — | yes | — | yes | yes | 100 |
| Paraguay | 35.0 | 5.9 | 22.7 | — | — | yes | — | yes | 85 |
| Peru | 9.0 | 17.0 | 30.4 | — | yes | — | yes | yes | 73 |
| Colombia | 8.0 | 26.5 | 17.9 | — | yes | — | yes | yes | 72 |
| Ecuador | 12.0 | 23.0 | 20.6 | — | yes | — | — | yes | 46 |
| Panama | 12.0 | 17.1 | 14.3 | — | — | — | — | yes | 46 |
| Costa Rica | 10.0 | 42.0 | 10.6 | — | yes | — | — | yes | 45 |
| Chile | 8.0 | 16.9 | 33.0 | — | yes | — | — | yes | 44 |
| Bolivia | 2.5 | 4.6 | 21.6 | partner country | yes | — | — | yes | 28 |
| Brazil | 8.0 | 13.4 | 27.1 | member | — | — | yes | — | 16 |
| Mexico | 8.0 | 59.7 | 11.1 | — | — | — | — | — | 16 |
| Uruguay | 8.0 | 9.7 | 19.6 | — | yes | — | — | — | 16 |
| Cuba | 7.0 | 9.8 | 25.7 | partner country | yes | — | — | — | 2 |
| Venezuela | n/a | 23.5 | 28.2 | applied | yes | — | — | — | 0 |
Groups follow a membership rule. Closer to Washington: part of a US security framework (US major non-NATO ally or Shield of the Americas) and not in BRICS. Closer to Beijing: BRICS member, partner or applicant and in no US security framework. Hedging: both, or neither. The score (0 to 100, higher = closer to Washington) orders the countries: UN voting coincidence 30%, memberships 70% (ties with Taiwan count towards Washington). Trade shares are shown as evidence and are not scored. Sources: UN votes with US, %: US Department of State, Voting Practices in the United Nations 2025 2025; US share of trade, %: IMF, International Trade in Goods by partner (IMTS), 2025 2025; China share of trade, %: IMF, International Trade in Goods by partner (IMTS), 2025 2025; BRICS: Statements of the BRICS chair (Brazil 2025, India 2026) 2026; Belt and Road: Government announcements; Belt and Road Portal 2026; Ties with Taiwan: Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2026; US major non-NATO ally: US presidential determinations (Federal Register) 2026; Shield of the Americas: Joint Security Declaration, Doral, 5 March 2026, and later government announcements 2026.
The data behind the index
25 indicators · six pillars · latest published edition · year and primary source for each
Indicator Tables Are for Members
Members read the full Power Index dossier for each of the 14 countries:
- all six pillars, with every indicator, its year and its source;
- the business lens: rating, key numbers, strengths and warning signs;
- the edition report as a PDF.
Membership also opens more than 500 members-only guides to living, working and investing in Latin America and Africa.
Become a member: first month US$1
Already a member? Log in. Firms, banks and research teams: the full indicator data and use in client material come with an institutional licence.
Open data: core scores CSV · JSON (licence CC BY 4.0, attribution required) · Methodology. Full indicator data: institutional licence.
The Rio Times Latin America Power Index measures the power resources of 14 Latin American countries with 25 indicators in six pillars, all taken from primary sources in their latest published edition: the IMF, the World Bank, SIPRI, the UN, UNDP, UNCTAD, USGS, Transparency International, V-Dem, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, S&P Global, UN Tourism and national tourism statistics, and Brand Finance.
Each indicator is oriented so that a higher value means more power, size measures are taken in logarithms, and every indicator is scaled from 0 (weakest of the 14) to 100 (strongest). A pillar is the average of its indicators; the index is the weighted average of the pillars: Economic weight 25%, State capacity & security 20%, Military means 15%, Future resources 15%, Diplomatic & cultural influence 15%, Economic relationships 10%.
No editorial judgement and no artificial-intelligence model enters the score. The index changes only with a new data edition; the daily signals on this page are news, not score changes. Alignment groups follow a published membership rule (US security frameworks and BRICS); UN voting orders the countries within each group, and trade shares are shown as evidence.
Cite as: The Rio Times (2026). Latin America Power Index, October 2026 edition (version 2026.10). https://www.riotimesonline.com/latin-america-power-map/. Data: CC BY 4.0, attribution required.
How to cite
Please cite the edition you used.The Rio Times (2026). Latin America Power Index, October 2026 edition (version 2026.10). https://www.riotimesonline.com/latin-america-power-map/
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For institutions
The ranking, the index and pillar scores and the core-score data are free under CC BY 4.0 with attribution; country dossiers and the report are for members. Companies, banks, exchanges and research teams can add an institutional licence: the full indicator dataset, 48-hour early access to each edition, country dossiers delivered within two working days, alerts when a watched country’s score, rank, rating or alignment group changes, a quarterly briefing from the Rio Times Power Desk, and use of the index in client material without attribution. See licence tiers and prices or write to [email protected].