Bolivian electric car “Quantum”

Quantum is tiny…it can take three passengers. Its maximum speed is 55 kms per hour. Its range is 55 kms per charge. The production capacity is 60 cars a month. 

But the tiny Quantum is Big Pride for Bolivia. The company, based in the city of Cochabamba, has produced 1,500 vehicles so far. It also makes motorcycles, electric bicycles and three wheelers. The cost of the car is around 6000 US Dollars. Quantum imported a few EV models from China, did some reverse engineering and developed its own model. Even now about fifty percent of the components are imported from China.

Electric car means use of Lithium, which is plenty in Bolivia which has one of the largest reserves in the world. But the Lithium deposits have not yet been exploited commercially because of a Bolivian nationalist condition for production. The country does not want to export the raw material but wants to produce finished product. No foreign company has found a viable way to fulfill this condition so far. Also, there are some technical challenges to extract the lithium from the Bolivian salt flats. This means Quantum has to import Lithium batteries for some more years before sourcing them locally. Meanwhile, Quantum has signed an agreement with the state lithium company to work together toward the goal of putting Bolivian batteries in their vehicles. 

More information in https://restofworld.org/2022/quantum-motors-bolivia-electric-cars/

Bolivia is a small market of 11 million people with a relatively low per capita income. There is no other car manufacturing or any other significant industry in the country. Bolivia lives on export of gas, gold and soy. Bolivia exported gold worth 2 billion dollars to India last year. India’s exports to Bolivia were 118 million dollars. Pharmaceuticals and vehicles including motorcycles were the main export items

Mapuches of Chile are unique among the indigenous people of Latin America

 Mapuches of Chile are unique among the indigenous people of Latin America

The Mapuches are the only indigenous people in Latin America who fought fiercely against the Spanish invaders and forced them to sign a peace agreement through the Parlamento de Quilín in 1641. Under this agreement, Mapuches were given official recognition as an independent people and Bio Bio river was fixed as the southern frontier of the Spanish. The Spanish King Felipe IV ratified the parlamento in 1643—offering a level of official recognition by the crown that no other Indigenous group in the Western Hemisphere ever received.

In his 1569 epic poem “La Araucana,” Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, a Spanish soldier, extolled the virtues of the Mapuche in a narrative based on his experiences in the field. “La Araucana” became one of the best-known epic poems of the era. 
 
The Chilean oligarchs, who took over the rule of the country after independence from Spain, have grabbed the indigenous lands and marginalized the people.
 
In recent years, the indigenous people, who form more than ten percent of the population, have been protesting for restoration of their lands and recognition of their culture. The new draft constitution of Chile recognizes the languages and tradition of indigenous people including the Mapuches, the largest group. In fact, the first president of the new constituent assembly was a Mapuche lady academic Elisa Loncon. 

                                                               Elisa Loncon

Hopefully the draft constitution will be approved in the referendum on 4 September. If not, the indigenous will continue their protests.
 
More in the Americas Quarterly article..https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/when-chiles-indigenous-made-the-spanish-back-down/#.YuKhevBHjIA.twitter

Latin American politics and international relations

“Latin American politics and international relations” – some points I made in my lecture at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, on 20 July 2022
 

Latin American politics and international relations are more colourful, eventful, exciting, explosive and distinct from other parts of the world.  The history of Latin American politics is filled with dramas, comedies and tragedies. The region is known for crazy caudillos, bloody military coups, brutal dictators, glorious revolutions, deadly guerilla wars and fierce ideological competition between Marxism, Maoism, Leninism and Trotskyism. In fact, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City in 1941.
 
A Bengali revolutionary MN Roy had added to the colour of Latin American politics.  He was a co-founder of the Communist Party of Mexico before he came back to found the Communist party of India. He spent over two years in Mexico from 1917 to 1919. When he travelled to Russia for a Communist conference, the Mexican government had given him a diplomatic passport with the false name of Roberto Vila Garcia to avoid the British and American harassment due to his communist activities. Roy called Mexico as 'the land of his rebirth'. 
The politics of Latin America has evolved in four stages:
 
First- Era of caudillos and oligarchs from the 1920s to 1950. 
 
Second - Era of cold war politics 1950-1980. In the name of the war on communism, hundreds of thousands of leftists were hunted, detained, tortured and killed by the military dictatorships supported by the US. The defining moments of this era were:
1954 overthrow of the democratically elected leftist president Arbanz of Guatemala and installation of a military dictatorship
1959 Cuban Revolution was an inspiration to leftists in the region. The iconic leaders Fidel Castro and Che Guevara had impact and influence around the world. 
1973 overthrow of the leftist government of Allende followed by the brutalities the Pinochet dictatorship was a shock to the region. 
1979 Sandinista Revolution in 1979 and the overthrow of the US-backed Somoza dictatorship was yet another moment of celebration of the Left.
 
Third- Transition period 1980-1990 when the military dictatorships ended and democracies were restored. But the fragile democracies were subjected to imposition of neoliberal policies of the Washington Consensus. This had worsened the poverty and inequality in the region.
 
Fourth- Era of Pink Tide since 2000.  In the elections held in the first decade of the century, people voted for leftist leaders like Lula, Lugo, Vasquez, Correa and Chavez who had agendas for the poor. The high commodity prices and global demand had certainly helped the leftist governments who had brought down poverty levels. However some leftist governments were voted out in the second decade because of issues of corruption and abuse of power. Rightists were elected in some countries such as Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. But in the last few years, the Left has bounced back. Mexico and Colombia have elected leftist governments for the first time in the last seven decades. In Brazil, Lula is expected to come back to power in the October 2022 elections. This will complete the Latin American circle of the left. This is the first time that the seven largest and most important Latin American countries with the biggest markets – Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Venezuela - will all be ruled by leftist governments. This is unprecedented in the history of the region.
The leftist authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua need to open up, reform and become democratic. Until then these countries would be black marks for Left in the region.
The democracies of the region have now become more stable and stronger. Political power has moved out of the barracks and oligarchic mansions to the streets. Top-down politics has given way to bottoms-up. It is the new empowered masses who matter the most in the elections and who drive the political and economic agenda of the region. Obviously they elect those leaders and parties who have the agenda for their welfare. If the elected presidents fail to fulfill their promises, the masses vote them out in the next elections. In a few cases, the masses have brought down elected presidents through agitations and protests even before the completion of their terms. This had happened in Brazil in 1992, in Argentina in 2002, in Bolivia in 2003 and 2005 and in Ecuador in 2000 and 2005. This is good for the long term stability of democracies in the region.
The democracies have become more inclusive and representative. Previously excluded sections of the society have now come to power. The most emblematic of this is the election of Evo Morales as the President of Bolivia in 2005 and his reelection in 2009 and 2014. This is the first time in the history of Bolivia and in South America, a native Indian had become President. Although 60% of the Bolivians are native Indians, they were kept outside the political and economic positions in the last five hundred years. The election of Morales is a moment of pride and honor for the 40 million native Indians in Latin America. For the first time Afro-Latinas have become vice presidents in the region in Costa Rica and Colombia.
The Latin American leftist presidents are a challenge to the traditional hegemony of US. 
Costa Rica has made history in the world by having abolished its armed forces in 1948. It is a civilisational advance. Costa Rica has remained as a beacon of solid and vibrant democratic stability and maturity in Latin America in the last seven decades The country proclaims proudly that they spend their money on education and healthcare instead of arms. 
 
The resurgent pink tide in Latin America is good news for India since the leftist governments, in general, seek closer cooperation and partnership with India to address common developmental challenges in a democratic way. They are keen to import more Indian generic medicines to reduce the cost of health care. They invite Indian IT companies to open more software centres in the region to help with employment and skilling of their human resources. India’s success stories in poverty alleviation, affirmative actions for empowerment of underprivileged and emergence as an IT powerhouse resonate more with the leftist leaders. The leftist governments would be more willing to collaborate with India in UN, WTO and other multilateral fora in the spirit of South-South solidarity. So it is time for India to intensify its engagement with the region.  
 
 

Vastu practice in Argentina

Argentine architect Augustin Gutierrez has specialized in Vastu Shastra for the last ten years. He calls Vastu as the yoga of houses. He has studied it in India. He claims that even the Roman Colliseum, Greek Parthenon, Tajmahal and the headquarters of Microsoft, Intel, Boeing and NASA have been built according to Vastu principles. He provides even online consultation on vastu principles on orientation of house, decoration, furniture arrangement, use of colours, empowering of the house with the five natural elements and mantras for for maintenance of the energy of the house. He publishes a newsletter and is active in social media.
 

 

He also practices and teaches Yoga, meditiation and the Art of Living techniques of respiration.
His website https://vastu.com.ar/

Leftist wins the presidential elections of Colombia and confirms the resurgence of Pink Tide in Latin America

Leftist Gustavo Petro won the presidential elections of Colombia held on Sunday. This is the first time in recent history that a Leftist has become President of Colombia, one of the most politically conservative societies in Latin America. The Left had been  marginalized in the last several decades because of the stigma attached to their perceived association with guerilla groups who had waged wars against the governments. The end of the war with FARC after the 2016 Peace Agreement has since then opened the space in the political discourse for left-wing movements and leaders. 

Petro is not just a leftist. He was member of the M-19 guerrilla movement which he joined at the age of 17 as a student.  The M-19, formed by university students, activists and artists, sought to seize power through violence including holding hostage of the Supreme Court and the embassy of the Dominican Republic. In 1985, Petro was arrested by the army for the crime of illegal possession of arms. He was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison where he was tortured. After his release, he went back to the university and completed studies in economics. M-19 demobilized in 1990 and transformed itself as a political party. Petro took to civilian politics since then and was elected as member of the Chamber of Deputies in the 1991 elections. Later he was elected as mayor of Bogota city and as senator.  

 

Petro’s vice presidential candidate Francia Marquez, has also made history as the first black to become vice president. She is an activist for causes such as social justice, environment, empowerment of women and equal rights for indigenous and people of African-origin, who form ten percent of the population.  Born in a poor rural family, she became pregnant at 16, went to work in the local gold mines and as domestic worker during her law studies. She had faced numerous death threats from mining mafia during her environmental campaign.

 

Petro has an ambitious and progressive agenda to reduce poverty and inequality. He has proposed pension, tax, health and agricultural reforms. He has promised free university education and high taxes on the rich people, unproductive land and on the extractive industries. His agenda includes basic income for poor, single mothers and pensions for women who are stay-at-home mothers. He has proposed creation of a Ministry of Equality under Vice President Marquez to address the issues of disparity. As part of his environmental policy, Petro has proposed a ban on new oil projects and advocated moving Colombia away from dependence on fossil fuels. He has also pledged to fully implement  the 2016 peace deal with FARC  and seek talks with the still-active ELN guerrillas.

Petro’s election was helped by widespread discontent of the people frustrated by decades of poverty and inequality under conservative leaders.  The young and poor were at the forefront of last year’s protests which were crushed by heavy-handed security forces. Around forty percent of the population are poor while the unemployment rate is above 11 percent. 

Petro’s election confirms the recent trend of the anti-establishment wave in Latin America. His opponent Hernandez is not affiliated with any major political party and had rejected alliances. His main agenda was anti-corruption.

It is important to note that President Petro will not be able impose any extremist leftist agenda unilaterally and forcefully like Chavez or Ortega. The conservatives continue to have majority in the Congress and Petro’s own party does not have enough strength. This means that Petro has to seek compromise and show flexibility on his legislative proposals with the right wing and centrists. This is an effective check on Petro who tend to go overboard sometimes with his leftist rhetoric and is accused of arrogant and despotic tendencies at times. 

 

Petro will be a challenge for the US which has counted Colombia as their strongest ally and part of their security policy in Latin America. “Colombia is the keystone of U.S. policy in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Biden has said on more than one occasion. Last month US made Colombia as its 17th “Major Non-NATO Ally.” The US has poured billions of dollars into Colombia in the past decades forcing the Colombian governments to give top priority to stop the production and supply of cocaine. The American pressure on the Colombian governments to extradite drug traffickers had provoked the cartels who had unleashed more brutal violence in the country. The Americans had also forced the Colombian authorities to do aerial spray of harmful chemicals to destroy coca plantations causing anger among the peasants whose livelihood have been hurt. But Petro will not obediently implement the American agenda unlike his predecessors. He proposes an update to the existing bilateral Free Trade Agreement with US to make it “more just.” He has proposed legalizing marihuana and is against aerial fumigation and militarization of coca eradication. He has promised to reassess the collaboration with the Americans on the drug issue.

 

Despite the killing of Pablo Escobar and extradition of other drug traffickers to US, the consumption of drugs in US has not reduced. The Americans refuse to recognize the reality that drugs are yet another demand-driven multibillion dollar business in the United States. Eighty out of 100 dollars spent in the drug business stays within US leaving only 20 percent to the external traffickers and coca-growers. The failure of the war on drugs has been recognized even within US where some 19 states have legalized recreational marijuana. Petro will add voice to the other Latin Americans who have been calling on the US to stop the war on drugs and seek other solutions including decriminalization and legalization. But the mulit-billion dollar US drug war industry is addicted to its profitable drug war business and is forcing the US government to continue the war on drugs.

Colombia has been in the front line for the US war on the leftist government of Maduro. Colombia is the only South American country that is fully enforcing America’s policy of “maximum pressure” on President Maduro. Juan Guaidó, the American-anointed interim president of Venezuela has been operating mainly from Colombia. The mercenaries who made an attempt to invade and overthrow the Maduro government in 2020 launched their invasion from bases in Colombia. Petro will not allow his country to be used any longer for attacks against Venezuela. He will discontinue collaboration with the US’s efforts to destabilize and isolate Venezuela. he will join the other leftist governments recognizing Maduro government and opposing the US policy of sanctions and isolation of Cuba and Nicaragua, besides Venezuela. 

Petro’s ascent to power has confirmed the resurgence of the Pink Tide in Latin America. 

Many Latin American leftists had won presidential elections in the first decade of this century riding on the wave of revolt against the neoliberalism and Washington Consensus imposed on the region and which had worsened poverty and inequality. Iconic leaders like Lula, Chavez and Correa had challenged the hegemony of US. They had started integration of the region with formation of regional groups such as CELAC and UNASUR to acquire collective strength vis a vis the US which had treated the region as its ‘ backyard’ and had destabilized democracies with support to right wing military dictatorships. But the Pink Tide of the first decade lost its momentum after the electoral setback to the left in some countries such as Brazil and Argentina as well as the collapse of Venezuela under Chavista regime. But now the Left is on a comeback trail consequent to the excesses of extreme rightist Bolsonaro and the failure of other right wing governments to deliver on their promises. Left has already come back to power in Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras and Chile. Even Mexico has elected its full-fledged Leftist Lopez Obrador as President. He has discontinued the pro-American policies of his predecessors and boycotted the recent Summit of the Americas hosted by President Biden to show his opposition to the US policy of isolation of the leftist-ruled Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. In Brazil, Lula is expected to come back to power in the elections to be held in October this year. Bolsonaro is trailing Lula by double digits in the opinion polls. Latin America, which has the highest disparity among regions, needs leftist governments who give priority to tackle poverty and inequality. 

Petro’s election and Lula’s expected victory will complete the Latin American circle of the left. This is the first time that the seven largest and most important Latin American countries with the biggest markets – Brazil (from 1 January 2023) Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Venezuela - will all be ruled by leftist governments. This is unprecedented in the history of the region. Even in the time of the first Pink Tide in the last decade, Colombia and Mexico were outliers with pro-US governments. So the US will become isolated in the Americas for the first time. This should hopefully make the Americans to give up on their failed policies of interventions and devise a new constructive and positive agenda for the region. The Chinese are quietly increasing their clout in the region with billions of dollars of investment, credit and trade while the US has been relentlessly lecturing and bullying the region on democracy, human rights, migration, drug trafficking and corruption.

Colombia is the fourth largest trading partner of India in the region with 4.34 billion dollars of trade last year. India’s exports were 1.38 billion dollars and imports 2.96 billion. For many years, Colombia was the third largest destination of India’s exports to Latin America, ahead of Argentina which has just taken over the third rank last year. Colombia is the second largest global market for Indian motorcycles with  309 million dollars last year.  Some years back, Colombia was the # 1 destination. Indian motorcycle brands are market leaders in Colombia. Under President Petro’s agenda for Inclusive development, India’s exports are likely to increase. 

The resurgent pink tide in Latin America is good news for India since the leftist governments, in general, seek closer cooperation and partnership with India to address common developmental challenges in a democratic way. They are keen to import more Indian generic medicines to reduce the cost of health care. They invite Indian IT companies to open more software centres in the region to help with employment and skilling of their human resources. India’s success stories in poverty alleviation, affirmative actions for empowerment of underprivileged and emergence as an IT powerhouse resonate more with the leftist leaders. It is time for India to intensify its engagement with the region which accounted for 19 billion dollars of exports last year. There is scope to increase the exports to 30 billion in the next 3-4 years. Latin America has emerged as a source of energy and food (especially edible oil and pulses), fitting in with India’s strategic policy of diversification in energy and food security. The leftist governments would be more willing to collaborate with India in UN, WTO and other multilateral fora in the spirit of South-South solidarity.

Why did the Americans invite Bolsonaro to the Summit of the Americas?

The Biden administration has given the reason why they did not invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to the Summit of the Americas held last week in Los Angeles. They say that these three countries are ruled by undemocratic regimes. Fine. Democracy is desirable and noble. 

But why did the Americans invite Bolsonaro who is an imminent and clear danger to Brazilian democracy. Are they not aware that Bolsonaro has made his admiration for military dictatorship and contempt for democracy publicly, eloquently and consistently on numerous occasions. He had glorified the army officer who had tortured Dilma Rouseff. “Elections won’t change anything in this country”, an angry Bolsonaro told an interviewer on the programme Câmara Aberta, broadcast by TV Band in 1999. “It will only change on the day that we break out in civil war here and do the job that the military regime didn’t do, killing 30,000 people. If we kill some innocent people that’s fine because in every war innocent people die.” Shouting at the interviewer, an intemperate Bolsonaro said that if he became president he would dissolve Congress on his first day in office. 

Bolsonaro had instigated mobs to protest against the judiciary and the Congress with antidemocratic slogans. He had refused to accept the defeat of Trump for a long time. His senator son praised the right wing hooligans who attacked the Capitol on January 6. He commented that the uprising could have succeeded if the protestors were better armed. The father and his fascist sons are threatening Washington DC- style attacks if Bolsonaro loses the coming October elections. They have been asking their supporters to buy arms and be prepared. To facilitate this, the Bolsonaro administration has loosened gun laws as a result of which there is an explosive increase in civilian guns in the country.

Bolsonaro has politicized the armed forces and militarized the civilian government. He has included several thousand military personnel in various levels of civilian government. He has done it to use those military officials to support him from within. This is evident from the way the Defense Minister Paulo Sergio Nogueira de Oliveira is openly challenging and attacking the authority of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and is casting doubts on the e-voting system, although Bolsonaro himself was also elected by the same system.  One of his politician sons made a statement threatening that the supreme court could be closed just with a soldier and a corporal. So it is clear that Bolsonaro is a threat to the Brazilian democracy.  

Bolsonaro had taken his admiration for military dictatorship even beyond the borders of Brazil. During his visit to Chile, he praised Pinochet dictatorship, causing embarrassment to his Chilean hosts. 

Bolsonaro has vitiated the democratic system, institutions and norms systematically. He is planning to do worse. So it is logical that the democracy-loving US should not have invited him for the Summit. 

But the US policy is beyond logic. The Americans have a reason. But it has nothing to do with democracy or Brazil. They want to help Bolsonaro to defeat Lula since they consider Lula as a threat to US interests. When he was President, Lula challenged the hegemony of US and the neoliberal policies imposed by Washington Consensus in Latin America. He competed with US for leadership in Latin America. He tried to bring back to power Honduran President Manuel Zelaya who was overthrown in a coup supported by US in 2009. Lula had worked with Chavez and Kirchner and killed the US initiative to form FTAA ( Free Trade Area of the Americas) at the Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas in 2005. He took initiatives for regional integration of Latin America with formation of CELAC and UNASUR. These were aimed to give collective strength to the region through which the US domination was to be resisted. Lula raised the regional and global profile of Brazil, working with others for a multipolar world and challenging the unilateralism of US. It is for this reason that the FBI, NSA and CIA had worked with the US-trained Brazilian prosecutor Sergio Moro in the Lava Jato corruption scandal and managed to put Lula in jail and prevented him from contesting in the last elections. Moro was rewarded by Bolsonaro who made him as Justice Minister. 

President Bolsonaro had single-handedly brought down the global and regional profile of Brazil by his isolationist policies and rhetoric. He tarnished the image of Brazil and antagonized foreign leaders with his vulgar comments. He disrupted the process of regional integration and alienated fellow Latin American countries. He converted Brazil as a global pariah. He cut down the multilateral initiatives of the Brazilian foreign ministry and discarded the traditional South-South solidarity policies of the previous governments. He had forced the Brazilian diplomats to vote with US on UN resolutions on which Brazil had voted against or abstained in the past. The Americans are immensely pleased with him. No one could have carried out the America agenda against Brazil better than Bolsonaro. So the Americans want Bolsonaro to win and Lula to lose.
 
Bolsonaro is the first ever pro-American President of Brazil. During his 2019 visit to US, he tweeted, “For the first time in a while, a pro-America Brazilian president arrives in DC.” Hehad made an unusual  visit to the CIA headquarters. This was bizarre. No foreign president goes to CIA office. According to diplomatic protocol, it should have been the CIA Director who should have called on him and not the other way. After the visit, Eduardo Bolsonaro described the CIA as “one of the most respected intelligence agencies in the world,” in a tweet. In July 2021, the CIA chief visited Brasilia and held talks with Bolsonaro. It seems that the Americans and Bolsonaro clan have been cooking something. It does need much imagination to know what dish they should be preparing. The Latin Americans know from their past experience the American cook book which had recipes for coups, destabilization of unfriendly democratic governments and support to military dictatorships in the region. 
 
According to media reports, during the Americas Summit Bolsonaro had asked Biden for help to defeat Lula and mentioned that Lula is a “danger to US interests”. Bolsonaro portrayed himself as a protector of U.S. interests in Brazil. Now we know the reason why the Americans had invited the undemocratic Bolsonaro and gave him a photo-op in Los Angeles with President Biden. They want to extend a hand to Bolsonaro to increase his poll ratings. Both Bolsonaro and the US have a common agenda to defeat Lula. But Lula is leading in the opinion polls and is likely to win despite the combination of the dirty tricks of CIA and the Bolsonaro clan. 
 

India’s exports to Latin America increase by an impressive 48% to a record 18.9 billion dollars in 2021-22

India’s exports to Latin America reached a record high of 18.89 billion dollars in 2021-22 (April-March), according to the Commerce Ministry of India.  The exports have increased by an impressive 48% from 12.74 billion dollars in 2020-21. 

Brazil continued as the # 1 destination of India’s exports to the region, with 6.49 billion dollars, an increase of 53% from 2020-21.

Mexico was #2 with 4.42 billion dollars – increase of 43%.

 

Argentina came back to claim the third position after many years, with 1.43 billion dollars – an incredible 107% increase from last year.

 

Colombia was #3 with 1.38 billion- increase of 59% from 865 million.

 

Chile joined the Billion Dollar Club for the first time with 1.18 billion, increasing by 47%.

 

The other major destinations were: Peru 898 million and Guatemala 552 m 

Exports to the other countries are in the table below.

 

Exports to the three major trade blocs in the region were: Mercosur were 8.28 billion, Pacific Alliance 7.88 bn, and CAFTA (Central America + Dominican Republic) 1.95 bn 

 

India’s exports to some of the distant Latin American countries are more than the exports to neighboring countries or traditional trade partners with same or more population. This is a trend of the last several years. Examples:

 

India’s exports of 552 million dollars to the distant Guatemala (population 11 million) are more than twice that of the exports of 198 m to the neighbouring Cambodia with a population of 16 million.

Exports of 318 m to the remote Honduras (population 10 m) are more than the exports of 235 m to nearby Kazakhstan with a population of 19 m.

Exports to Brazil (6.48 bn) are higher than to the traditional trade partners such as Japan (6.18 bn) and Thailand (5.7 bn)

Exports to Mexico ( 4.43 bn) are more than the exports to Canada ( 3.7 bn) and Russia ( 3.2 bn)

 

 

Major exports

 

Vehicles     3835 m (increased from 2608 million dollars last year)

Chemicals  3139 m ( 2534 m last year)

Petroleum Products    2111 m.               

Machinery  1664 m                   

Pharma      1486  m                   

Textiles       1015 m                  

Cotton.         761 m                

Plastics.         518 m               

Iron and steel  905 m           

Aluminium products  688 m   

Rubber products 415 m.        

 

Car exports

Car exports to Latin America were 1793 million dollars. This was 30% of India’s global car exports of 5.92 bn dollars. Mexico was the second largest global market for Indian cars with 941 m.  Other major destinations: Chile 337 m and Peru 115 m

 

Motorcycles

Exports of motor cycles were 909 million dollars. This is 30.5 % of India’s global exports of 2.99 bn.India was the second largest supplier of motorcycles to Latin America.

 

Major destinations were Colombia 309 million dollars,  Mexico 174 m, Guatemala 103 m and Peru 43 m. Colombia was the second largest global market for Indian motorcycles after Nigeria. Some years back Colombia was the # 1 destination. Indian brands are market leaders in Colombia and Guatemala. 

 

Pharmaceuticals

Pharma exports increased to 1486 million dollars from 1196 m last year. India ranked as #6 supplier of pharmaceuticals to the region

 

Major destination of India’s pharma exports:  Brazil 374 million dollars, Peru 105 m, Chile 153 m, Mexico 167 m, Colombia 103 m, Dominican Republic 67 m, Venezuela 102 m, Guatemala 64 m, Bolivia 46 m and Ecuador 34 m.

 

 India ranked as #3 supplier of organic chemicals to the region.

 

 

Imports

 

India’s imports from Latin America were 25.62 billion dollars in 2021-22. Major suppliers were: Brazil 5.71 bn, Mexico 4.25 billion, Argentina 4.2 bn, Peru 2.71 bn, Colombia 2.96 bn, Chile 1.37 bn, Bolivia 2.07 bn, Ecuador 1.01 bn and Dom Republic 649 m, Panama 292 m, Uruguay 162 m  and Venezuela 89 m

 

Main import items: 

 

Crude oil  9.18 billion dollars

Gold.        6.91 bn  

Vegetable oil.     4.34 bn 

Copper    995 million dollars

Machinery  545 m

Wood        480

Chemicals 419 m

Iron and steel 321 m

Fruits& vegetables 285 m

 

Main sources of crude oil imports: Mexico 3.42 billion dollars, Brazil 2.25 bn, Colombia 2.32 bn andEcuador 865 million. 

 

Venezuela used to be the major source of oil imports in the region for the last fifteen years. But the US sanctions have drastically cut down the Venezuelan supply from its peak of around 10 billion dollars to just 89 m in 2021-22. There was no import in 2021-22.

 

Gold import sourcing: Peru 2.32 billion dollars, Bolivia 2.06 bn, Brazil 703 million, Dom Republic 600 m, Colombia 548 m, Argentina 465 m and Mexico 147 m.

 

Latin America is the main source of soy oil imports of India. Argentina, as usual, was the #1 globalsupplier of soy oil with 3.27 billion dollars, followed by Brazil 1.07 bn. 

 

 

Trade 2021-22

Figures in millions of US Dollars

 

 

Country	exports	imports	Total trade
Brazil	6489	5713	12202
Mexico	4425	4248	8673
Argentina	1426	4201	5627
Peru	898	2707	3605
Colombia	1377	2964	4341
Chile	1182	1371	2553
Venezuela	334	89	423
Bolivia	118	2073	2191
Ecuador	305	1012	1317
Dom Republic	310	649	959
Panama	348	292	640
Guatemala	552	21	573
Uruguay	151	162	313
Honduras	318	21	339
Costa Rica	148	63	211
Paraguay	211	16	227
El Salvador	162	4	166
Nicaragua	108	10	118
Cuba	27	1	28
Total	18889	25617	44506

 

 

Trade from 2010-11 to 2021-22

 

India’s exports had increased from 10.04 billion dollars in the beginning of the decade to 13.7 bn in 2014-15. But the Latin American recession and economic difficulties caused a dip in India’s exports in 2015-16. Since then the exports have increased steadily and in 2021-22 spectacularly.

 

India’s imports reached a peak of 31.38 billion dollars in 2012-13 due to the high crude oil prices and large volume of India’s imports from Venezuela. 

 

The annual India-Latin America trade in 2021-22 has exceeded the peak of 44.08 billion dollars in 2013-14 

 

Year	exports	imports	Total trade
2021-22	18.89	25.62	44.50
2020-21	12.74	14.92	27.66
2019-20	13.18	20.67	33.85
2018-19	13.16	25.7	38.89
2017-18	12.1	24.4	36.45
2016-17	10.4	19.6	30
2015-16	10	19.7	29.7
2014-15	13.7	29.3	43
2013-14	12.77	31.31	44.08
2012-13	12.48	31.38	43.86
2011-12	11.33	18.42	29.75
2010-11	10.04	14.01	24.05

 

 

 

Target - 30 billion dollars

 

Latin America is a substantial market with 19 countries, population of 620 million and GDP of 6 trilion dollars. The Indian exporters are still in the stage of discovery and exploration of the huge potential of the region.

 

The Latin Americans seek to reduce their overdependence on China with which there is a huge trust deficit. As part of their diversification strategy, they attach importance to the large growing market of India which was the 7^th largest destination of their global exports in 2021. They exported more to India than to their traditional trade partners such as Germany, France or UK. India was the #1 destination of Latin American exports of vegetable oil, #3 for gold, #4 for crude oil and #8 for copper.

 

India could set a target of 30 billion dollars in the next three years. This is easily achievable if the Indian exporters and the government intensify their export promotion seriously and systematicallywith adequate investment.