Ionce asked Carlos Slim why Mexicans were so down about their country and Brazilians so euphoric about theirs. The world’s richest man, whose biggest investments span both countries, replied: “It’s simple. They are Brazilians. We are Mexicans.”
It was a perceptive comment. Many Mexicans feel depressed about their country, and the world has shared their gloom. Meanwhile, the confidence of Brazil’s boom –on show during President Dilma Rousseff’s visit to Washington this week – has gripped the popular imagination. The latest manifestation is the imminent $20bn stock market listing of BTG Pactual, the Brazilian investment bank that wants to be, of all things, a “tropical Goldman Sachs”. That alone should make one look again – especially as national moods were so different 10 years ago.
Back then, there was a lively debate over who was Latin America’s true economic leader. To many Mexicans, the answer was obvious. The country had just completed a transition to democracy. Its economy was bigger than Brazil’s. It even had a robust banking system. Brazil, meanwhile, was just emerging from a currency crisis, and investors were terrified that it was about to elect a dangerous leftwinger, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.