Saving the Americas: The Dangerous Decline of Latin America and What The U.S. Must Do

“Once again, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Andres
Oppenheimer shows his deep understanding of the dramatic
changes in Latin America, and the impact of America’s ongoing
indifference to the region. For anyone seeking to understand Latin
America’s re-emerging populism and the effects of this
administration’s disastrous foreign policy in the region, this book
is a must read. Oppenheimer gives his readers hope for a new
vision in Latin America.”
—Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico
This new book out in October illustrates in detail how the current administration’s policy towards Latin America is actually creating the very immigration issues President Bush is fighting to solve. Saving the Americas: The Dangerous Decline of Latin America…and What the U.S. Must Do, by Pulitzer-prive co-winner and The Miami Herald sundicated columnist Andres Oppenheimer, highlights the Bush administration’s failure to reach out to its own neighbors in order to create a stable environment for the people of the United States.

“When it comes to everyday issues that affect most Americans —whether immigration, trade, the environment or, increasingly, energy— no region in the world has a bigger impact on the United States than Latin America,” writes Oppenheimer.

As an acknowledged expert on Latin America, Oppenheimer uses his experience and reporting skills to show how this region is becoming increasingly less important on the world stage, and the resulting negative effects on the lives of Americans. “This book began as a message to Latin Americans about the decline of their region into global irrelevance. But it soon became clear to me that what I was learning was equally
important to people in the United States,” says Oppenheimer. “Though less apparent to most Americans —and less costly— than its blunders elsewhere in the world, the Bush Administration was making major mistakes in Latin America, among other things by declaring the region a major U.S. priority while ignoring it almost entirely, and reflexively pushing free trade as if that alone would ensure hemispheric prosperity.”

Oppenheimer traveled to China, India, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ireland and more than a dozen Latin American countries to see first-hand what is pushing some nations ahead and others back. And in his characteristic style – mixing travel anecdotes, humor and political analysis – he came to surprising conclusion: that despite its current troubles, Latin America can rise from economic and political obscurity, to become a booming market and an influential player in world affairs.


The Spanish-language version of Saving the Americas: The Dangerous Decline of Latin America…and What the U.S. Must Do (Cuentos Chinos) has sold nearly 200,000 copies throughout Latin America and made the region to take a hard look at itself. Costa Rican President and Nobel Prize laureate Oscar Arias has called Oppenheimer's book "A landmark work...that politicians, academics, journalists and other leaders will be citing for years to come," and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso describred it as "a must-read."
Now the English version is set to cause the same reaction within the United States.