Latin America’s ability to dodge the worst effects of the global financial downturn should not be taken as a sign that the region’s problems are behind it, according to participants at the XIII Annual Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) Conference on Trade and Investment in the Americas. Among the many issues on the hemisphere’s agenda are the social development challenges of inequality and poverty and the critical problem of how to address the violence wrought by transnational criminal organizations, including drug trafficking networks.

CAF, the Inter-American Dialogue, and the Organization of American States (OAS) sponsored the Sept. 9-10, 2009, conference attended by more than 300 people, including U.S. and Latin American government officials, international economists, lawmakers, policy analysts, journalists, and corporate and financial leaders. The aim of the sustained collaboration is to bring a detailed review of hemispheric affairs to Washington, D.C., officials and opinion leaders.