🍻 Happy workers and good food

Hello, and welcome to the Latin America Weekly newsletter! In this issue: Latin American workers are more content than most. How Lima became a fine cuisine hot spot. And the region’s restrictive abortion bans.

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Latin American workers the most socially connected in the world

Concern about mental health has been on the rise in recent years. According to the UN Human Development Report, “the number of people expressing stress, sadness, anxiety, anger, or worry has been on the rise” in the last decade.

• This was the focus of Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace” 2024 report, surveying nationally representative samples of more than 160 countries to find out how employees feel about their work and lives, with a special emphasis on emotional well-being.

Thriving. Responses were overall worrying, with rising numbers of sadness, anger, and stress worldwide over the last decade. But Latin America and the Caribbean had an above-average performance in most questions.

• Asked about their overall life evaluation, only 34 percent of global workers surveyed said they were “thriving,” compared to 54 percent in Latin America.

• On the other end of the spectrum, just 2 percent of those living in the region described themselves as “suffering,” in contrast to 8 percent globally. There was also a smaller number of locals in the intermediate “struggling” category, at 44 percent, compared to a 58 percent world average.

Near the top. The region ranked second (among 10) in this regard, only surpassed by Australia and New Zealand, where 60 percent of workers described themselves as thriving. North America was a close third, with Asia and Africa clearly at the bottom.

Peace of mind. Latin Americans even came first in some categories. A mere 14 percent of respondents in the region said they experienced “anger” during much of their day, compared to a 21 percent global average, although the region was closer to average in other negative emotions such as stress (44 percent v. 41 globally) and sadness (20 percent v. 22 globally).

Friends and family. While many of these categories have been consistently measured by Gallup for decades, this year the polling firm added a question about whether workers felt “loneliness” during “a lot of the day yesterday.” Latin America was tied best here, with just 13 percent saying yes. 

• Surveyors justified the addition saying “the risk of mortality among people who lacked community and social ties was two times greater than that of people who had many social contacts,” regardless of their physical health, socioeconomic status, and health practices. 

Work life. The report also found that only 23 percent of workers worldwide are actually engaged in their jobs, compared to 62 percent who are unengaged and 15 percent who are actively disengaged. But Latin America outdid the average, with 32 percent feeling actively engaged, the second-highest rate on the planet.

• Only in two regions did more respondents say it was a good time to apply for a job in their area (Oceania and Southeast Asia), and only in two others did fewer workers hope for an opening elsewhere (Europe and the former Soviet republics). 

Why it matters. The report emphasizes multiple key correlations worth keeping in mind for employers, workers, and policymakers. Engaged workers tend to be more productive and hopeful about the future, but they are more common in job markets that give them options to switch jobs. And overall happiness correlated with fair wages, maternity rights, and social security. 

How Lima became Latin America’s fine dining hotspot 

Lima’s reputation for state-of-the-art cuisine continued to grow last week, as the city once again hosted Latin America’s top-placed restaurant in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 2024. It was also featured more than larger and richer neighboring metropolises like Mexico City, Buenos Aires, or São Paulo. 

Central. Lima’s world-famous restaurant Central was declared the best on the planet last year, becoming the second non-European eatery to ever top the list since its inception, alongside New York’s Eleven Madison Park. 

• As tradition goes, topping the list means that the restaurant is retired from it, ascending to an even more elite “Best of Best” category with winners from previous years, a “Mount Olympus” of fine dining currently comprising just 10 locales.

Maido. Lima continued to fly high in 2024, with the consistently well-ranked Maido — owned by renowned Nikkei Chef Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura — finishing fifth overall.

• Chef Tsumura was also awarded the “Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award 2024” for his work blending Peruvian and Japanese cuisine, which he also leverages to promote culinary education among underprivileged communities. 

• Two other Lima establishments also made the top 50: Kjolle (16th) and Mayta (41st), in a list that also included representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia.

Why it matters. Rankings don’t even tell the whole story. Lima’s cuisine is known for being good even outside of top restaurants, while a visit to Buenos Aires or Santiago shows how much locals value the food shops managed by Peruvian migrants as a high-quality dining opportunity.

By the numbers. According to the Peruvian Commission for the Promotion of Exports and Tourism (Promperú), Lima’s growing gastronomical fame generates up to USD 200 million for Peru’s economy per year.

• Peru hosted 2.5 million tourists last year, a 26-percent increase compared to 2022, many of them looking to enjoy its delicacies.

• The country was named the best culinary destination in 11 out of the last 12 editions of the World Travel Awards, one of many awards that helped cement the country’s fame. 

Secret spice. So what made Lima’s food so distinct? One factor is the diverse Andean geography, which allows for hundreds of different types of corn, potatoes, spices, and plants — all combined with ancestral recipes traced to the colonial and pre-Columbian eras and infused with foreign cultures following decades of immigration.

• Lima is also the only South American capital directly connected to the ocean, granting restaurants easy access to all sorts of fresh seafood from the Pacific shore.

Ceviche. A mention of ceviche becomes inevitable. Made with raw fish marinated in lime juice, red onions, coriander, and red pepper (but recipes vary, containing cucumber, avocado, shrimp, and even mango in some cases), the dish has been recognized by Unesco as part of humanity’s cultural heritage.

• In Lima’s historical center, a generous serving of ceviche with a side of fried calamari and a shot of pisco (a local brandy derived from distilled fermented grapes) can be bought for less than USD 10 — although prices are a little more salty in fancy restaurants.

Yes, but … Despite all its gastronomic triumphs, the country’s economic inequality means that 20 percent of the country suffers from “severe food insecurity,” one of the highest in South America, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

Brazil is not alone in its struggle for safe abortions

The controversial bill that seeks to equate late-term abortions to the crime of murder has mobilized women and human rights activists in Brazil, who once hoped the country would join the group of neighbors that legalized the practice in recent years, but now fear they will be moving closer to those who fully criminalize it.

Why it matters. Brazil currently allows abortions under three specific circumstances: if the life of the mother is at risk, if the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault, or if it involves an anencephalic fetus — a condition in which it develops without a functional brain.

• As the religious right gains ground in the Brazilian Congress, there is a real risk that already limited laws will become far more prohibitive, putting poor women in harm’s way and potentially reverting a trend of increased regional liberalization.

The good. Abortion is fully legal in five Latin American nations (Cuba, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico), each with its own gestational limits.

• The first two were pioneers, legalizing the procedure in 1965 and 2012, likely due to the secular ethos shared by both societies and their administrations. Cuba, where these reforms are much older, saw a drastic drop in maternal mortality associated with risky medical procedures, down 60 percent, according to official records.

• Some of the continent’s largest countries have joined the list in recent years, starting with Argentina (2021), Colombia (2022), and Mexico (2023). In Mexico, a Supreme Court ruling nationalized the reforms already accepted in some states.

• Yes, but … “Mexican states are still in the process of reforming their laws to comply with the Supreme Court of Mexico’s decision,” says the Center for Reproductive Rights, an NGO that advocates for the right to legal abortions.

The bad. Despite this, a majority in the region (including Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and others) still force women to undergo great health and psychological risks with clandestine and homemade procedures.

• In practice, this results in a two-tier society, where those who can afford good care have access to safe abortions in the black market, while others face great dangers by taking harmful pills or using sharp objects like wire coat hangers, often leading to bleeding and death.

• According to Amnesty International, unsafe abortions account for 12 percent of preventable maternal deaths, the fourth-most common such reason.

The ugly. The situation is even worse in Central America, where multiple countries ban abortion under any and all circumstances. These include El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic, which can sometimes punish victims of rape and spontaneous miscarriages with decades of jail. 

• An iconic case came in El Salvador in 2013, reaching the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, after a woman who suffered from lupus and nephropathy was forced to carry a non-viable fetus to term despite medical warnings about fatal risks. She spent three months hospitalized, while the baby died immediately after birth.

• “The sentences [Salvadoran women face for aborting] are no different, for example, to those of drug traffickers or serial killers,” Susana Chávez, executive director of the Latin American Consortium Against Unsafe Abortion, said last year.  

Quick catch up

Inspired by El Salvador, crime-hit Honduras announced the construction of a controversial “mega-prison” with room for 20,000 inmates in its capital Tegucigalpa. 

Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich also visited El Salvador, saying she was looking to copy President Nayib Bukele’s model to fight drug cartels.

Five people remain in jail after dozens of protesters were arrested in Argentina during debates to pass Javier Milei’s “omnibus bill” to liberalize the country’s economy.

After struggling with droughts for months, Ecuador is now on alert due to heavy rains that caused floods and landslides. In the south, six people died — dozens remain missing. 

 Climate concerns have also reached Chile. Central regions were affected by storms and mudslides. One person died, and thousands have been displaced. 

Saudi Arabia’s Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar Alkhorayef will visit Chile to discuss lithium business with his counterparts.

Colombia announced a plan to provide medical and humanitarian aid to Palestinian children hurt by Israel’s military actions in Gaza. 

Incumbent leaders in Port-au-Prince ousted Haiti’s National Police Director Frantz Elbé following constant deadly gang attacks against police officers. 

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