In the post last week in which readers were asked to vote on how Mexico handled the Swine Flu crisis, I incorrectly noted that Mexico’s president was up for re-election in 2012. This has reinforced my belief that it’s dangerous to assume almost anything when writing about Latin American countries. 
Below are seven quirky facts about countries in Central and South America. (Two of the entries were suggested by a Latin America Fanatico via Twitter).
- Venezuela adopted its own time zone in 2007. The time the country adheres to is 4.5 hours behind GMT. Before the change in 2007, Venezuela was 4 hours behind GMT. Critics claim that Hugo Chavez implemented the change to put his country on a different time zone than the U.S. (thank you @meningioma).
- A new constitution approved by Ecuador last year grants rights to nature. Under the constitution nature “has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.”
- Costa Rica has no military. It was abolished in 1949.
- It was not legal to obtain a divorce in Chile until 2004.
- In Chile, which is home to one of the world’s most arid deserts, water rights are considered to be private property. (thank you @jillybean65).
- Presidents in Mexico are limited to one six-year term. There is no vice president.
- In Brazil, 90% of new cars have flex-fuel engines that can run on any mixture of petrol and ethanol.
Got a quirky fact about a Latin American country? Leave a comment.
on May 28th, 2009 at 7:52 am
Thanks for posting these facts. I’ve lived in Peru for nearly two years but wasn’t aware of 1-6; I wouldn’t have guessed that the % of flex-fuel cars was that high. But hand it to the Brazilians for being ahead of the curve there.
on May 28th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
wow, that is really interesting. Figures, Chavez had to do something like that!
Actually, this is part of your neck of the woods. When I lived in Puerta Vallarta, we went to a beach that was like one hour northeast of it, can’t remember the name, and we crossed three, yes THREE, time lines, one of them was like 20 minute difference. it was so ridiculous!
Hey, I’m starting a new meme, Drinks ‘Round the World every first of the month (this monday) and I’d love for you to join us! It’s like having an international cocktail hour:)
on May 28th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Marina, I didn’t know that about PV. I’ll be there in a a few weeks. I’ll watch out for the time difference–especially if we take the bus!
I’m interested to find out more about your “meme.” For starters, I need to do a quick search on google to figure out what it is.
on May 28th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Barbara,
thanks for your comment. I’d be interested to know the most surprising things you’ve learned about Peru. I’d really like to see the U.S. catch up to Brazil on the alternative fuels front.
on May 28th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Hey, a meme is like a group post. For instance, I’m the host of the meme, so you’ll post a cool article on your blog, let’s say a meixcan cocktail, write who the hosts are of the meme so that others can join in. Then come to the hosts blog to leave a message and then others go to your blog and you go visit other bloggers with their posts, it’s an online, bloggy party:)
on Nov 17th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
That is great that Ecuador gave rights to nature. More of the American countries should do more of that to preserve nature. They have some of the best forests, mountains and landscapes in the world and it would be a shame to lose them.
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
This was a big help with my homework.