Slums, swimming pools and Latin America’s inequality
Its tax and welfare systems are shockingly bad at reducing inequality
TO SEE REALITY in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro, consider the drone’s-eye view (pictured). A razor-straight line divides lush gardens and smooth clay tennis courts from a mess of corrugated iron roofs in one of the city’s “villas miserias”. Santa Fe in Mexico City looks similar, the jewel-green of the golf club hemmed in by endless concrete boxes of the city’s strugglers. Rio de Janeiro’s favela of Rocinha sees makeshift dwellings spiral down the mountain, all but crashing into the turquoise swimming pools below.
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This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Still divided”
From the June 7th 2025 edition
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Brazil’s president is losing clout abroad and unpopular at home
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva put Brazil on the map, but he hasn’t adapted to a changed world