Political changes in Latin America signal new investments

Economic troubles across the continent have opened the door to a new crop of leaders who could be much friendlier to foreign investors

Hard times hit Latin America in 2015. Falling oil and other commodity prices triggered economic and political crises in some of the region's largest economies. The populist leaders that rode the commodity boom to power bore the brunt of the backlash. In Argentina, Mauricio Macri's business-friendly campaign easily beat the hand-picked successor of leftist president Cristina Kirchner. Venezuela's centre-right opposition coalition regained power in a sweeping National Assembly victory, the first crack in the Chavismo movement since it came to power more than a decade ago. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's statist policies have come under attack amid the country's deep recession and public o