Despite all optimistic news in papers and magazines regarding the overall economy, the recovery for machine builders in Latin America is not a fact. Actually it is tending to a small catastrophe. Small because of its little worldwide influence, actually Latin America is not more than 0,3 % from the total number of machinery build. And only 5% from all overall worldwide trade.

Insignificant.

Brazil for example had back in 1983 some 630.000 workers in this sector, today only 127.000 men and women are working and building machines. Many large companies closed down. A certain fiscal protection was offered to local manufacturers during the 1970´s but today imports are literally free and almost half of all machines sold here are imported. From this half, 40% comes from China.

Not bad, for them...

The work force also became expensive, not so much for salaries but for absurd social expenses required by the leftist governments and hyper-expensive lay-off costs. Nobody likes to offer jobs because apart from inflated social expenses (110% on the average salary) it is almost traditional for laid-off workers go get "something more", taking alleged diffuse suplementary demands to court.

Brazil has the largest work related judicial system in the world, with 2.900.000 (yes, 2,9 million cases, Argentina 70.000, Japan 2.000) individual claims under analysis by judges, who in certainly 99% of the cases rule against the companies, by something they call a "repair" for the social injustice.

The method is backed by the most complicated work ruling system, regulating almost every aspect, by thousands and thousands of laws. (Brazil is the country with more laws in the world. The average citizen is to follow over 320.000 different laws and regulations)

70% of the budget for the judicial system in Brazil is channeled to labour courts.

This way it is productive cultivating a fanciful and biased making of law in favour of dismissed employees rendering the outcome of dismissal decisions for employers unforeseeable and, due to the allegedly almost automatic attribution of severance payments, unnecessarily expensive. Given these legal risks employers refrain from recruiting new employees and therefore, not sufficiently contribute to the reduction of mass unemployment.

A sad fact among Brazilian workers, in many sectors.

The solution seems to be adhering to imports, mainly from countries where equipment is produced cheaply, like China, India, Malaysia, Ucraine, Romania, etc...

But understandable: actually machine building tradition in Brazil and Latin America was never a noble occupation.

Mining, destroying the rain forest by harvesting trees for the expensive lumber and planting basics were always the priority. Along with millions of public jobs, this the top priority!