External Debt and Poverty, Will Latin America Countries Be Able to Recover?

The purpose of this study was to reflect on the potential medium-term recovery of the South American countries’ economies in the face of heterogeneous and resilient levels of external debt and persistent poverty. The methodology employed was a basic, non-experimental design, linked to documentary review. The study’s time frame ranged from 2000 to 2022. The results revealed that the sovereign debt of South American countries ranged from 35 to 85% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) until 2022, with the exception of Chile and Peru. Several South American countries have high sovereign debt due to deferred payment commitments and even due to a refusal to take measures to limit public spending. This situation could exacerbate extreme poverty for over 83 million people, as there is robustness in reducing it. Without heterogeneous medium-term strategies, it will not be possible to curb this trend, and tax revenue will always be absorbed to service the external debt.