#ProactiveLAC series

The Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center and Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security look ahead to 2025 in LAC 2025: Future Scenarios, a report produced with the help of the IDB. Co-authored by Peter Engelke and Pepe Zhang with Sara Van Velkinburgh, the report builds upon the scenario work conducted by the IDB and NormannPartners to identify the key factors shaping the region’s post-COVID-19 outlook: health outcomes, societal agency, and Latin America and the Caribbean in the global landscape.

US strategic interests depend on a prosperous and democratic hemisphere. Likewise, much of Latin America’s aspirations require a committed and open neighbor to the north. With Biden, the United States will prioritize greater regional cooperation, stronger partnerships, and a return to the principles of multilateralism. This strategy paper outlines the following concrete short and long-term actions, or elements of the strategy, that can be taken by the Biden administration to foster prosperity in the region and ensure that the United States is the partner of choice in the pandemic recovery.

Preparation in nine areas will determine regional success in immediate vaccine planning and longer-term public health. The report outlines each of these areas, including relevant recent developments, major challenges, and potential remedies. Through this analysis and a resulting set of eight cross-cutting recommendations, this practical policy primer aims to inform regional governments and others critical to mitigating the health effects of COVID-19 in order to better prepare the region for the next set of pandemic-related challenges.

This publication argues that COVID-19, if addressed correctly, could be the catalyst to inspire long-needed policy reforms. The following pages highlight specific opportunities for Central America’s economic recovery at a time of increasing global uncertainty.