South American Book of the Week: The Blue Line
A South American Novel – The Blue Line Ingrid Betancourt Set against the backdrop of Argentina’s Dirty War and infused with magical realism, The Blue Line is a breathtaking story of love and betrayal by one of the world’s most renowned writers and activists. Ingrid Betancourt, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Even Silence Has an End, draws on history and personal experience in this deeply felt portrait of a woman coming of age as her country falls deeper and deeper into chaos.…
Informal Real Estate Agent Customs in Chile
First, we would like to caution that most real estate agents in Chile are honest and well-intentioned. Chile has many good, ethical, and professional real estate agents. There are. However, a few things foreigners looking to purchase real estate in Chile should be cautious about when dealing with real estate agents in Chile, and they should understand the limitations of what to expect from real estate agents in Chile. It can be very much buyer beware. Real estate agents and agencies in Chile are completely…
Water Rights that Affect Chilean Agriculture
Water rights can be complicated when looking for an agricultural property for sale or lease in Chile. The most crucial issue is that you don’t automatically own the water on or under your property. So you could have a river the size of the Rio Plata running through your farm in Chile, but unless you own water rights from that river or canal, you’re not legally entitled to use any of its water. Having said that, Chile has one of the largest reserves of water in the world, so there is lots of it, but not…
So you want to buy farm land in South America – What are the options ?
So you want to be a landowner in South America Investing in farmland can make for an intriguing alternative to the stock market. Farmland is safe historically, an excellent hedge against inflation and is an asset class that does not correlate with the normal stock market. As the world’s population continues to grow (9.15 billion estimates by 2050) and the global middle class continues to emerge (with changing dietary habits toward more calories and meat), farmland is poised to become an even more intriguing…
Chilean Agro Businesses are very diverse
Chilean Agriculture Chile is a leading producer and exporter of some of the world’s finest fruits, berries, vegetables, fish, shellfish, poultry, meats, and its premium wines. Chile is the world’s largest exporter of fresh grapes (29%), plums (23%), and fresh fish fillets (22%); second largest exporter of frozen pacific salmon (30%), avocados (16%), and other frozen fish (10%). Chile is the fifth largest exporter in the world of wine (5%) and frozen pork meat (5%). [Source: Chilean International Economic…
Investment in Farmland in 2023
Investment in farmland suitable for livestock or crops is the safest investment, especially long-term, i.e. 5 to 10 years. It is an area little studied by modern investors, who have remained in the dot com investors world and have forgotten the traditional investment: farms. Today, the following observation is most certain. Where there is arable land in a stable political environment with clear rules and access to ports, you can make a minimum investment of 9% and a capitalization rate of 4%. These figures…
The Scots behind Argentina’s sheep farming success
One of the largest sheep farming developments ever in the world is thanks to the emigration of farmers from Scotland’s bleak north coast to Argentina, a new book reveals. The little-known story of intrepid pioneers from Caithness who travelled across the globe is now being told. ‘Caithness to Patagonia’ tells of a largely uncharted aspect of the Scottish diaspora, featuring tales of adventure, hardship and some significant success stories. The regions of Caithness and Patagonia are literally a world…
The Chilian experience on how the Far Left is paving the way for the Far Right to rule
Chileans have been on a wild ride in the past year, going from a far-left constitutional convention rejected by two-thirds of voters to a new Constitutional Council with a far-right party in the driver’s seat. But what is going on? Have Chile’s famous cabernets and carménères gone to voters’ heads? The answer lies in the global and regional trends of right-wing populism, from Donald Trump in the US to Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele declared war on drugs and gangs,…
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about GTSA
Who are we, and why do we have such a strong web presence with those looking to invest in South American Real Estate? The general characteristics that set Gateway to South America apart from other real estate agencies in the region could be summarised by the following: Contact the Gateway to South America team to learn about the best investment opportunities in the region. The company is a benchmark for foreign investors wishing to invest in Argentina, Brazil,…
What happened to biofuels?
Energy technology: Making large amounts of fuel from organic matter has proved to be more complex and costly than expected SCIENTISTS have long known how to convert various organic materials into liquid fuel. Trees, shrubs, grasses, seeds, fungi, seaweed, algae and animal fats have all been turned into biofuels to power cars, ships and planes. As well as being available to countries without tar sands, shale fields or gushers, biofuels can help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by providing an alternative to releasing…
A warning for South American Wine exporters – Counterfeiting is rife in your primary markets
South America is producing some of the best wines export in the world . In 2014 an Argentine Malbec won the prize for being the best red wine in the world. Counterfieting is of deep concern to many South American exporters, including winemakers. Asia is a major transgressor in this regard. The statistics of counterfeiting make alarming reading. The most recent OECD estimate dates from 2007, when it says cross-border counterfeiting totalled around US$250 billion annually and almost two percent of global trade…
Better News for Chile’s Investors
The Republican Party of the “centre-right” has emerged victorious in the election to determine the members of the body responsible for drafting Chile’s new constitution. The Republican Party secured 22 of the 51 seats, with right-wing parties obtaining the remaining 11 seats. This constitutional assembly is to create a new constitution to supersede the one instituted during the military rule of General Augusto Pinochet. Last year, a referendum rejected a draft proposed by a previous assembly.…
Chile’s breadbasket Angol moves to the country’s new fruit-growing region
According to the Chilean Office for Agricultural Politics and Studies (ODEPA), in the last 20 years, the planted area with fruit trees in Chile has increased at an average annual rate of 3.2% between 1999 and 2019, from 182,000 hectares to more than 340,000 hectares. All regions have registered an increase in their surface, highlighting increases in cherry (13.2%), walnuts (9.3%), hazelnuts (39.8%), olives (11.4%) and blueberries (23.8%). Thanks to these growths, among other crops, Chile has been an agro-exporting…
Scottish pioneers in Argentina are an important part of its history
Great numbers of Scots immigrated to overseas in the hundred years before the first world war. Most settled in the United States of America or Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other parts of Britain’s vast empire. A significant minority, however, immigrated to South American states, Argentina being a popular choice. The first Scots settled there in the years before Argentina became an independent confederation in 1816; they were the forerunners in the broader immigration that would eventually contribute…
Scientists now agree transgenic crops ( GM) are safe after years of study
Scientists now agree transgenic crops ( GM) are safe after years of study Activists who flip-flopped on genetically modified farming Environmentalists frequently criticize transgenic crops. Until recently, Mark Lynas was no exception. A British journalist, researcher and activist, Lynas helped found the movement against genetically modified (GM) foods in the mid-1990s. But as time went on, he started questioning his views, leading him to publicly denounce his previous positions during a speech at the Oxford…
