On December 2,2002,the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) organized a workshop discussing the
political, economic
and social
situations in Latin America in 2002. More than 60 scholars from different institutions in Beijing attended the meeting. Participants noted that, despite the fact that a few countries were in
political instability in 2002, the region still witnessed sound political situations. It was predicted that President Lula would make only some small change in its economic and political fields. Some scholars pointed out that Lula's victory indicated that the Latin American left could win power without violent struggles. Latin American economy was in recession in 2002, mainly due to the "tango effect" of the Argentine crisis and bad external economic conditions, many people said at the workshop. According to the participants, not many changes had taken place in the diplomatic field.But some argued that the return of the left forces to the Latin American political stage indicated that U.S.-Latin American relations would be different in many ways in the near future. In the social arena, some scholars said that the governments were still faced with the great task of reducing poverty and tackling social unrest. Some noted that a new force, which might be termed as the new social movement, had been on the rise over the past a few years in the region.