The Malling of Latin America

The Zimbabwean novelist Chenjerai Hove has said, “In hard times the artist will blend images of despair with those of hope. In good times the writer will depict the madness of over-eating at the expense of cultivating other values.” In Latin America today these are “good times”—economies are on the rebound, prosperity is welcome, and it is hard to question the free trade strategy that has led to growth. However, the spending frenzy of those with wealth and income invokes Chenjerai’s image of “the madness of over-eating.”

A Harvard-trained professor of marketing who works throughout the region asserts, “The desire in Latin America today is for satisfaction and as soon as possible.&#...