邁入21世紀的拉丁美洲所面臨的危機包括政治上的威權遺緒和民粹主 義以及經濟上的發展模式和財富分配。「真相調查委員會」的成立運作難免 造成社會進一步的撕裂，民粹主義的操弄則導致社會更加兩極化。揚棄新自 由主義之後若無更好的發展模式取代則經濟前景不容樂觀，財富分配的惡化 則將導致社會公義的崩解。布希連任後的外交政策將影響拉美的政經發展， 而中國和東協簽署自由貿易協定則可能強化拉美和華府的談判立場。

In the new millennium, Latin America has confronted two levels of crises. Politically, they are authoritarian legacy and rising populism, while economically including developing model and distribution inequality. Both Truth Commissions and populist manipulations led to more bipolarized societies. No better alternative for the so-called neo-liberalism leads to pessimism for economic development. Deteriorating wealth distribution leads to the breakdown of social justice. Bush’s foreign policy in the second term has the impacts on Latin America’s political-economic development，while China’s joining with ASEAN as a Free Trade Area may offer Latin America more chips when bargaining with the United States.