Even the colonial centre of Peru's capital, Lima, which suffered badly during the stagflation of the 1980s, has recently enjoyed a facelift.

ECONOMIST: Brazilian cities

From the 1560s until 1815, a fleet of Spanish galleons made an annual epic voyage from the Mexican port of Acapulco to Manila in the Philippines, carrying silver and supplies and returning with Chinese silks and porcelain that were snapped up by the wealthy in colonial Mexico and Peru.

ECONOMIST: Latin American geopolitics