Uruguayans often describe their country as the Switzerland of South America, presumably meaning it is stabler and more prosperous than its neighbours. That’s fair enough, I suppose, though the point grows tiresome with repetition. A Uruguayan lady of my acquaintance used to say it almost every time I ran into her. One day she caught me in a sardonic mood, and I asked her why no one ever called Switzerland the Uruguay of Europe. She never said anything about Switzerland to me again. In fact she never said anything at all.

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