The financial crisis in the United States is affecting —and will continue to affect— the growth of exports and the remittance flows the region has benefited from in recent years. Some current features of the Latin American economies, such as their lesser external vulnerability, greater fiscal solvency and high levels of reserve, should make it possible to implement countercyclical policies to mitigate the effect of external developments on the region’s performance. Nonetheless, although it is better prepared to cope with this international situation than in the past, one should not assume that Latin America and the Caribbean is immune to the changes that are taking place, and trends in the second half of 2008 and in 2009 will reflect developments in the current setting.