Venezuela is considered one of the less innovative economies

Venezuela ranks 102 of 131 countries, according to the European Business School

Economy
Venezuela is one of the less innovative economies in the world, according to The Innovation for Development Report 2009-2010, released on Wednesday by the European Business School.

According to the report, Venezuela ranks 102 of the 131 countries covered in the report. The Innovation Capacity Index (ICI) reports that the Venezuelan economy scored 40.9, less than half of Sweden's score, which stood out as the "most innovative economy" in the world.

The institutional environment, human capital endowment, the presence of social inclusion, the regulatory and legal framework, the infrastructure for research and development, and the adoption and use of information and communication technologies, are some of the over 60 factors included in the study.

In Latin America, Venezuela's economic performance is in bad shape, since it only ranked better than Haiti.

Chile, which scored 59.4 ranked 29th, and is far ahead of any other country in Latin America. "Chile is presented as an interesting case, proving that sound policies and good institutions are not the result, but rather the engines for, the creation of wealth and prosperity," the report says.

For its part, Uruguay, which is ranked 49, is the second most innovative economy in Latin America. Mexico (61), Argentina (66) and Brazil (87) complete the list of best qualified Latin American countries.

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IISS: The FARC financed Chávez before 1999

10:07 AM. DIPLOMACY. Admired by the Colombian guerrilla after his coup attempt in 1992, the then lieutenant colonel Hugo Chávez Frías received financial support by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for his projects after his capture that year. This mostly explains the relationship and "debt" between the parties, as revealed by a paper of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) of the United Kingdom.