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stated that biotechnology can bring to theLatin American and Caribbean region“…sustainable food production and a secureeconomic system…creating a competitiveagrifood sector and generating additionalrural incomes.”There are several reasons whythis assessment remains far from reality in2004 or, for that matter, many years beyond.Many developing countries in theAmericas have yet to benefit frombiotechnology not because of inherentproblems with either the science ortechnology, but rather because most nationslack a system for integrating the differentparticipants in the research, developmentand manufacturing chain. Thus, the relativestrength in trained personnel and laboratoryfacilities present in some countries in no way guarantees a successful capability forbiotechnological applications of economicvalue or impact on development.The present agriculture infrastructure inthe South American and Caribbean region,for instance, could be a lot more competitiveif the markets were not as economically andpolitically distorted as they are today.Among many wrong-headed measures,government policies in Bolivia, Columbiaand other Andean nations appear directed tosubsidize the rich and provide fixed prices for less efficient farmers, rather thanbenefiting product development or meetingthe needs of the final consumer. Unless thesedistortions are fixed or at least acknowledged,the region is far from being in a “uniqueposition to take advantage of the newtechnologies”because the technologies willnot stand a chance of being implementedafter their transfer or development.There are also reasons to doubt that, asstated by the UNIDO conference, there are“great opportunities [for a biodiversity-richregion], in that it provides a great range ofpotential applications for the newtechnologies, including their utilization for further expanding the possibilities ofcreating value from biodiversity.”Theskepticism arises from the weak linksbetween governments and academia, whereeach follows its own divergent course, despitetheir obvious complementarities. The lack of sound scientific advice to governmentregulators is widespread throughout LatinAmerica (with a few exceptions