<< Convince me this isn't some racist characterization of Latin Americans.
Doug >>
Well, it's not an expression that leaps to my lips, but it was coined in the day when most South and Central Ameriican countries were tinpot dictatorships, Chile, excepted--no fault of their own, with the possible exception of Argentina, and I think it was meant to reflect on the kind of government that was predominant down there in those days rather than to suggest that Latin Americans were not capable of anything else.
--jks