These are Latin America's strongest passports in 2022

According to the newly released 2022 Henley Passport Index, Japan and Singapore are once again the most powerful passports in the world.

Passport holders from the two Asian powerhouses can enter 192 different countries around the world without a visa — at least when COVID-19 restrictions don’t apply.

"Passports and visas are among the most important instruments impacting on social inequality worldwide as they determine opportunities for global mobility," Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners, said in a statement. "The borders within which we happen to be born, and the documents we are entitled to hold, are no less arbitrary than our skin color,” he added.

But what are Latin America’s strongest passports?

According to the ranking, Chile (16), Argentina (19), Brazil (20), Mexico (24) and Uruguay (27), represent the top five strongest Latin American passports, while Venezuela (40), Ecuador (56), Bolivia (65), Dominican Republic (73) and Cuba (79) are the region’s weakest.

While Chileans can enter 174 countries without a visa, Cubans can only enter 64 countries without previous authorization.

What is interesting, however, is that there appears to be a correlation between the strength of Latin American passports and the economic and individual freedom levels of their respective countries.

In the Cato Institute’s 2022 Economic Freedom Index, for example, Chile is ranked 29 while Venezuela comes in last place at 165.

A similar correlation can also be seen in Cato’s 2022 Human Freedom Index — where the top five strongest passports are generally issued by more-free countries.