Brazil and Mexico are both populous countries. Brazil has a population of about 211 million, ranking fifth in the world; Mexico has a population of about 130 million, ranking tenth in the world. Among the more than 200 countries or regions in the world, there are only 13 countries with a population of over 100 million.

The economic scale of Brazil and Mexico is not low. In 2018, Brazil's GDP was 1.86 trillion US dollars, ranking 9th in the world; Mexico's GDP was 1.22 trillion US dollars, ranking 15th in the world. There are only 16 countries in the world with a GDP of more than 1 trillion US dollars. The GDP of Brazil and Mexico is not low.

Brazil is the largest country in South America, with a land area of ​​8.5149 million square kilometers, ranking fifth in the world. Brazil has rich natural resources and a complete industrial base. It is relatively developed in petrochemical, mining, steel, automobile industry and other industries, and its aviation industry is at the world's advanced level. Brazil's economy once developed rapidly, and its GDP once exceeded that of the United Kingdom, but it was only a flash in the pan. In recent years, Brazil's economic development has been slow, and its GDP has stagnated.

Mexico is located in North America, with a land area of ​​about 1.9644 million square kilometers. Mexico is a free market economy with modern industry and agriculture, and is relatively developed in petrochemicals, electricity, mining, metallurgy and manufacturing industries. Since the establishment of the North American Free Trade Area, trade and investment exchanges between Mexico and the United States have developed rapidly, greatly promoting Mexico's economic development and increasing national income. But over the years, Mexico's GDP has also stagnated.

The stagnation of economic development in Brazil and Mexico is actually not an isolated case, and this phenomenon is common in Latin America. After the oil crisis in the 1970s, many Latin American countries began to borrow dollars to develop oil, and many of them quickly crossed the threshold of middle-income countries. However, in the 1980s, Mexico, Brazil and other Latin American countries fell into debt crises, which forced them to sell off some state assets and carry out large-scale privatization. In the end, various problems emerged, such as the widening gap between the rich and the poor, unbalanced urbanization, environmental degradation, and a large number of unemployed people. Since then, economic development has been sluggish and there has been no improvement. This is the "Latin American phenomenon", also known as the "middle-income trap".