This article in Business News Americas suggests that Red Hat’s opening of three offices in Latin America this past year is a symptom of an overall situation where Latin American companies are poised to shift to open source en masse. They cite figures which indicate a significant interest in a mass movement to free software:

“In Latin America, 60% of companies are evaluating whether to implement or expand Linux systems in servers, Mexican paper El Universal reported, citing information from US tech consultancy IDC. At the same time, 40% of Latin American companies are interested in implementing Linux open source systems in workstations.”