4. Colombia

While Brazil's growth holds the spotlight in Latin America, much of the early-stage potentially faster growth lies elsewhere. A good example is Colombia. “Colombia is unbelievably strong,” says Holmes, at U.S. Global Investors.

“Ten years ago, it was tough to invest in Colombia”, says Kaufman of Thornburg Developing World Fund. As political disputes spilled out over into violence then, which scared away foreign investments which might have helped the economy grow; but now that there's greater political steadiness. Colombia is one of Kaufman's favorite countries in Latin America, because of robust inflows of investments from Big Oil. “Colombia is earlier in its growth development,” he adds.

He suggests that Giant oil companies like BP, Chevron, Total and Occidental Petroleum and Market Vectors Colombia ETF (Exchange Traded Funds) have better investment options.