This is a tough question to answer briefly, but here goes:  Latin America (including Central America) fared better in 2008 than in 2009 in terms of economic growth, since LA countries were not directly embroiled in the problems that took down the US economy.  However, because Latin America depends so much on trade with the countries that WERE affected, the global fallout from the crisis did catch up with LA economies in 2009, with exports falling 24% on the whole (though Central America did much better than the rest of Latin America).  The last quarter of 2009 showed strong recovery, and projections for 2010 indicate growth of 4.1%.  This is attributed to fiscal and social policies to support businesses and households, and reduce the effect of global economic turbulence.