With respect to the last comments about De Soto, two things have been confused:

1. The ability to register land.

2. The role of a notary in transferring the ownership of land.

These are two very significant differences. It is true that Latin America has adopted the mainland European notary system (the Civil Law Notary, not to be confused with the USA notary public), but notaries are not responsible for the inaction of politicians for failing to create a land registration system that permits people to own land and transfer their interest in land.