Strictly speaking, Latin America can designate all of those countries and territories in the Americas where a Romance language (i.e. languages derived from Latin, and hence the name of the region) are spoken: Spanish, Portuguese, French, and creole languages based upon these. Indeed, this was the original intent when the term was coined, by a Frenchman. Using this definition, Latin America includes not only all Spanish- and Portuguese- speaking countries, but also the current and former French territories in the hemisphere, including Quebec in Canada, Haiti, Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, and French Guiana in South America.
The former Dutch colony Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba are not usually considered part of Latin America, although in the latter two, a predominantly Iberian-derivated creole language, Papiamento, is spoken by the majority of the population.
In historical terms, Latin America could be defined as all those parts of the Americas that were once part of the Spanish, Portuguese and French Empires. Under this definition, much of the U.S. Southwest, as well as Florida and French Louisiana, would be also included in the region.
The distinction between Latin America and Anglo America,and more generally the stress on European heritage, overlooks the factthat there are many places in the Americas (e.g. highland Peru orGuatemala) where American Indian cultures and languages are important, as well as areas in which the influence of African cultures is strong (e.g. the Caribbean, including parts of Colombia and Venezuela, and coastal Brazil).
