If you speak spanish very well, I would suggest Chile. Though not the cheapest place in S. America, cheaper than the U.S. and Europe, most of Asia, and rent could be ~$220-$300 month, you could live well with <$800 (single, no kids), $15/day food (eating out)

Its safe, more organized than most of the US cities ive been to, and it has a thriving and friendly tech community if you dont want to completely remove yourself from it.

If you seriously want to pursue this, let me know, I lived there for some time and have very good contacts w/ the startup/tech community and in education.

I suggest you read this article: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/10/chile-wants-your-poor-y...

(I'm not Chilean, no agenda here)