Latin America is spread over both North and South America, with 19 sovereign states and one independent territory. Most of them considered developing nations. Many people have had ambitions of combining them to form a larger nation. The most famous of them being Simón Bolívar, known in South America as The Liberator.
This Venezuelan led the fight for independence from Spain across the region. And he believed uniting Latin America would be vital for its economic and political success in the world.
The first step to accomplish this would be to convince each nation’s elites to team up.
With enough concessions, deals and compromises, the wealthiest classes of Central and South America would have been swayed to join their states. This superstate would be one of the largest nations on the planet, stretching from the border with Texas in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south. Altogether it would include Spanish and Portuguese South America, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico.
That’s a total of more than 20 million km² (7.8 million mi²). Larger than the United States and Canada combined.
And what a region it would be. The Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Coastal waters and islands in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The Andes mountain range that goes from Chile, and all the way up to Colombia. Glaciers in Argentina. Tropical grasslands in Venezuela. Deserts in Chile. These would be just a tiny fraction of the multitude of landforms in the supernation, many of them rich with natural resources and arable land.
Everyone in this new united supernation would speak either Spanish or Portuguese. All public documents would be printed in both languages. And schools would teach students to have at least a basic knowledge of the two.
With this biodiversity of land and the sheer size of its workforce, this Latin America could become an economic superpower. Just like the United States and China.
It would export everyday staples like tobacco, beef, corn, wheat, fruits, beans, vegetables, sugar. Oh, this list is long. Most countries would be doing business with this food production giant.
As part of a bigger country, where it could share even more resources with other territories, Brazil’s economic might would only be greater. Imagine what it could do with Venezuela, which has the planet’s largest oil reserves in its possession.
Naturally, Latin America would have its own common currency. Just like in the European Union, it would make the region more attractive for international business.
Latin America’s abundance of natural resources comes at the price of widespread political and social unrest. See, the power would reside almost solely on the wealthiest elite. As time went on, severe inequality would get worse. An impoverished majority would be socially, politically and financially marginalized by a small group of oligarchs.
Class warfare would become inevitable. And with it, the arrival of a prevalent figure in Latin American history. The caudillo.
Extreme social division and discontent would set the stage for the rise of one of these strongmen. They would speak for a silent majority, who in return would support their rise to power. But once the caudillo took the reins, they wouldn’t want to let go. And they could turn democracy into a dictatorship.
After all, Latin American countries currently don’t have the most advanced or well-funded militaries. In 2016, their combined defense budget of $67 billion was barely a drop in the bucket compared to the $801 billion of the United States. On the other hand, the region does have a lot of soldiers, almost two million troops.
Looks like this superstate dictatorship wouldn’t have the best-equipped military. But it would be big enough to control and suppress its population and neutralize an uprising.
When it comes to dealing with foreign enemies, Latin America would require more drastic measures.
It could side with Russia, a military powerhouse. And that would mean that Latin America would now have humanity’s most destructive weapon. Nukes.
The U.S. would either have to keep the peace or face having an enemy at its gates.
So one of the planet’s mightiest superpowers would also be one of its most solidified and accepted dictatorships. You might want to reconsider where to take your tropical vacation in this new reality.
