LATIN AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. THE GEOPOLITICS OF CHAOS

In this article, I will explain how Latin American countries ended the struggle against Spanish colonialism, and how they started another struggle to create a country, and the conflicts that ensued in the South American continent to build an identity and define borders that have consequences to this day. 

by Xavier Cardenas Conio

1. Map of Latin America.

The Battle of Ayacucho, on December 9th., 1824, is defined as the date of the independence of Latin America. That day, the forces of General Antonio José de Sucre defeated the last remaining Spanish Army, forcing the destruction of the colonial rule. It could be a good end of the story, but this victory marked the beginning of other struggles within and amongst countries to create the actual Latin America, and, not to mention, there are still disputes.

Countries started organizing themselves to become a country, but didn’t know where to start. The only thing they knew is that they had a King and didn’t know what to do next. Many leaders were motivated by French illustration. Chilean General Bernardo O’Higgins and Venezuelan Simon Bolivar learnt these ideas while living in Britain from the Venezuelan Francisco de Miranda. The interpretation of French ideals was diverse in all countries. Democracy, presidents, parliaments, or constitutions were unknown things, and these kinds of concepts are not learnt from a book in one day. These Latin American examples and other historical ones show that it takes almost a generation to grasp the democratic and republican values. In this case, it took them around 30 to 50 years to settle as democratic countries. Some of the Juntas established didn’t exactly seek independence. They were a reaction to Napoleon's invasion of Spain and the capture of the Spanish King, that led these movements to take provisional control until the King was reinstated. Independence was a new idea that developed over time when locals saw that being independent worked and was better than Colonial rule.

Now, some of the solutions that came up were absolutely outlandish. After the Battle of Chacabuco, in Chile, when the patriot army entered the capital, Santiago, the population offered the title of Supreme Director to the Argentinian General San Martin (veteran of the Napoleonic Wars), and only when he declined, they offered it to Chilean General O´Higgins. But then San Martin devised another bizarre idea: finding a noble in Europe to instate him as the King of Chile, but Chilean notables rejected the plan straight away. And also, like in many other histories like this, the ones that seized power after the Spanish were kicked off were the Generals and the wealthy men. This didn’t bring problems at the beginning, but caused concern later.

2. Battle of Ayacucho.

The independence wars had a special characteristic. The ideals of the time were not completely country-oriented. The fight was for Latin America. Soldiers who fought in Argentina then fought in Chile and later in Peru. Argentinian General Jose de San Martín liberated his country, then he crossed the Andes and liberated Chile, and finally, with an Argentinian and Chilean Army, he sailed over there and declared the independence of Peru. Venezuelan General Sucre fought for the independence of Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia and won the battles at Pichincha and Ayacucho. Venezuelan General Simon Bolivar won at Junin in Peru and also fought for the independence of Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru, and so he is remembered as “El Libertador”. 

The organization of the republics included several years of political and military fighting. O’Higgins was forced to leave for Peru, but another great general also preferred to leave the continent. After all his military feats, General San Martin saw that his presence in Argentina would only serve to create more internal disputes and didn’t want to have anything to do with it, so he left for France on his own choice in 1824, and again, he never returned. Let’s see some countries in more detail.

Argentina

4. Argentinian General Jose de San Martin.

Argentinian Independence started with the May Revolution in 1810. The Spanish royalists were defeated in 1813 at the Battle of San Lorenzo, the First Junta was established, and in 1816 the Congress of Tucuman finally declared independence from Spain, but the war lasted until 1820.

After independence, a big chaos. The country was divided into various factions, notably between the centralists and federalists, and this caused continuous civil wars until the 1830s. After Argentina declared independence in 1816, the country went through a prolonged period of political instability.

The Argentine Civil War (1814-1820) was a conflict mainly between federalists, who wanted a loose federation of provinces, and unitarians, who sought a strong centralized government. The civil war was marked by instability, with power shifting between different leaders. And finally, Argentina settled as a federal country to this day.

But then appeared a dictator, Juan Manuel de Rosas, who held power from 1829 to 1852. He ruled with absolute power and control over federalist factions after establishing a stern regime that lasted nonetheless than 23 years, ruling the country from Buenos Aires.

In another civil struggle, Rosas was defeated at the Battle of Caseros in 1852 by the forces led by Justo José de Urquiza, who ended the dominance of Buenos Aires over Argentina. In 1853, Argentina formally established its Constitution, creating a federal republic. However, Buenos Aires did not join immediately, creating further tensions. 37 years after independence, so soldiers who didn’t die fighting the Spanish died in the internal political struggles. 

Chile

It won independence from Spain at the Battle of Maipú in 1818, but it wasn’t until 1826 that it destroyed the remaining loyalist forces, thus clearing the country of enemies once and for all. 

Chilean leader Jose Miguel Carrera belonged to the Spanish Army and fought in the Peninsular War against Napoleon, and came back without the Illustration ideals, as in Spain, these ideas were not widespread. And that led him to be a great leader, but also a great headache for the first Chilean Governments.

At the very beginning, Carrera tried once and again to topple O’Higgins government and not because he was a bad man, but because he was restless and didn’t know other form of government than total power. Led by him, of course. Carrera crossed to Argentina, where he raised a small army that got involved in criminal actions until he was detained by Argentinian authorities and executed before the firing squad in Mendoza. He was the 1st. Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army. What a bad way to finish for such a leader. But O’Higgins didn’t last long either. He acted as a dictator, was forced to abdicate, and was expelled to Peru, from where he never returned. Another good end for a patriot general.

From then on, several civil wars ensued. One general formed an Army and marched towards the capital to seize power. A couple of years later, another general did the same until, after another civil war, violence was able to be stopped and a Constitution was drafted in 1833. General Ramon Freire led one of these revolutionary initiatives but was captured. He was a brave veteran of the Independence War, so his life was spared, but he was sent away, and he finished in Polynesia, where it is said he had a close-love relationship with a Polynesian woman leader. So only in 1833 did the country recover calm and began working as a republic. 15 years after independence, and the loss of thousands of Chilean lives.

Peru

From Peru to the northern Latin American countries, the military leaders who appeared are known as “Caudillos.” Regional leaders who tried, and some succeeded, in seizing power. Despite achieving independence in 1821, the political instability in this country continued into the middle of the 1840s, and here it had a different characteristic in that it also involved regional interests. There was not yet a Peruvian identity, so regions fought amongst themselves, and although this was solved centuries ago, the Peruvians of the coast still loathe Peruvians of the Andes, and those from Lima loathe people from the southern city of Arequipa. In the Bolivian Amazon basin, the people of Santa Cruz don’t feel much affinity with the people from the highlands, and some voices have talked about independence more than once. 

Amongst the struggles, we can find the Civil War of 1834 led by Agustin Gamarra and the Military Anarchy between 1841 and 1845, which was a succession of coups and different presidents. Only after it, the government of Ramon Castilla, also a General, brought certain stability sustained by the economic boom known as “La Era del Guano”, the Guano Era, export on which Peru would rely for several decades and that would cause a war of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia against Spain in 1865.

But without a doubt, the most notorious military leader in the history not only of Peru, but also of Bolivia is General Andres de Santa Cruz. Born in La Paz, Bolivia, he fought for independence under the command of great leaders such as Generals San Martin and Bolivar and he became president of Bolivia in 1829, He is credited with giving a certain order to the country, promulgating several legal codes that organized the state, and also created a centralized government.

However, he also had imperialistic interests. Under the Colonial rule, Peru and Bolivia were a single entity led by the Viceroy of Peru from Lima, and Santa Cruz devised his most ambitious project in creating the Peruvian–Bolivian Confederation, of which he declared himself as the Supreme Protector. But he did so without asking the population of those regions. He deployed agents to Peru, Chile, and Argentina to secretly promote his plans. As a result, only a part of the Peruvian leaders followed him, and the country was divided into two factions that would create a civil war. In Chile, the strongman of the era, Minister Diego Portales, saw that Santa Cruz was a threat to Chilean interests in the Pacific and promoted an invasion of Peru to destroy Santa Cruz's forces. After two expeditions, and together with the Peruvians who opposed him, Santa Cruz was finally defeated by the Chilean General Manuel Bulnes at the Battle of Yungay in 1839, and so, the threat to Chilean interests was eliminated, and political stability was restored in Peru.

From then on, the fights for political leadership continued, but the time for presidential stability finally came.

Bolivia

Reading a book on the history of Bolivia can be very repetitive because it is just an interminable succession of coup d’etats since its independence. From 1821 until today, Bolivia has experienced more than 190 coups where one leader ousts the other and so on and on and on. The last was as recent as 2024. As expected, this political instability doesn’t help in the development of the country, and this has been experienced throughout its independent life. Bolivians have gone to war without knowing why they are doing so. It is difficult to lead an army, drafted at the last minute and with soldiers who speak Quechua but not Spanish. Impose a certain legality is quite a hard work as the presidents are changed so often and so many times, and the result is that Bolivia is still underdeveloped compared to its neighbours. Although it is a beautiful country, going to Bolivia is like going back in time.

There are so many military and political leaders in Bolivian history that it is impossible to write a comprehensive list of them, so we will focus on the most prominent of them. Sadly prominent, though. The man is the General Manuel Mariano Melgarejo Valencia. Melgarejo’s government, known as the Sexenio, is one of the most controversial and disastrous in Bolivian History. He came to power through a coup, and to ensure that he won, he murdered the Vice President with his own hands. His government was an utter dictatorship, and he even passed laws to persecute and kill his opponents. He took plenty of wrong decisions, like ceding territories to Brazil and Chile, or taking the property rights of the land from the Indians. Apart from all these negative actions, history remembers him as a complete drunkard who committed all kinds of excesses. He was toppled by another coup in 1871 when he escaped to Peru, where he was murdered a short time later. For the other countries, he was not really a threat, but he was so impetuous and unpredictable that all kept an eye on him to stop some extraterritorial military advance.

CONCLUSIONS ON THE INTERNAL POLITICAL STRUGGLES

3. Venezuela General Simon Bolivar.

The countries mentioned are only a sample, but all Latin American countries went through periods of political instability that lasted for four or more decades before they settled into politically stable.

The collapse of Spanish colonial authority in Latin America created internal geopolitical vacuums that were filled by military leaders and regional elites, who struggled to define national identities and governance systems. The resolution of these internal conflicts took decades and often came at the cost of immense bloodshed, institutional fragility, and missed opportunities for unity. The consequences are still evident in modern-day political culture and socio-regional divides across Latin America.

Latin American nations faced prolonged internal turmoil marked by civil wars, regional divisions, and power struggles. Military leaders often seized control, lacking experience with democratic governance, resulting in cycles of coups, autocratic rule, and unstable political institutions across the continent.

Efforts to establish national identity and stable governance were hindered by rival factions and failed regional unification projects. Gradually, constitutions and federal systems emerged, but only after significant violence and social fragmentation. These foundational conflicts left lasting legacies of authoritarianism, weak institutions, and unresolved regional disparities still evident in many countries today.

Intellectuals helped to put order, and they moved, doing so, from one country to another. The first Chilean Civil Code was written by the Venezuelan Andres Bello, who is remembered to this day as one of the most brilliant minds in history.

WHICH IS MY COUNTRY?

6. Ecuadorian Soldiers at La Guerra del Cenepa.

When the newborn nations started to organize a proper state, they realized that they didn’t even know what their territory was. They had a rough idea, but nothing was really precise, and the quality of the maps of that era was of no help. To put an order on this situation, governments ordered several expeditions to reconnoiter their own territories and define their borders, hiring European specialists to achieve these objectives. 

Colombia hired the Italian Agustino Codazzi to make one of the biggest expeditions on the continent. He produced new maps, geographic and ethnographic information on the former Nueva Granada. Another expedition, led by the Spaniard Patricio Membiela, made botanical and zoological discoveries and classifications on the Pacific coast. In Argentina, the notable Francisco Moreno, better known as Perito Moreno, made surveys to define his country’s borders and conducted scientific studies of Patagonia. Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina sent several military expeditions to explore the region of El Chaco. Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador sent several missions to integrate the Amazonian territories, assert their territories, and exploit natural resources. The Chilean government hired the German Rudolph Philippi to make the first expedition to the northern desert to find what was in there, and he arrived at what he thought was Chile. His thinking would soon clash with someone else’s thinking. Naturalists like Claude Gay and Ignacio Domeyko made the first studies of the Chilean flora and fauna, but the real and complete studies appeared only in the 1960s. National Geographic knew more about the country than the state itself. After the wars with the Mapuche ended, other explorers, such as Vicente Perez Rosales, ventured into the jungle of southern Chile, discovering immense lakes, mountains, and rivers that no one had ever heard of before.

Also, after all the struggle, some countries still didn’t have a unitary territory. Chile was divided in the middle by the region of Araucania, inhabited by the Mapuche Indians. The Mapuche wanted nothing to do with the Chilean republic, and were not integrated until 1883 when the country had around 50 years of republican history, and after a protracted war, the Mapuche had been fighting since they saw the first Spaniards three centuries before. Previously, General O’Higgins saw the necessity of taking control of the Strait of Magellan, and a small Chilean force went down there to plant the flag only a few days before a small French armada arrived to do the same, and in 1888, the Chilean president sent a naval expedition that took control of Easter Island. In Brazil, some regions, such as the Mato Grosso in Amazonia, were yet uncharted and not part of the territory until the 1970s. In Argentina, after the borders with Chile were settled, it happened that the government knew only to the River Negro and President Julio Argentino Roca started the “March to the South” that was a military expedition that went all the way down to the Strait of Magellan. This action created one of the stories that countries prefer not to remember because the military killed thousands of Indians who inhabited the region. In Peru, the famous Machu Picchu brought international attention only in 1911 when it was found for the second time by the American explorer Hiram Bingham, who published the story, again, in the National Geographic. Not even the Peruvians knew it was there.

At the turn of the XX century, the famous British explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett was still marking the border between Brazil and Bolivia before he disappeared searching for a lost city that never existed.

The result of these expeditions helped governments to know their territory, but also was the germ of the disputes that came. The surveys to define borders made, overlapped with someone else’s territory, and conflicts started quickly, and countries that had fought for independence together as brothers became enemies, with the rivalries already mentioned going deep and still ongoing well into the XXI century.

Some of the main conflicts that arose are the following:

THE TERRITORIAL SCRAMBLE

If it was difficult to achieve internal political stability, achieving external stability was even harder. Now it wasn’t only political factions who fought, but whole countries with big and well-equipped armies. Countries that had fought together against colonial rule forgot that fellowship and killed each other for decades, generating hatreds and divisions that remain until today, the year 2025.

Due to the wars that I am about to explain, historical rivalries, territorial disputes, and diplomatic tensions exist between all Latin American countries. Peruvians hate the Chileans and dislike the Bolivians. Chileans don’t care about any of them but consider them potential enemies, and the last crisis was in 1975 when Peru started plans to invade Chile. Brazil and Uruguay still maintain a dispute over territories. Chile and Argentina almost go to war in 1978 over a dispute over three tiny islands in the Beagle Channel, but Pope John Paul II mediated and averted a stupid war. Peru and Ecuador have gone to war over a piece of land in the Cenepa River, and they still dislike each other despite a Peace Treaty signed in 1998. Both sides say they won the war.

Disputes between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia

From the Chilean perspective, the northern borders were not defined, and it made several treaties with Bolivia to establish them. Each treaty moved a parallel north, and another moved the parallel south. But even with the treaties, Bolivia's internal situation didn’t help, as every coup brought a new ruler to deal with. But, one day, in 1879, Peru and Bolivia gave Chile an opportunity. Based on claims that Bolivia was not complying with a treaty, a Chilean force occupied Antofagasta, a city in coastal Bolivia. The matter could have been solved by legal means, but instead of taking that path, Peru and Bolivia made the mistake of declaring war on Chile, and the result was that after a four-year fight, Chile won and acquired massive pieces of land from those countries, and finally settled its northern borders. Bolivia and Peru want to settle the scores to this day, so peace is maintained by Chilean deterrence with a strong military force in place. The last crisis was in 1975 when Peruvian President Velasco Alvarado began preparing an invasion, but he changed his mind very shortly of the war declaration. For doing so, Peruvian Army officers still call him “The Traitor”. Because they wanted the war.

Disputes between Chile and Argentina

With Argentina, the thing didn’t come to grips, but it was a long struggle. Both countries agreed to request the settlement of borders to the British Crown. Britain sent a team of the Royal Engineers that defined the borders in the highest peaks of the Andes. Chile lost a vast territory, but couldn’t do much as at that time it was engaged in the war against Peru and Bolivia, and the war in Araucania.  As a consequence, by a treaty signed in 1881, Chile lost all its territories east of the Andes and all its presence in the Atlantic Ocean, meaning the whole of Eastern Patagonia. However, Chilean public opinion takes it as a settled matter and doesn’t argue about the outcome.

But even so, there was a grave confrontation in 1978 where both countries almost went to war over three small islands in the Beagle Channel. Pope John Paul II mediated, and war was avoided, but there is still a long part of the border not yet been defined.  To strengthen their claims, Argentina is always issuing new maps showing the territory as theirs, but both sides have preferred not to do anything about thus avoiding a bigger confrontation, and despite the disputes, both countries have never gone to war.

The War of the Triple Alliance

In 1864, the Paraguayan War started. This war, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was fought by Paraguay against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. It lasted 6 years until 1870 and was the bloodiest war for borders on the continent. Paraguay suffered a massive defeat, its economy was shattered, and it had massive casualties estimated at 70% of its male population, so the government had to take special measures to promote pregnancies. It lost territories to Brazil in what is now Mato Grosso do Sul, and Argentina in what is now the province of Misiones, and lost its access to the ocean. Thus, Bolivia and Paraguay are the only countries in Latin America that don’t have sea access, but even so, Bolivia maintains a Navy to control the vast expanses of its Amazonian rivers, and also to maintain its territorial claims.

El Chaco War

From 1932 to 1935, Bolivia and Paraguay went to war over the control of El Chaco Boreal, a vast, scarcely populated, and arid region. The dispute arose from non-defined borders and the supposed existence of oil deposits, but also because Bolivia wanted access to the Paraguay River after losing its coastal regions to Chile in the War of the Pacific. The war was gruesome for both sides due to the lack of water and the difficult terrain. It was the first war where modern weaponry was used, including tanks, airplanes, and German commanders on the Bolivian side. Paraguay was the clear victor, but the war resulted in a significant loss of lives, estimated at 100.000 soldiers, and both countries almost bankrupt.

Ecuador and Peru

7. Paraguayan soldiers at La Guerra del Chaco.

Ecuador and Peru have gone to war three times over the borders around the River Cenepa and the Cordillera del Condor. One in 1941, another in 1981, and the last in 1995, after which both countries signed a peace treaty endorsed by several countries, expecting to finish the disputes once and for all. This was the last cross-border war in Latin America.

Other wars ensued between Venezuela and Colombia; Mexico and the United States; the Acre War between Bolivia and Brazil in 1899, and the Paquisha War in 1981 between Peru and Ecuador

CONCLUSIONS

The internal geopolitical dynamics within the newly born countries after Independence were a reason for conflict for many decades. Different leaders fought to gain power at times when democracy was not a well-defined concept in people's minds. The first governments were made up of Generals and the existing Elites, and the rest of the people were not involved in the political apparatus that had not been created yet. Countries started with a lack of territorial unity, bad definitions of their lands, and without a patriotic feeling towards something that was just beginning to be created. They started with one flag and then changed the design several times. They didn’t have national anthems to evoke patriotism and other forms of republican expression, and the first thing the Juntas did when taking control was raise an army the day after.

The new nations didn’t have proper legal systems, nor a state structure, nor a way to elect their political authorities, nor an idea of political systems, nor taxes, nor a knowledge of their territories and above all, a budget to build up their countries and the first money they had was to raise armies to finish with the Spaniards.

The relation of the central government with the rest of the regions was weak and in some cases non-existent. Cultural, language, and geographic barriers made the creation or presence of a state very difficult. Some countries started having more than one political centre, like Chile, where Santiago and Concepcion fought for dominance. In Argentina, Buenos Aires was the main political hub, but other cities such as Cordoba and Rosario played a significant political role. In Bolivia, Sucre is still the constitutional capital while La Paz is the seat of government. The emergence of these dual or multi-centered political structures reflects the complexities of colonial administration, economic activities (particularly mining), and the subsequent struggles for political power that shaped the political landscapes of these Latin American nations. The relation of the capitals with the regions and, even, countries that didn’t have a unitary territory faced long-term disputes and the impossibility of incorporating them into the rest of the country was a challenge that took decades and well into the XX century in order to make the make habitable and start some kind of economic activity. In Brazil, the Amazonia zone was a remote land until the Carretera Transamazónica was inaugurated in 1972, with a length of around 4,000 km. and only then, they began to be populated, with disastrous current ecological consequences. The Chilean Patagonia was also almost uninhabited until the 1980s when the Carretera Austral started to be built and towns began to grow and prosper.

Almost all Latin American countries inherited ill-defined colonial borders, leading to protracted disputes and wars well into the 20th century. These conflicts often stemmed more from national pride and internal political instability than immediate territorial need. Thus, almost 200 years have passed to draw the right lines on the maps, but even so, resentments remain between different countries. Some areas of the borders have not yet been defined, like between Chile and Argentina, but both countries prefer to keep the issue dormant instead of escalating into another conflict. All countries' governments like to say that the other is a brother country, and in fact, they are, but some maintain a revenge spirit, and others prefer not to raise rivalries over disputes that were settled so long ago. If something resulted from all international wars is that the population values peace more than the definition of a border. However, as a part of their job of deterrence, the military keeps maintaining updated equipment and well-trained armies.

Military victories or losses have deeply influenced national policies and identities. Chile and Peru, for example, maintain strong military postures in their common borders due to their historical rivalries, while landlocked Bolivia retains a Navy and continues to claim lost coastal territory, reinforcing a national grievance narrative.

Modern disputes are increasingly resolved through international institutions rather than force.  Instead of going to war, countries now make their claim before international institutions. Peru brought Chile to the International Court of The Hague over a sea border dispute. The Court issued its verdict in 2014, giving a great piece of territorial ocean to Peru but not all that it wanted, and when that happened, people on both sides of the border didn’t even care.

Later, Bolivia also put two claims in The Hague against Chile but lost both of them, and the issue was raised no more. But Bolivian politicians and the population maintain their demands, while for Chile, it is a settled matter. These actions of going to The Hague bring more lasting solutions than military adventures because, whatever the result, they are issued by an International Court and there is no other option than to comply, even if they don’t like them, thus bringing more stability to the continent.

The disputes that remain are really not for borders anymore. They are not physical things, they are moral, related to the conflicts of the past. It’s the weight of history, but not for real current disputes. Today, Latin Americans move from one country to another, always being well received, and when they get a bad reception, is because somebody hasn’t read history well. Chileans and Argentinians are so much alike that when they travel to the other country, they just blend. For summer holidays, the Argentinians from Mendoza and San Juan cross the Andes to spend a month of rest on the Chilean beaches, leaving behind millions of dollars spent on tourism, and the only thing that differentiates them is that they are always drinking their beloved mate and the beauty of their women. Dancers from the Andean region move all year round in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile to participate in carnivals and festivities and dance for days on end like friends hosting the travelers in their homes. The Bolivian ladies who move the street economy in their cities go down to Chile’s Iquique Free Zone and send back containers full of goods for the year, and one can see them counting the dollars on the street, still using the same hair braids and the many skirts they have worn for centuries. The Chilean port of Arica is almost exclusively dedicated to moving loads to Bolivia.

The Polices are every day more integrated, conducting joint operations to tackle the same problem, and police attachés are exchanged between several countries. If a security crisis arises in one country, they immediately connect and, in a couple of hours, they are working together to find a criminal or save a hostage. Sadly, though, one thing that has brought this cooperation is that countries are facing the same threats to national security, such as drug dealing, international criminals, and indiscriminate migration.

Armies make joint exercises and participate together in UN Missions where they forget any rivalry and work alongside each other to comply with higher mandates. Presidents and politicians don’t make incendiary statements, nor do they raise territorial issues, and the minor differences are solved by the Foreign Ministers over the phone and don’t last more than a couple of days.

The geopolitical landscape in Latin America is complex, marked by rising tensions, a shift towards multipolarity, and the region's role in global power competition. While Latin America has historically maintained a degree of non-alignment, external pressures and internal challenges are reshaping its dynamics. It has never been a centre of power, such as the USA or China so countries align with one or the other to belong to something and convey an outward political message. There have been times of Soviet influence, Marxist Leninist, American, and now others are making deals with China while trying to maintain a neutral attitude. 

Apart from the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stating that he wants to claim a part of Guyana, the possibility of conflict on the continent is low. However, modern disputes have come to the fore as one country that has a conflict hypothesis over the resource of water. An eco-conflict that wouldn’t be the first, as other countries, like India and Pakistan, have similar issues with their neighbours.

Latin Americans of today are closer to each other than those who fought for independence 200 years ago. Peace can’t be taken for granted, but today the prospects of peace and cooperation are much closer than the prospects of war, and I hope it stays that way.