Part 93: It's Like America, But South
Part 93: It’s Like America, But South
Alright, it’s time to go back to South America, which is like America, but South. After the wave of New World decolonization following the Second Global War, South America was now mostly independent (the exception being the Dutch colony of Suriname), albeit still affiliated with their former colonial overlords through diplomatic, royal and cultural ties. With that said, that did not mean that the continent’s future course was set in stone.For example, there were active separatist movements in some of the countries. In La Plata, the northern, mainly mountainous and more Indigenous part of the country felt completely disconnected from the southern part of the country, which was largely of European descent and held much more power and influence. The distance from La Paz to Buenos Aires, after all, is almost 1,400 miles, as compared to the less than 700 mile distance from La Paz to Lima, the capital of Peru. Speaking of Peru, a similar situation played out there with Chile, which was separated from the Peruvian heartland by the Atacama Desert, with a distance of over 1,500 miles separating Lima and Santiago. Many Chileans wanted to either join La Plata (although the Andes would form a significant barrier) or become an independent nation.
However, before I get to that, I’m gonna go into what’s shaking up in the rest of the continent. As mentioned in previous updates, the Early 20th Century in South America was an era of mass immigration from Europe, particularly from the Iberian Peninsula and Italy. The ports of Cartagena, Salvador, Rio, Montevidéu and Buenos Aires teemed with newly arrived Europeans looking to make a new life in the New World. Many came to the new world to farm, particularly in the Pampas of Southern Brazil and La Plata (and Patagonia, but that’s not the subject of this update), where the soil was pretty much perfect for agriculture. All the while, Brazilians began to migrate into the interior, which was something that the government promoted, to the point where it was being considered to move the capital from Rio to a new location in the interior. Also, one more thing, Brazil finally got around to abolishing slavery at the end of the 19th Century, although that’s not to say that Afro-Brazilians had it easy after they were emancipated. In the north of the continent, oil was discovered in New Granada (particularly in the region of Venezuela), sparking a surge in economic growth and immigration, with cities like Caracas and Maracaibo growing by leaps and bounds. Across the Orinoco Delta in Dutch Suriname, the economy remained mainly agricultural (importing cheap labor from South Asia after the abolition of slavery), but there was speculation of there being mineral resources.
Anyway, back to the main subject of this update, the separatism in Chile and OTL Bolivia. Both countries had independence movements, some wanting to become separate Spanish dominions and others wanting to break off from Spain entirely and adopt Republican governments. However, a new proposal arose: a land swap. You see, the separatist part of La Plata was located in the Andean Highlands and had a mainly Indigenous population… just like Peru. As for Chile, it had more of a European influenced culture and a temperate climate… much like La Plata. Thus, it was proposed for Peru and La Plata to swap their respective disputed territories. The Spanish had swapped territories between the various viceroyalties in their empire in the past, so this wouldn’t be anything without precedent. Referendums in each of the areas (the Andean Highlands of La Plata and Peruvian Chile) showed broad support for the plan, and after some negotiations, a deal was finalized. Thus, on New Years Day of 1936, Peru and La Plata swapped land, with the Andean Highlands going to Peru and Chile south of the Loa River going to La Plata. This gave La Plata a second, much larger coastline and Peru a region that shared the same Andean heritage, thus coming out as a deal that both parties were satisfied with. Thus, the map of South America had shifted significantly without a single shot being fired. We’ll eventually return to this part of the world, but for now, we’ve got more regions of the world to cover. I’ll see you next time.