Just a quick scenario I did for fun while I'm warming up for my other projects. Inspired by a thread on solar flares and the catastrophes they can do, this shows the aftermath of such an event in 2012
(we actually were very close...) in South America, 10 years later in 2022:
Blackout.
In 2012, a solar flare hit the Earth. Like if a thousand thunderbolts landed everywhere, it destroyed virtually every circuit of digital civilization. Those that survived became absolutely useless, as the world-wide electricity grid, the nerves of modern civilization, was fried by the merciless sun.
It was the Blackout.
Industrial civilization, depending on the wonders of electricity to survive, collapsed overnight. People dependent on electricity and refrigeration died in the first hours. Then more died in the riots that followed. Then by war. Then by famine. Then by plague. And soon after, civilization collapsed, atrocities became common place, and the comforts of the former world became a dream buried below millions of corpses...
10 years later, the human toll is simply unmeasurable. Many nations no longer exist as such, replaced by endless anarchy and war. Others have survived, by great sacrifices. In some places, even, the light of electricty shines again... but power is something very controlled in the post-Blackout world. In every sense of the word.
In this world, living like in former North Korea is the norm. A place like Cuba would be a paradise. And the bad places... well, you
really don't want to know...
Argentina: Argentina has recently reunited itself, after a period of chaos where all provinces where virtually independent and most of Buenos Aires burned; an alliance of governors, president Jorge Capitanich, and the armed forces rules the country. Food production and distribution was nationalized and controlled by the Army and Gendarmerie early on, which managed to stave off the worst famines. While some areas of the Conurbano are still no-go zones, and guerrillas still roam the South and North, order has been restored; often through brutal means such as systematic starvation of rebel areas. Still, some places even have locally produced electricity. Healthy citizens are forcibly recruited in the Army to aid in agriculture, a common system in many surviving states.
Bolivia: Already aiming for self-sufficiency at the time of the Blackout, Bolivia experienced chaos and riots, but it managed to maintain food security, or at least prevent famine. Water, however, was another thing; tens of thousands died of thirst. The Santa Cruz region rose up in rebellion against the Morales goverment soon after, though, and the grinding guerrilla war still continues underneath a truce. Far-right groups and peasant militias fight in the hot forests of the Bolivian Chaco, a brutal fight that bleeds out the entire country. A few gas plants have managed to restore electricity in some cities, but it is stricly rationed.
Brazil: Brazil has suffered much after the Blackout. The large cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro burned down in riots only weeks after and are still anarchic zones to this day. The southern states seceeded early on in the chaos; they are now ruled by a far-right regime. The military overthrew the leftist PT goverment after, and the north declared itself in rebellion. What followed was pure chaos. The Brazilian military, led by Bolsonaro as a parody of democratic goverment, is quickly bleeding itself trying to contain a thousand rebellions; most are 'contained' by massacres, while the Communist north slowly advances by grinding war. Gangs rule the cities, leftist guerrillas rise up in the interior, and cults preaching the end of the world are all over the country. A small state that refuses to recognize either Brazilian state as legitimate has risen up in the Amazon river, but the rest of the Amazon is in complete anarchy; The good news is that deforestation has mostly stopped; the bad news is that ranchers are now in open warfare against Indians and guerrillas of all stripes. While a system of forced agricultural conscription in the functioning suriving states has slowly improved the food supply, most of Brazil is still plagued by famine, violence and thirst.
Chile: Chile has had a bad time feeding its people; large cities such as Santiago soon burned in riots. The new goverment in Valparaíso is a military junta in all but name. Santiago has been treated like an occuppied city by necessity; only those who serve the goverment are fed rations of dry fish and cheap bread. The rest of the country is mostly self sufficient, if still under grim conditions; the northern cities, with little to no water, are virtually abandoned. The Mapuche have risen up in the South, but the military is currently too busy to deal with them. On the other hand, Valparaíso has restored a semblance of electricity, and is in communication with nations across the Pacific.
Colombia: Colombia is on the verge of collapse. The civilian goverment was unable to deal with the crisis, and the junta that followed them isn't much better. While Colombia had plenty of water and food at first, the high population and missteps by the goverment led it to anarchy. Cities like Bogotá and Medellín do not exist anymore, and the rest of the country is disputed between renewed FARC, far-right guerrillas (some made of former military units), and evangelical groups. The current Colombian provisional goverment controls the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, but has little popular support, and a coup is clearly coming. What is less clear is what will come afterwards...
Ecuador: In the first months of the Blackout, a military emergency goverment took over Ecuador. Just a couple years of famine and civil war later, a new leftist 'people's council' overthrew it. The new goverment brutally restored order, mobilizing the entire population, and since then, little is known from this small nation, other than the propaganda of the "indian socialist utopia" that guerrillas in Peru claim...
French Guyana: 'Self-governing', that is, independent in all but name, French Guyana is basically a city-state centered around Cayenne. Ocassionally ships from various 'provisional' and 'self-governing' and 'Nth Republiqués' French states come to port; so far all declarations have been rejected. The Légion Étrangère still guards the Guaiana Space Centre: uncanny monoliths from a past world.
Guyana: Guyana is under the control of an "emergency council" made by the local police and what remains of the previous goverment and the military. Things have been working out mostly fine, but with many sacrifices. The western part of the country was ceded to Venezuela with little conflict, and the Amazon has been abandoned. Guyana has gone back to the pre-industrial age in most respects, and mostly wishes to be left alone.
Paraguay: Paraguay managed the Blackout quite well, all things considered. Plenty of water and nationalizing food production early on managed to keep things relatively stable; at least near Asunción. The northern and western parts of the country are still no-man's land, with communist guerillas becoming the default goverment. However, the Paraguayan goverment currently is more concerned about next year's harvest -much like in other nations, the military is involved- and restoring Yacyretá Dam together with Argentina.
Peru: Peru has suffered terribly. The water supply was destroyed overnight and food vanished soon after. The Peruvian civilian, and later military goverment, was unable to contain the riots, famine, and anarchy that followed. Most of the country was left to fend off by itself. A decade later, most of Peru is still anarchic; only some fishing towns, alliances of gangs and guerrillas, and doomsday cults (after all, didn't Inti Himself send this punishment against us?) maintain a semblance of goverment. What remains of the former Peruvian goverment has retreated to the Altiplano and is a one-party state supported by Bolivia. Conscription is universal and rationing is brutal, even for the standards of this world.
Suriname: Much like the other Guyanas, Suriname also is a weak city-state centered on Paramaribo. It maintains a pre-industrial level of technology, with some attempts to build up windmills. There are some very "interesting" doomsday cults hiding in the Amazon jungle.
Uruguay: Uruguay was hit by chaos and riots in Montevideo, but it quickly took action to secure the food and water supply. A low population, excellent organization and plenty of food and water kept casualties at a minimum. Electricity is being restored, as engineers and technicians build working windmills and biomass generators, while trying to put the Salto Grande dam back online. Democratic elections have been held recently, with no problems. All things considered, Uruguay is one of the best-off nations in this world.
Venezuela: Venezuela is held together by its military: they have long got rid of Maduro and got someone more manegable in power. Some splinter units have risen up against the goverment, as famine has left even the military to suffer. The Zulia region has declared independence, and Venezuela has left them go, after all, it means less mouths to feed, but officially stills claims it. There has been attempts at forced agriculturization, but the food and water supply remains precarious. Overall, Venezuela has a grim existance, and is more of a great military gang rather than a state.
Also shown in the map are the Antilles Confederation (a rather peaceful union of fishing towns), Costa Rica (doing fine, thank you very much), what remains of Panama and Nicaragua, the independent Miskito Coast, and the Most Holy Covenant of the Ancient Gods and the Thousand Living Spirits (oh dear...)
Despite this grim picture, South America is actually one of the better-off regions in the post Blackout world. Many people elsewhere would trade everything to be a conscripted farmer in a small Paraguayan town somewhere instead of facing the chaos in the rest of the world...