In OTL, several Latin American countries with Pacific coasts had economic interests in the South Pacific islands during the 19th Century:
- Ecuador annexed the Galapagos Islands in 1832, establishing human settlements that have grown to encompass 25 thousand people today.
- Mexico attempted a short-lived mining colony on Clipperton Island in 1897, but the coinciding revolution diverted the country's ability to supply the settlers with much-needed provisions.
- Chile annexed Easter Island in 1888, marking the only formal Latin American conquest of an island with an indigenous population.
- Between 1862 and 1863, ships from Peru, some endorsed by the government for a period of time, engaged in "blackbirding" Polynesian islanders from the Cook Islands, Easter Island, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and elsewhere in between to relieve a Peruvian labor shortage.
Are any Latin American countries in the 19th Century capable of colonizing some of the more populous island groups in Polynesia before the European powers show interest? Is there enough motivation, and if not, could a different turn of events drive them to attempt this?
- Ecuador annexed the Galapagos Islands in 1832, establishing human settlements that have grown to encompass 25 thousand people today.
- Mexico attempted a short-lived mining colony on Clipperton Island in 1897, but the coinciding revolution diverted the country's ability to supply the settlers with much-needed provisions.
- Chile annexed Easter Island in 1888, marking the only formal Latin American conquest of an island with an indigenous population.
- Between 1862 and 1863, ships from Peru, some endorsed by the government for a period of time, engaged in "blackbirding" Polynesian islanders from the Cook Islands, Easter Island, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and elsewhere in between to relieve a Peruvian labor shortage.
Are any Latin American countries in the 19th Century capable of colonizing some of the more populous island groups in Polynesia before the European powers show interest? Is there enough motivation, and if not, could a different turn of events drive them to attempt this?