South American Manifest Destiny

I'm no expert on South American geography, but from what I've been able to read, the Platine basin is a relatively good piece of real estate. What I'm wondering is if it would have been possible for this region to support the kind of development that the American Midwest experienced in the 1800s? Or are there other factors like aridity and soil quality that would have made this impossible?
 
I'm no expert on South American geography, but from what I've been able to read, the Platine basin is a relatively good piece of real estate. What I'm wondering is if it would have been possible for this region to support the kind of development that the American Midwest experienced in the 1800s? Or are there other factors like aridity and soil quality that would have made this impossible?
It is amongst the most fertile regions in the world and has the potential to be one of the bread baskets on the planet. And if you are talking about all La Plata basin it has plenty of coal (second biggest reserves in South America in Rio Grande de sul and Santa Catarina) and the biggest iron deposit in the world in Bolivia,still unused.
The region has a huge hidroelectric potential and if investment is proper iy could feed most of Brazil's and Argentina's energy demands with just hidroelectric energy.
As to your question. You need a way more stable south America and a way more inestable US. The region itself recieved around 10M inmigrants on its own between 1821-1930's so I don't see how under the right circumstances it could become the primary choice for European migrantion but you would need all of the basin to be stable and most likely under 1 state for it to be even possible.
 
Political instability is pretty much the only reason that it didn't. It attracted huge numbers of European immigrants and has plenty of natural resources.
 
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