alternatehistory.com



As I was walking through Toronto's Trinity Bellwoods Park this evening, I passed by a bust of Simon Bolivar, the one by Dundas and Shaw that had been given to Toronto in the early 1980s. As I passed it, as is my wont, I considered how Bolivar's dreams—of a strong Colombia, of a strong independent Spanish America—could have come to be.

A relatively peaceful transition to independence, something much more like Brazil's emergence from the Portuguese and less like the destructive wars of independence of OTL could do it. Maybe Britain during the Napoleonic Wars might think encouraging the separation of the Spanish viceroyalties from Spain, interdicting Spanish naval traffic and making the resulting states dependent on Britain, a workable strategy. Being relatively intact might well make many things, like reform and federalism, more plausible.

Thoughts?
Top