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If my impressions of Latin American history are correct, the wars for independence started as anti-Bonapartist revolts on behalf of Ferdinand VII when Joseph Bonaparte was placed on the Spanish throne. What would happen in a world where Napoleon never became the conqueror that he was in ours?

Also, conservative monarchists were a considerable force even during the independence movement, such as the time when Mexico tried to get a Spanish prince to be their ruler, but had to settle for Iturbide when the Bourbons declined. I think Peru was a major loyalist holdout as well.

Would Ferdinand VII's intransigence doom his empire in some other way, or would it survive indefinitely? How would the relationship between Brazil and Portugal turn out if the Braganzas didn't have to flee?
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