Bolivia, The Saudi Arabia of Lithium

I believe the potential for the ruling parties to reap all the rewards from North America were all present, but the long history of the populating nations and sheer political disobedience certainly put a stop to that notion.

I hope that South America's political heritage will win out and they'll follow suit of NA into leading nations. Portugal is a post-empire country, and hopefully this will imbue the Brazilians with a healthy demand of respect when trade starts becoming more important.

Sadly the reason I think Africa is a different story is because for thousands of years they've had the choice between doing as they're told and staying alive or protesting and dying. I believe it doesn't help that literacy and information aren't as prevalent there, which certainly hurts people knowing their fair rights so everyone would stand up for them and not just a few.