Hell in the Backyard 2022 (Part Two)

HELL IN THE BACKYARD Part Two Decades of hard work in political, military, and industrial sectors truly came to fruition for Brazil at the turn of the century. The authoritarian Brazilian government unlocked the potential of most of South America, previously squandered by years of mismanagement, greed, and incompetence at the hands of their previous governments. South America blossomed economically, as American investments slowly created a major world-renowned power. Farming, automotive and other civil industries swelled and grew in power and prestige, and Brazil's military followed to become one of the most powerful and professional in the world. Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador are the last sovereign countries in South America not controlled by the Brazilian state, although the prowess and influence of their huge neighbor has still affected all three. Colombia fared the best, being a close ally of the United States by ridding itself of the Communist menace back in the fifties and maintaining several treaties with America and Brazil. Ecuador pledged a non-alliance/neutrality pact with all the major players around and was soon known as "South America's Switzerland", also taking part in agreements with its neighbors, mostly trade and science based. Venezuela would unfortunately suffer a different, more negative faith than her sister countries. Blessed with huge oil reserves, Venezuela's importance to the hemisphere's economy could not be understated. Quietly observing her neighbors slowly absorbed by Brazil, Venezuela's leadership saw the danger in the road ahead and took every possible step to avoid the same fate. The result was a similarly autocratic government as seen in Brazil, with an impressively thorough police state underneath. The result created a difficult situation for Brazil, as Venezuela's unforgiving spy and police network rooted out multiple coup and insurgency attempts, and there was no political capital to simply take the country by force; Venezuela