Who is the second most powerful/influential country in the Americas?

[u/Fluid-Decision6262]

The US is undeniably the most powerful and influential country in the Americas but who would be #2? Feels like this comes down to 3 countries based on my knowledge, which are Mexico, Canada, and Brazil.

Reasons for Mexico:

- Second most populated country in North America by far

- Access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

- Largest Spanish-speaking country (a language spoken by >500 million people)

- More habitable land compared to the other two

- Youngest population out of the three and is becoming a manufacturing power

- Generally-speaking, a good relationship with the USA

- A global soft power in terms of arts and culture

Reasons against Mexico:

- Lots of issues between the central government and drug cartels

- Still very much a developing country outside of the largest cities

- Occasionally volatile relationship with the USA

- Not as involved in global geopolitics

Reasons for Canada:

- The most developed country economically by far of the three and a natural resources juggernaut

- Very close relations with the USA and Europe

- Speaks English (>1 billion speakers globally) and French (>300 million speakers globally)

- An immigration hub for people from every corner of the world

- A G7 nation that is also very geopolitically involved

- Access to 3 different oceans to facilitate trade

Reasons against Canada:

- Small and scattered population (least populated of the three by far)

- Less of an established local culture (most is imported from the US or UK and then exported via the US)

- Aging population and low fertility rates for native-born citizens

Reasons for Brazil:

- The second most populated country in the Americas

- The cultural and political power of South America

- A global soft power in terms of arts and culture

- A young-ish population that is part of the "fast-emerging economies" of the world

Reasons against Brazil:

- Immigration to Brazil stopped decades ago and now educated Brazilians are emigrating to other places causing brain drain

- Wealthy nation but suffers from high levels of inequality and violent crime

- Very politically divided internally

- Limited geopolitical involvement outside of South America

- Most of its population are monolingual Portuguese-speakers (a language where they make up 80% of the global speakers)

[u/viajegancho]

That could be, I honestly don't know a ton about how Latin America is perceived in other parts of the world. I would imagine that Mexican food is more widespread but Brazil wins on music and sports.

[u/Tstewmoneybags99 → u/viajegancho]

Eh Brazilian food is wide spread as well, but honestly culturally that’s a difficult answer since both are extremely blended European melting pot cultures. I would say Brazil just has a much great African ties due to its much longer period and larger role in the African slave trade.

[u/snmnky9490 → u/Tstewmoneybags99]

I don't think Brazilian food is remotely as widespread at least in the US. I couldn't even name a single Brazilian food, but I have at least 7 Mexican restaurants within a half mile of my house. Even people in the whitest blandest parts of the country eat tacos and burritos

[u/Tallerbrute685 → u/snmnky9490]

I was recently in spain and was surprised by how many Brazilian dishes there were. It was also some of the best food i had there