URSAL

URSAL (acronym in Portuguese for "Union of Socialist Statelets of Latin America"[1] or "Union of Socialist Republics of Latin America") is a jocular term coined in 2001 by Brazilian sociologist Maria Lúcia Victor Barbosa[2] to mock criticism by left-wing politicians and intellectuals of the Free Trade Area of the Americas led by the United States.[3][4] Subsequently the expression was taken seriously by Olavo de Carvalho and by Brazilian right-wingers, resurfacing on YouTube and other media as a conspiracy theory related to a supposed Latin American integration plan propagated by the São Paulo Forum.[5][6][7]

Latin America, region of the globe that supposes the option URSAL.

In 2018 the Brazilian federal deputy and presidential candidate, Cabo Daciolo, spoke of URSAL as a conspiracy to end national sovereignties on the continent.[4] Daciolo referred to URSAL when he questioned Ciro Gomes[8][9] during the first debate among candidates of the 2018 Brazilian presidential election. Daciolo said URSAL would be a federation of Latin American and Caribbean countries with characteristics of a large bloc of socialist republics.[10][11][7] The episode had repercussions in the Brazilian and foreign press and provoked many protests in the social media.[12][13] History teaching in Brazil had to do with the development of a non-European Latin unity over the centuries.[14]