There's a historic argument that the lack of spanish/portuguese institutions during colonialism in these regions was good for their long-term development. Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica were some of the most ignored and poorest parts of the spanish/portuguese/brazilian empires (Uruguay used to be a brazilian province prior to independence), thus did not inherit the extractivist, cast-based and elite-oriented institutions of the spanish as much as their neighbors, these institutions, one could argue, would be the start of the corruption problems and political strife between the elites that haunts/haunted much of Latin America throughout it's history.
Thus, Chile, Uruguay, and Costa Rica were able to build up their own institutions in a manor that favored development more in the long term and made corruption less present.
Yes, I wasn't trying to say that Uruguay lacked brazilian institutions or that Uruguay had a lesser focus by the spanish empire because of Brazil, I just added that as an extra fact
I don't disagree with you don't the first part, but not inheritting (SP?) Exctractivist, cast-based and elite oriented institutions didn't stoped them from creating their own.
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