URSAL

URSAL (acronym in Portuguese for "Union of Socialist Statelets of Latin America" or "Union of Socialist Republics of Latin America") is a jocular term coined in 2001 by Brazilian sociologist Maria Lúcia Victor Barbosa to mock criticism by left-wing politicians and intellectuals of the Free Trade Area of the Americas led by the United States. 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.
In 2018 the Brazilian federal deputy and presidential candidate, Cabo Daciolo, spoke of URSAL as a conspiracy to end national sovereignties on the continent. Daciolo referred to URSAL when he questioned Ciro Gomes 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.