The South American Union colonized most of the star systems around San Santiago and San Andres, but they optioned out certain systems to others. They needed money to fund their own great expansion after all. Probably the largest of the options they sold was the system that became Felicity. It orbited a star too strong for Union hyperdrives to reach. Even the Western Alliance couldn’t map the hyperspace run from Alpha Centauri, but they had been researching ways to localize those rapids from closer stars like San Santiago or San Andres. A proposal for Alliance and Union cooperation to map and colonize the system soon appeared, and Felicity became the next core Alliance World colonization effort. All nations welcome. Especially their friends from Union space.
The South American Union’s colonization of San Santiago, and their discovery of the hyperspace run connecting it directly to Alpha Centauri, changed that sector of space forever. It had taken their colony ship nearly three years to make the trip to San Andres via Altair. Seven years later, that same hyperdrive traveled from San Santiago to Alpha Centauri in under two years to find the Peloran had made Contact while they were out on the edges of civilization. And the improved hyperdrives they were helping Earth build would soon be able to make that trip in under a year. The Union Council held a golden goose in their hands, and they strangled that goose for all it was worth. They had a century of sunk losses to recover.
The South American Union picked the San Andres colony with care. It was in a largely unexplored sector of space, but there was a star in its neighborhood that might be able to connect directly back to Alpha Centauri. Even the Big Three hadn’t managed to find the hyperspace run connecting the two systems from the Alpha Centauri end and abandoned thoughts of the system. South America sent their best scientists out to San Andres, and then to the world that would become San Santiago. It took them years to lock down the hyperspace run back to Alpha Centauri, but once they did, it opened the entire sector up to a new wave of human expansion. The Union Council finally had the big discovery that could bring them riches unimaginable to Earthborn minds.
The South American Union first ventured to unwanted stars. San Pedro, San Mateo, and San Marcus orbited dim or distant stars that took years for their hyperdrives to reach. The Big Three targeted stars they could reach and exploit far quicker and left those systems alone. And Union colony ships moving to San Lucas and San Juan required long transits through systems owned by other nations. The Union spent the better part of a century colonizing and investing in those five colony worlds, efforts that mostly resulted in backwater vanity projects that would never affect interstellar politics. Most of the colonists were rugged types that enjoyed backwaters, but they were far from returning the investments poured into them. The Union Council was not amused.
The South American Union is well-named. It is a union of independent Nation States. They have a Union Council, and each State in South America and each off world colony has a single seat on it. They elect a President from their number who is authorized to perform foreign relations and run a military much like many nations. But a simple majority vote of the council can abrogate any decision made by the President. Or remove the President altogether. Of course each Councilor only serves a single four-year term, with a quarter of them replaced each year to make certain there is a constant influx of new blood and the old blood are soon retired. This keeps the central government from growing too big for the States to keep in check.