URSAL

File:Mapa_ursal_588_1.jpg

URSAL ({{langx|pt|União das Repúblicas Socialistas da América Latina}}, Union of Socialist Republics of Latin America) is a term coined in 2001 by Brazilian sociologist Maria Lúcia Victor Barbosa{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/pt_br/article/7xqmyy/tudo-que-sabemos-sobre-a-ursal|title=Tudo que sabemos sobre a URSAL|date=2018-08-14|website=Vice}}Originally, she used the pejorative word Republiquetas (little republics) instead of Repúblicas. to mock criticism from left-wing politicians and intellectuals with regards to the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.folhadelondrina.com.br/opiniao/os-companheiros-372991.html|title=Os companheiros|date=2001-12-08|publisher=Folha de Londrina|language=pt}}{{Cite web|url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2018/08/critica-do-pt-sociologa-diz-que-inventou-ursal-em-2001-como-ironia.shtml|title=Crítica do PT, socióloga diz que inventou Ursal em 2001 como ironia.|date=2018-08-13|publisher=Folha de S. Paulo}} The expression was taken seriously by Brazilian right-wingers, including Olavo de Carvalho, and resurfaced on YouTube and other media as a supposed Latin American integration plan backed by the São Paulo Forum.{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/dfrlab/electionwatch-ursal-illuminati-and-brazils-youtube-subculture-56c3a6d5c767|title=#ElectionWatch: URSAL, Illuminati, and Brazil's YouTube Subculture|date=2018-08-30|website=Digital Forensic Research Lab|publisher=Atlantic Council}}{{Cite journal|date=2018-08-30|title=YouTube ajudou a amplificar teoria da Ursal, diz relatório|url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2018/08/youtube-ajudou-a-amplificar-teoria-da-ursal-diz-relatorio.shtml|journal=Folha de S.Paulo}}{{Cite web|url=https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2018/08/16/articulo/1534409995_060445.html|title=La URSAL: una teoría de la conspiración que llegó al debate político de Brasil|date=2018-08-16|publisher=El País|language=es}}{{in lang|pt}}