Latin America and the Zombie Factor

Summary

September 13, 2011: An article published by the Council On Hemispheric Affairs discusses how the nations of South America (including Central America and the Caribbean) would be likely to respond to a zombie apocalypse. Breaking it down nation by nation, the article discusses zombies, the history of military coups and the (in-)effectiveness of disaster relief efforts in the area, and how factors like the Drug Cartels and the veneration of Santa Muerte may color the nature of any zombie epidemic in the region.

Source

Bibliography

1. Original Article at the Council On Hemispheric Affairs website

Game and Story Use

• If the world is battling with zombies, exactly how the fight plays out will vary from region to region. The original article is well worth the read for any GM or budding novelist attempting to visualize how such conflicts might play out.
• All the various narco-insurgent organized crime groups are a huge problem and danger now in our zombieless world. In the event of a zombie scenario however, they may actually prove somewhat helpful. Weapons are readily available in many parts of South and Central America, and there is a subset of the population already adjusted to the concept of a violent lifestyle, and not psychologically reluctant to take a human life. Such criminal elements will likely commit many atrocities in the process, but may prove a rapid-enough response to the outbreaks to keep the zombies in check.
  • This is superficially similar to the photo-novel series Night Zero where a Russian Mob family organizes the resistance / survivors of a zombie outbreak. There's definitely some room for gaming in either of these concepts, with PCs playing mafiosos or other characters that wouldn't traditionally be the heroes if civilization hadn't collapsed and the dead weren't walking the streets.
• In the aftermath, perhaps areas that were already war-torn or violent may rise to a new prominence as a result of being the areas that survive the zombie tide the best. Certain Latin American nations may be the leaders of the post-zombie world.
• In a setting riddled with Conspiracy Theory, the increased incidence of serious sources musing about the way a zombie apocalypse would play out (see Mathematical Model for Surviving a Zombie Attack and Zombie Attack At Hierakonpolis) of late would actually be really sinister. THEY know that the zombie virus exists, that the terrorists (or aliens) have it, and that it's only a matter of time before the dead return to eat the living! THEY are subtly preparing the masses for this eventuality, just as THEY are slowly acclimating us to the presence of their secret alien masters.