Someone pointed out to me fairly recently that Argentina used to have a massive amount of sea-trade passing by, as ships went south through the Magellan straigh

Someone pointed out to me fairly recently that Argentina used to have a massive amount of sea-trade passing by, as ships went south through the Magellan straight. Then in 1914 the Panama canal opened. And these once busy sea ports that anchored these countries to the world order faded. I'm not saying there weren't decades of mismanagement nor oligarchic control or whatever (I have no clue). But the canal changed the geo-political lay-up severely, & with enormous suddenness; it's impossible for me to see how these countries were going to maintain position/status/wealth after a physical shortcut was built cutting them off from global traffic.