I would agree with that. South Americans are more representative of the Catholic Church than Europeans are at the moment.
I do too. I think South America is the Church's strongest demographic. They have been failing in North America for decades; Europe more recently. I wondered if they's try to turn North America around by picking a front man who would be inoffensive there but I think they simply gave up with recovering there, and wisely too. They have a strong base in South America and some powerful smaller areas in the Asia/Pacific area. I expect they'll focus more there in the coming decades.
They have been around a long time and have demonstrated enough tenacity to survive some difficult periods. They don't make these choices casually, although you might suggest their guidance system failed them the last time and I wouldn't argue that.
--james