And the children down there are thoroughly immersed in it?
Depends on the country - but, for the most part, yes. Seriously, do some research on it.
Look at the issue this way: S.A. is 90 percent Catholic; and Catholics raise their children in the faith from the earliest, starting with baptism, catechism and on up through the sacraments.
My wife is Peruvian, her uncle, also Peruvian, is a Monsignor (priest of higher rank in the Church) He is thoroughly indoctrinated with Liberation theology / social justice, and totally pro open borders. He and I get into terse arguments over the subject. He is fond of telling me that the “problem is not in your head, but in your heart” - b/c I argue from a position of law and reason regarding sovereign borders - including the strictness of Mexican immigration laws (hypocrites) And the same is true with almost all Latin American countries - they are very much protectionists ... But the U.S. is supposed to just be the dumping ground for other nation’s problems - and we American citizens are supposed to just shut up and accept this as a fact of natural law and “justice!”
This bastardization of Catholic theological principles is rampant in most Latin American countries. Look at Cuba and Mexico. The same perverse indoctrination exist all throughout Central and South America.