re: What do liberals consider the reason south of border nations are failed states

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Cultures are superior to other cultures. Your lack of comfort with that reality is irrelevant

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Cultures are fluid, mutable, and change. Someone mentioned Switzerland, a mountainous country with few natural resources. 150 years ago, Switzerland was among the poorest nations in Europe. The keys to its current wealth is multifaceted, but we can distill it to a couple of things. Firstly, the Swiss avoided the wars that characterized Central European geopolitics, with their last armed conflict a civil war in 1847. Secondly the Swiss championed the idea of dual education, an outgrowth of the apprenticeship and guild system of the medieval period, which provided Swiss companies with a skilled and well-educated workforce. The federal system in Switzerland also helps it navigate its diversity, as there are 4 national languages, by helping ensure local control. The cultural history of the Swiss, informed by its previous poverty, also helps.

The key for me is to avoid violence, especially in smaller nations which do not have much room for error. Central America in particular haven't been able to avoid violence for long enough periods to develop other cultural habits that are needed for a country to succeed. Avoiding violence is fundamental, as well as finding the right political system for the groups that inhabit a country. Switzerland direct democracy wouldn't work as well, in all probability, in larger countries, but it seems to work there.