The correct answer is C) Spain and Portugal colonized Latin American nations during the 15th and 16th centuries.
At the arrival of the Iberian conqueror, Latin America was not empty. In 1500 the indigenous population was more than 100 million (by 1810 this had diminished to 10 million "by means of civilization") and its level of development was greatly varied: some were living as tribal people; others, as the “Quechuas”, the “Aymaras”, the “Mayas” or the “Aztecas” had constituted high civilizations. During the colonial period, the domination was centered around the Spanish or Portuguese metropolis, coexisting with the local, almost absolute power, of the agent or the landowner. The encounters of the Spanish and Portuguese with the indigenous peoples of Central and South America in the early sixteenth century were to establish a pattern of conquest and subjugation which would persist throughout the colonial period.
