Games Asylum: “Presumably to prevent angering an entire continent, its never revealed where Cartel Tycoon takes place even though its glaringly obvious. The same applied to the Tropico series, clearly inspired by the Cuban lifestyle but instead falling back on the term banana republic. Theres fair reasoning behind this, with the writers of The Simpsons once under fire for the Brazilian stereotype rampant episode Blame it on Lisa. Brazils tourism board even stepped in after being angered by the depictions of crime. Cartel Tycoon takes place somewhere imaginary, and you cant prove otherwise.”
Source: N4G PC Cartel Tycoon review – Games Asylum