well, I think many people tend to think that because Rio is a sunga paradise, then all south america is also speedo-friendly. you know, not even all brazil is speedo freindly as I have read in some brazilian forums, in portuguese. some other cities are more conservative and even - while in rio carnival you'll see almost naked women - in other cities some girls will be banned for wearing miniskirts. some news suprised us a lot in south ameirca, that a girl in some brazilian city, very far from the coast, was banned of enter the university class, because she was wearing a revealing miniskirt, many people asked themselves, what ?? Brazil?.... yes, Brazil. not all Brazil is Rio.
I had the opportunity to visit some countries in south america, and I have to say, in order from less to more speedo friendly, from my experience of going to the beach, my list goes like this:

1.(less)Peru/Bolivia
2.Chile
3.Argentina (still not so speedo friendly)
4.Uruguay
5.(more) Colombia (not speedo paradise but still very acceptable, saw many men in speedos with wife and kids)

nerver been to brazil, but hope one day I will :)
by the way it's interesting to see many football players/musicians/artists from Peru wearing sungas when on vacations in Rio or in some caribbean island, but never seen in speedos in our beaches.

bonus; I was once in Punta Cana , Dominican Republic (not s. america, but still latin country) and I can say, at least in the resorts, you can wear whatever you want. saw many russians in speedos (knew they were russians because they were reading books written in the russian alphabet :p )

cultural variations....
 

Thanks for such a detailed survey - you even spotted some cyrillic* and 'Rio is not Brazil' is applicable to many other countries too :)

*in use in twelve countries in fact

Thanks for you reply thisweirdthing1985. Very interesting how different countries with similar cultures have different codes of dress relating to swimsuits.

D67

Thank you for the information thisweirdthing1985. I would have thought Chile to be more male brief swimsuit friendly.

Brasil
 

Forgot to ask - Can the average Spanish-speaking visitor cope sufficiently with the Portuguese to enable a conversation? (and vice versa)

Western Iberian Romance
 

:) Wow, my head is spinning - syntax as well as words ! Thanks for the link Sebbie
(fascinating to learn that the ancient Roman and Arab influences played such a part in the origins)

I will quite wearing speedos when I am dead and buried...

Why quit then? You could get buried in your favorite Speedo, if you were so inclined.

I told my family I wanted to be buried in my favorite Speedo but they said NO.