The Brazilian Army has been occupying French Guiana for the last twenty years, and not once has the city of Cayenne accepted it. Sitting on the estuary of the Cayenne River, the occupation authority has seen fit to make the largest city in the colony their home, and the resentment ever since has been thick enough to taste. Add onto that with the migration of tens of thousands of Brazilian immigrants moving in, and you have a recipe for one of South America's most resentful regions - and there are certainly more than enough of those on the continent.

As the war came to a conclusion and the authority of both France's fell into flux, Brazil saw its opportunity to step in. Backed by an American nation which saw it as a convenient solution to a potential problem, the Brazilian Army marched across the border and seized the colony. Since then, French Guiana - and Cayenne - have lasted in an odd limbo, slowly but surely spiraling further and further into Brazil's sphere while more and more immigrants bring the region closer to their home and more Brasília money funnels into the area's development. Cayenne has certainly benefited from the influx of people and jobs, but when paired with the slow fading of the region's autonomy and culture, the trade-off seems a lot more sour than it first appeared.

It's not clear what the future holds for French Guiana and Cayenne. The city itself has come far from once being a penal colony. Its narrow streets and sidewalks are vibrant with culture and life, and its people enjoy a steadily improving quality of life. But how long can this limbo lasts before Cayenne is pulled from the ledge, one way or another?