Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Puede que no cambiemos la política mundial con una sola acción, pero sí podemos mejorar la economía de nuestra comunidad. - We may not change world politics with a single action, but we can improve our community’s economy.

puede que is an impersonal expression that means roughly “it may be that / maybe / perhaps.”
It’s similar to es posible que (“it’s possible that”).

So:

Puede que no cambiemos... ≈ “It may be that we don’t change...” / “We may not change...”

You cannot say podemos que; that structure is incorrect in Spanish.
And podemos alone would mean “we can,” expressing ability, not probability:

Podemos cambiar la política mundial = “We can change world politics” (we are able to).
Puede que no cambiemos la política mundial = “We may not change world politics” (it’s uncertain).

Why is cambiemos (subjunctive) used instead of cambiamos (indicative)?

Because puede que expresses doubt / possibility / uncertainty, and in Spanish, that usually triggers the subjunctive.

Indicative (cambiamos) is for facts, things the speaker presents as real or certain.
Subjunctive (cambiemos) is for doubt, possibility, wishes, etc.

Compare:

No cambiamos la política mundial.
“We don’t change world politics.” (stated as a fact)
Puede que no cambiemos la política mundial.
“We may not change world politics.” (it’s uncertain / just a possibility)

Because of puede que, cambiemos must be in the subjunctive here.

Why does the sentence use present subjunctive (cambiemos) if it’s really about the future?

Spanish often uses the present subjunctive for situations that are possible in the future, especially after expressions of doubt or possibility.

So even though the idea is future-oriented (“we may not change [in the long term]”), the grammar uses present subjunctive:

Puede que no cambiemos la política mundial...
“We may not change world politics...”

This is normal and natural. You do not use a future subjunctive in modern Spanish (that form is basically obsolete in everyday language).

Why is puede in the third person singular if we’re talking about “we” (cambiemos)?

Because puede here doesn’t refer to “we” at all. It’s part of an impersonal construction:

(Es posible que) → Puede que → “It may be that...”

The implied subject is something like “it” or “the situation,” not “we.”
So:

Puede que (3rd person singular) + no cambiemos (“we may not change”)

Grammatically, this is parallel to:

Es posible que no cambiemos la política mundial...
“It’s possible that we may not change world politics...”

What exactly does sí mean in “pero sí podemos mejorar...”?

Here sí is not the word “yes” in a simple answer. It’s an adverb of emphasis meaning something like:

“indeed we can”
“actually we can”
“we do have the ability to”

The structure pero sí podemos is used to contrast with the previous negative idea:

Puede que no cambiemos la política mundial...
“We may not change world politics...”

pero sí podemos mejorar la economía de nuestra comunidad.
“but we can (indeed) improve our community’s economy.”

If you removed the sí, it would still be grammatically correct:

...pero podemos mejorar la economía de nuestra comunidad.

The meaning would be similar, but with slightly less emphasis on the contrast.

Can I move sí somewhere else, like “pero podemos sí mejorar”?

Not really, not in standard, natural Spanish.

✅ pero sí podemos mejorar... (natural, very common)
❌ pero podemos sí mejorar... (sounds awkward / unnatural)

The usual and most natural position for this emphatic sí is right before the conjugated verb:

sí podemos
sí queremos
sí tenemos

It’s used to emphasize or contrast:

No queremos ir, pero sí tenemos que ir.
“We don’t want to go, but we do have to go.”

What’s the difference between “una sola acción” and just “una acción” or “solo una acción”?

All are related, but there are nuances:

una acción
“an action / one action” (neutral, no emphasis on “only”)
una sola acción
Emphasizes that it is only one, just a single action.
Roughly: “with a single action” / “with just one action.”
solo una acción
Very close in meaning to una sola acción, also stressing “only one”.

In the sentence:

...con una sola acción...

the idea is: “We can’t change world politics with just one single action.”
So una sola acción is chosen to highlight that one action is not enough at the global level.

Why is it “política mundial” and not “mundial política” or “política del mundo”?

Two points here: adjective position and meaning.

Adjective position
In Spanish, most adjectives go after the noun:
- política mundial = “world politics”
- economía local = “local economy”
mundial política is incorrect. The normal order is noun + adjective.
Meaning
- política mundial is the usual, fixed expression for “world politics / global policy.”
- política del mundo could be understood, but it’s less idiomatic and sounds more literal: “politics of the world.” In many contexts, speakers would still prefer política mundial.

Why is it “la economía de nuestra comunidad” instead of “nuestra economía”?

Both can be correct, but they focus slightly different things.

la economía de nuestra comunidad
Literally “the economy of our community.”
It clearly specifies which economy: that of “our community” (neighborhood, town, etc.).
nuestra economía
Literally “our economy.”
This could mean “the economy of our community,” but it can also sound a bit more abstract: our national economy, our company’s economy, etc., depending on context.

Using de nuestra comunidad makes it explicit and concrete that we’re talking about the local community’s economy, not something bigger or vaguer.

Could I replace “puede que” with “quizás” or “tal vez”?

Yes, you can, with very similar meaning:

Quizás no cambiemos la política mundial...
Tal vez no cambiemos la política mundial...

Both quizás and tal vez often go with the subjunctive when talking about a future or uncertain action, especially when the uncertainty is stronger.

So these are natural alternatives in Latin American Spanish:

Puede que no cambiemos la política mundial...
Quizás no cambiemos la política mundial...
Tal vez no cambiemos la política mundial...

All three are fine; puede que just sounds slightly more like “it may be that...” in tone.

Is there anything specifically “Latin American” about this sentence?

The sentence is neutral and would be understood everywhere in the Spanish‑speaking world.

Vocabulary: política mundial, economía, comunidad are standard.
Grammar: puede que + subjunctive, sí podemos (emphatic), una sola acción are all standard in both Spain and Latin America.

There’s nothing in this sentence (like vosotros, certain slang, or regional words) that marks it as specifically Latin American; it’s simply international, standard Spanish that works perfectly in Latin America.