Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania cannot really trust Russia (the leader of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as Russia forcibly made those states part of the Soviet Union and and did allow for democracy there. That's why they don't want to be part of CIS. They can afford not to be due to their location in Europe, next to western Europe, so then can claim help from western Europe in case of Russian Invasion (unlike Kazakhstan for example).
By painting scenic landscapes
Because everyone wanted to have an equal say in how the country was run and if the bigger states had more representation, then the smaller states´ point of view would be overlooked and they would be oppressed
Simon Bolivar wanted to create a unified Gran Colombia.
