What would modern-day America look like if Columbus had never "discovered" the New World?

Imagine that on his first voyage, his ships sank and he never made it to the Americas. What would happen afterwards? Would another European get there first? What would be the effects on Central and South America and the Native Americans who lived there?<br><br>Would they encounter other colonial powers like the Chinese or Portuguese? Would the Spanish conquer the Caribbean and exploit the natives without European spread of disease?<br><br>How would the absence of encounter with the New World change European society and politics?<br><br>I am not asking for an alternate world in which the New World was never settled. That is too difficult an ask. Simply, if Columbus himself never got there. All other things the same, with the alternating factors.