Final answer:
The statement is true as peninsulares were European-born elites in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, holding top administrative and clerical positions, and forming the top social class in the colonies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that peninsulares were European-born elites who exercised political privileges in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas is true. Peninsulares were indeed white Europeans born on the Iberian Peninsula who lived in the Spanish American colonies.
They were at the top of the social caste system in the colonies and held the most significant administrative and clerical positions. The peninsulares were distinct from creoles, who were white individuals of European descent born in the Americas, and from mestizos and mulattos, who were of mixed descent. This rigid social hierarchy was crucial in maintaining colonial power structures and influenced the development of societies in Latin America.