Can I acquire a second ESTA a month after the first ended for the purpose of transit?

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TL;DR: You're fine.

Long version: You appear to be confusing ESTA with the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which is common, because this is confusing.

ESTA is a pre-authorization that lets you board flights to the US, nothing more. One ESTA is valid for two years and permits unlimited flights to the US.

The VWP is a program that lets citizens of certain countries enter the US for 90 days or less at a time for business or tourism only. Your VWP period resets to zero as soon as you exit an area composed of the US and "neighboring states" including Canada, Mexico and much of the Caribbean, but not including South America.

So I gather your plan is to stay in the US for less than 90 days, leave the VWP area, then return for transit only on your way to the US. This is fine according to the VWP rules, because your clock is reset by going to South America, and since you will have a ticket from the US to the UK, you will also have a very good reason for returning to the US after that long stay (which could otherwise be considered suspicious). And you do not need to apply for a new ESTA, because your previous one will still be valid.

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