AH-Challenge: Keep Mexico an Empire

Use your Alternate History prowess to keep either Mexican Empire (1st or 2nd) as a country to this very day. Bonus points if Mexico is a regional powerhouse and does not suffer any of the current unrest.
 
I don't see any way to keep Iturbide's empire going for too long, with things as they were. There were too many individuals still around who had been disciples of Morelos; and they had no desire for anything like this; Guadalupe Victoria and Vicente Gurerro just to name a couple. Also, keep in mind that this was the begining of the age of Santa Anna, and he would have caused mischief no matter what.
I keep thinking about how to make it work, and I can't come up with any solutions. The country was just too broke in the early 1820s, and Iturbide was too much of an egotistical AH for any real chance of sucess.
 
It is practically impossible to keep Mexico an Empire in most cases, much less a stable one.

oudi14 named pretty much the reasons for Iturbide. Furthermore you also have to deal with the fact that he and Mexico was bankrupt at the time; there are countless of reasons why he was deposed in less than a year.

Maximilian on the other hand had no legitimacy to him being there. We was brought over by a radical group of conservatives, whom he quickly alienated by being more liberal than their opponents. His backing from France fell and doomed him. The fact that the "Empire" lasted for three years (which were constantly at war) was impressive. Maybe if you somehow advert the Franco-Prussian war allowing the French to maintain their backing Maximilian could have defeated Juarez and stay in power for a bit longer.
But you would soon have problems with Diaz, and other followers of Juarez who are still bound to bring trouble, as well as disenfranchised conservatives like Manuel Gonzales (who switch sides and ultimately became Diaz's #2), and later on at the turn of the century radicals like Zapata, Villa and half the revolucionarios.

The only way to have a stable successful Mexican Empire that grows into a powerhouse would be with PoD before the War of Independence, or early during it. Where you could have a Bourbon monarch legitimize it.
 
Bourbon Mexico

The provision in the 1819 Treaty calling for a Emperor, was designed to allow Carlos' younger Brother to take the Throne.
Iturbide only took the Throne after Carlos forbid his Brother from doing so, and the Mexicans couldn't talk any other European Noble into the Job.

So Carlos doesn't change his mind, the Brother takes the Job, Some problems in the first couple of years between Royal's and Mexican Constitution.
Compromise Constitution rewritten in mid 1820's [displeasing everyone -as best compromises do] Mexico settles down into stability.

To solve it's Bankrupt Coffers, it sells Filibust Texas, and Northern California [36'30"o] to the US.
In the late 1800, following the completion of the Suez, Mexico builds the Nicaraguan Canal. Paid for by the 1879 discovery of Gold in California.

Bourbon Mexico.png
 
The provision in the 1819 Treaty calling for a Emperor, was designed to allow Carlos' younger Brother to take the Throne.
Iturbide only took the Throne after Carlos forbid his Brother from doing so, and the Mexicans couldn't talk any other European Noble into the Job.

So Carlos doesn't change his mind, the Brother takes the Job, Some problems in the first couple of years between Royal's and Mexican Constitution.
Compromise Constitution rewritten in mid 1820's [displeasing everyone -as best compromises do] Mexico settles down into stability.

To solve it's Bankrupt Coffers, it sells Filibust Texas, and Northern California [36'30"o] to the US.
In the late 1800, following the completion of the Suez, Mexico builds the Nicaraguan Canal. Paid for by the 1879 discovery of Gold in California.

I was thinking that this course of action would have been best to keep El Imperio de México around till the present day, barring, of course, a Napoleon III-wank.
 
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