AH Challenge: State of Panama
- Thread starter Xen
- Start date
The Marshall Plan is extended to Latin America, to keep them allied to Washington. Panama, now with a very heavy US presence, applies for statehood in the mid-fifties. After extensive resistance from the Southern Dems, Panama enters the Union in 1958 as the 49th state, soon to be joined by Alaska (50th state) and Hawaii (51st state) follow in 1959.
Maybe Puerto Rico and/or Nicaragua, Cuba, Jamaica, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Bahamas, Guatemala, Costa Rica joins eventually as well......
Maybe Puerto Rico and/or Nicaragua, Cuba, Jamaica, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Bahamas, Guatemala, Costa Rica joins eventually as well......
Fabilius said:
Perhaps.....it would make the whole illegal immigration issue more interesting......
David bar Elias said:Perhaps.....it would make the whole illegal immigration issue more interesting......
Yes, I suppose the middle american states would push for Mexico joining. (After all, they can´t be hispanophobes can they?)
Of course this is just one form of the ultra USA that often springs up in ATL´s.
But... With this happening, I suppose USA would become bilingual, and Puerto Rico would probably join...
Fabilius said:Yes, I suppose the middle american states would push for Mexico joining. (After all, they can´t be hispanophobes can they?)
Of course this is just one form of the ultra USA that often springs up in ATL´s.
But... With this happening, I suppose USA would become bilingual, and Puerto Rico would probably join...
Yeah, the good folks of Puerto Rico might resent a bunch of Johhny-come-latelies holding more influence in the goverment than they do....
Ahh yes, the uber USA....the nation that never loses to anyone...except to the Draka, Confederacy, Mormons, Mexicans, Nazis, Japanese, Lizards, Posleen, ect....
I'm not sure if it would make the U.S. bilingual. If we are assuming that Panama is virtually bribed into the Union following the Second World War, then there populace there could easily be learning English additionally to Spanish by the time of statehood.Fabilius said:Yes, I suppose the middle american states would push for Mexico joining. (After all, they can´t be hispanophobes can they?)
Of course this is just one form of the ultra USA that often springs up in ATL´s.
But... With this happening, I suppose USA would become bilingual, and Puerto Rico would probably join...
David S Poepoe
Banned
David bar Elias said:
Did the Germans invade Mexico or did Argentina declare itself an Axis ally? How about a good reason the Marshall Plan should be extended to Latin America?
Max Sinister
Banned
Maybe the US, for whichever reasons, propose the Central American states joining them, but demand that Mexico is broken up into several states, which the Mexicans don't want...
Xen
Banned
No this isn't one of those ultra US Nations that pop up, I intended to get either Panama or Belize to join the Union, possibly both, but not all of Central America, and or Mexico. As for Puerto Rico, it will be more than less the same as OTL, a US commonwealth.
Something I had considered is having some brutal dictator rise to power in Panama. Civil War and famine set in, and perhaps as much as one third of the population dies as a result. The United States gets involved in the war and of course more people die, and more infrastructure is destroyed to rid Panama of this dictator, billed the Hitler/Stalin of Central America.
The elected Panamanian government is increasingly short on cash, and even with massive foreign aid, especially from the US can't seem to get the economy stabilized, and rebuild the war devestated country, and so doing request to be admitted to the United States, at first in a deal similiar to Puerto Rico. With mainland Americans able to buy land really cheap, and encouraged by the US government to do so, and US contractors rebuilding the cities, the population doubles with as many mainlanders as Panamanians who wish to enter the Union as a state, as do enough Panamanians that statehood is granted.
Plausible?
Something I had considered is having some brutal dictator rise to power in Panama. Civil War and famine set in, and perhaps as much as one third of the population dies as a result. The United States gets involved in the war and of course more people die, and more infrastructure is destroyed to rid Panama of this dictator, billed the Hitler/Stalin of Central America.
The elected Panamanian government is increasingly short on cash, and even with massive foreign aid, especially from the US can't seem to get the economy stabilized, and rebuild the war devestated country, and so doing request to be admitted to the United States, at first in a deal similiar to Puerto Rico. With mainland Americans able to buy land really cheap, and encouraged by the US government to do so, and US contractors rebuilding the cities, the population doubles with as many mainlanders as Panamanians who wish to enter the Union as a state, as do enough Panamanians that statehood is granted.
Plausible?
David S Poepoe
Banned
Xen said:
Plausible in an ATL, but implausible to anything nearing real life. Given the general resentment of Americans in Latin America I strongly doubt they will accept statehood. On the flip side of the coin I doubt that the US would ever consider admitting Panama as a state, tho perhaps as a territory. The Panamanians love their country and their independence. Those Panamanians that would what statehood are those that have already immigrated to the US.
Xen
Banned
Which will make things really interesting as Panamanian Republicans, or as Im sure the US media will call them, terrorists (and probably rightly so) will hide in the jungles and across the borders of neighboring nations. They will probably in the very least hinder reconstruction efforts, and at most attack American settlers and companies.
As for statehood, it could actually work, if Panama would accept becoming a US commonwealth, such as the status of Puerto Rico. After a famine and civil war kills off at least one third of the population, which will leave slightly less than 2 million people in Panama. Then with massive aid from the US and being admitted as a US territory, the pro-American feelings Im sure wil be high at the time being. With US mainlanders coming to settle the country, and as you mentioned immigrant Panamanians that return home would make a significant political force. They're likely hold most of Panama's fortune and have considerable control of the Panamanian government after a short time, maybe 20 years or so.
With terrorism on the rise pressure to become a US state mounts, and the native Panamanian populace is deeply divided between continuing to be a Commonwealth territory, or to become a Republic again. A referandum is held in which the mainlanders and their off spring choose statehood win. Now you raised an interesting point, would Washington, want to admit Panama? It's likely to be the poorest US state if admitted, there is trouble with terrorists that could cause trouble on the mainland, a significant portion of the population speaks Spanish and it puts the US in a situation where illegal immigrants from Colombia and Costa Rica try to come across the border looking for a better life. There is one major advantage the US government will see and could play a major role in any decision made, admitting Panama to the Union will guarantee the Panama Canal would be Americanized permanently.
Stranger things have happened in RL, but Im not so worried about RL, just the timeline, so long as it works I won't stress.
As for statehood, it could actually work, if Panama would accept becoming a US commonwealth, such as the status of Puerto Rico. After a famine and civil war kills off at least one third of the population, which will leave slightly less than 2 million people in Panama. Then with massive aid from the US and being admitted as a US territory, the pro-American feelings Im sure wil be high at the time being. With US mainlanders coming to settle the country, and as you mentioned immigrant Panamanians that return home would make a significant political force. They're likely hold most of Panama's fortune and have considerable control of the Panamanian government after a short time, maybe 20 years or so.
With terrorism on the rise pressure to become a US state mounts, and the native Panamanian populace is deeply divided between continuing to be a Commonwealth territory, or to become a Republic again. A referandum is held in which the mainlanders and their off spring choose statehood win. Now you raised an interesting point, would Washington, want to admit Panama? It's likely to be the poorest US state if admitted, there is trouble with terrorists that could cause trouble on the mainland, a significant portion of the population speaks Spanish and it puts the US in a situation where illegal immigrants from Colombia and Costa Rica try to come across the border looking for a better life. There is one major advantage the US government will see and could play a major role in any decision made, admitting Panama to the Union will guarantee the Panama Canal would be Americanized permanently.
Stranger things have happened in RL, but Im not so worried about RL, just the timeline, so long as it works I won't stress.