AHC: US state in South America

It's an important producer of bauxite, has an ample amount of agricultural potential (tropical crops you can't grow elsewhere in the US), has large gold and diamond mines, has some offshore oil (which don't have to worry about hurricanes unlike the Gulf), has a strategic location which will lead to some military bases, and most importantly, it has a warm and mostly sunny climate, which is great for tourism.

If that's not "economically viable", then there aren't too many US states which are.
Most of the land away from the coast would end up as a nature reserve. Is Guyana an international aid recipient?
 
Most of the land away from the coast would end up as a nature reserve. Is Guyana an international aid recipient?

Most of it would, but the federal/state government would definitely allow for some mining/resource exploitation in the region. They gave away pristine parts of Alaska to mining/oil companies after all.
 
Most of it would, but the federal/state government would definitely allow for some mining/resource exploitation in the region. They gave away pristine parts of Alaska to mining/oil companies after all.
Alaska's a little different though, having been American longer, and lacking in as big a push for its natural features as there is for saving the rainforest.
 
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According to the classes I attended on my university, the US sent filibusters to brazilian Amazonia all the way until the 1920s with the expectations of finding land proper to be annexed, and all of them failed.
 
Since I've been discussing Guyana, how about a profile of the state:

Guyana
Nickname: The Jungle State
Capital: Georgetown
Largest city - Georgetown - 303,683
Largest metro - Georgetown metropolitan area - 491,147
Area: 83,000 sq mi (ranked 15th)
Population: 1,568,706 (2010 Census) (ranked 40th)
Density: 18.9/sq mi
Previously: Guyana Territory (acquired from Britain in 1921)
Admission to Union: 1970 (51st)

Ethnicity

*Asian (including Indian Americans) - 37%
*African American - 23%
*White - 22%
**Non-Hispanic White - 17%
*Two or more races - 12%
*American Indian - 6%

In addition, Hispanic and Latino Americans make up 8% of the state's population. The majority are of Colombian, Venezuelan, and Brazilian descent.

Modern history
The British victory in World War I left the nation saddled with huge amounts of debt. Over five years of war had left the nation nearly bankrupt, with social tensions at the breaking point. To raise money for the government to repay the American loans, Britain decided to sell several Caribbean colonies to the United States, who had funded much of the war effort yet had stayed neutral. Although heavily debated in both nations (indeed, the United States would never purchase another colony from Britain), Guyana was sold to the United States for the sum of 125 million dollars (the equivalent of 1.57 billion dollars in today's money) in 1920, with handover to the United States completed in 1921 with the Territory of Guyana organized that same year.

The American Territory of Guyana was not as colonial than British Guiana, yet was still un-democratic in many ways. The franchise was expanded to all whites (including the many Portuguese workers), but poll taxes and literacy tests were strictly enforced as before, preventing the majority of black and Indian from voting. Nevertheless, the number of Guyanese voting in territorial elections swelled compared to the days of British rule.

Economically, the United States continued exploiting the sugarcane plantations, but new interests moved in as well. The military built their first base in 1922, while tourist companies began to promote "America's new tropical paradise". Mining companies discovered large reserves of gold and bauxite as well in this time. Compared to Britain, the United States invested far more in Guyana.

Thousands of Guyanese served their country during World War II in both Europe and the Pacific, and Guyana played an important role in curtailing the U-Boat threat from the Germans. Following the war, Guyanese returning home became increasingly politically active in trade union and other popular movements protesting the harsh conditions and lack of freedoms. Several major strikes occurred, while Guyanese protested in Georgetown and elsewhere. The idea for Guyanese statehood accelerated in this time, with numerous Guyanese politicians pushing the idea that Guyana would be best served as a US state. Guyanese independence supporters also emerged, inspired by the similar struggle for Puerto Rican independence. Associated with the Communist Party, Guyanese independence fighters waged a guerilla campaign from 1957 to 1969.

However, the more peaceful statehood movement achieved numerous results by the end of the 50s. Universal suffrage regardless of race was attained in 1959, while working conditions were vastly improved following the passage of several key laws in the early 60s. The statehood movement in Guyana emerged on a broad front from conservative Republicans to progressive Democrats. In 1969, the Guyanese Statehood Act narrowly passed Congress and was signed by President Hubert Humphrey.

Although the trend had started in the 1960s, Guyana's population rapidly expanded during the 1970s and especially into the 1980s and 1990s thanks to aggressive promotion from the state's tourism board. Although cost of living remained high, the natural beauty of the state as well as being closer and cheaper than Hawaii brought numerous tourists and later full-time residents to the state, which had a major impact on the state's demographics.

Politics
Guyana has elected two representatives to the United States House of Representatives since its admission to the Union in 1970. Politics in Guyana has been dominated by the Democratic Party since the 1950s, with very few Republicans elected at a state level. Guyana has only voted Republican in presidential elections during landslide years, and the state is considered a safe hold for the Democrats. The most prominent Guyanese politician on the national stage has perhaps been Senator (and later Governor of Guyana) Shirley Chisholm, an activist for civil rights and Guyanese statehood, was the first African American woman to sit in both the House of Representatives (1970 - 1978) and the Senate (1978 - 1990).

However, the issue of independence and regionalism is strong in Guyana, which has produced a powerful third party, the People's Party. The PP positions themselves as a broad tent alternative to the Democrats and Republicans, with their platforms usually featuring discontent with the federal and state government over land usage, housing, taxation, cost of living concerns, and immigration. They won the 1982 gubernatorial election in Guyana following the impeachment (and subsequent suicide) of Governor Jim Jones over issues of corruption (and salacious accusations of abuse against his staff and members of the church he pastored), which established them as a permanent force at the state level, but resurgence in the Guyanese Republican Party in the 90s and the cleaning house the Democrats conducted after the Jones scandal have bumped them back to third place.

Guyanese Democrats are typically solid progressives on social issues and economic issues. Guyanese Republicans also tend to be progressive on social issues relative to their party, but are often very friendly to development and business while opposing immigration and environmental laws. The People's Party varies widely depending on the politician, but is usually focused on local issues and tends to oppose unchecked immigration, expansion of military infrastructure in Guyana, excessive development to the detriment of Guyanans, and in general discontent with the federal government.

Economy
Guyana's economy is largely based on mining and tourism. The state is the largest sugar producer in the United States, as well as the largest producer of bauxite and diamonds. The beaches of Guyana are known throughout the country, and tours deep into the jungle common experiences for visitors. Guyana is also a popular retirement destination, and was often promoted as a cheaper Hawaii for much of the 70s onwards. Several military installations are located Guyana, serving as the United States' main foothold in South America.

Guyana's most famous economic fixture is the Humphrey Space Center, where NASA conducts human spaceflight among other scientific launches. In addition to being a major employer, the Humphrey Space Center serves as an important tourist attraction and symbol of the country.

Culture
Guyana has the highest proportion of Indian Americans in the United States, consisting of about 34% of Guyana's population. This has led Guyana to become a vector for Indian culture in the United States, with Bollywood films and Indian music finding an audience in this state and increasingly elsewhere in the United States. Caribbean culture also dominates the country, with the state having said to possess a laid-back atmosphere typical of the region along with numerous cultural hallmarks.

Cricket is the most popular sport in Guyana, crossing over age, racial, and gender divides. However, college basketball is also popular in Guyana, with the University of Guyana's sports program, the Golden Jaguars, having a substantial fanbase due to many successful seasons.

Religion
Around 1/5 of Guyanese profess Hindu owing to the Indian American background of the state, which during the 1960s and 1970s attracted widespread attention and "pilgrimages" from the American counter-culture. Also owing to this Indian cultural heritage, Guyana has by a higher proportion of Muslims than any state, with almost 6% of the population professing Islam. An increasing number of African American Guyanese have converted to Islam in recent years as well.

Christianity in Guyana tends to be divided into traditional Guyanese denominations, often associated with historic African American churches in the country or those from British colonialism, and newer denominations brought from the wave of migration to Guyana since the 1960s. Many Guyanese follow evangelical faiths, with Pentacostal churches rapidly growing in the country. Syncretic mixtures of Christianity with African or Amerindian spirituality is also common.

Perhaps the most noteworthy Christian faith in the country was the Peoples Temple, a socialist-inspired Christian new religious movement originally started in Indiana by Reverend Jim Jones, but relocated to Guyana in 1961 due to a vision from God Jim Jones claimed to have received. Peoples Temple built a large base in the country with over 20,000 members and helped control a powerful political machine which influenced the state Democratic Party for almost 15 years. Jones entered politics in 1978 following another vision, as the running mate of Forbes Burnham (associated with the Peoples Temple machine), but Burnham's sudden death in 1981 catapulted Jones to the governor's office. However, federal corruption investigations focusing on Jones, Burnham, and other linked politicians, now focused on Governor Jones, who was arrested in July 1982 and charged with corruption relating to the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, a farming cooperative for church members. Rather than face the charges and impeachment, Jones committed suicide live on the news not long after.
 
According to the classes I attended on my university, the US sent filibusters to brazilian Amazonia all the way until the 1920s with the expectations of finding land proper to be annexed, and all of them failed.

That doesn't sound quite right. Sure your not thinking of Fordlandia? Which was more of a private corporate thing and not in any way an attempt to actually annex anything to the US.
 
This was written in apparent seriousness by the (then) well-known journalist Mayo W. Hazeltine in the North American Review during the US-British Venezuela border dispute in 1895:

"...[T]here is still one expedient to which in its extremity the Caracas Government might have recourse. It would have but to follow the course actually taken by the republic of Texas, and subsequently proposed by Yucatan, the course, namely, of applying for admission to the American Union. The position of Venezuela, indeed, at this juncture is in many respects analogous to that which Texas occupied in 1845. The latter commonwealth, which then had been independent for eight years, was confronted by the harsh alternative of suffering the loss of its great river, the Rio Grande, and of much valuable territory, or of engaging, single-handed, in a hopeless war with the vastly preponderant power of Mexico. It shrewdly avoided impalement on either horn of the dilemma by becoming one of the United States. Venezuela has no present advantages to lose, and immense future advantages to gain, by following the Texan precedent. Within twenty-four hours after her admission to the Union she would witness a striking and gratifying change in the attitude of the British Foreign Office, which would show itself as eager to invoke a decision by impartial umpires concerning the Guiana frontier, as it did in the matter of the Oregon boundary controversy, when, as George Bancroft noted, it proposed arbitration no fewer than six times. In truth, the mere agitation in Venezuela of the question of annexation to the great American republic would in all likelihood bring the English Government to terms. One of the last things that Englishmen desire is to have American citizens for neighbours of their lucrative possessions on the mainland of South America and in the Antilles. They are quite suflieiently worried by our proximity to Canada..."

https://books.google.com/books?id=R2ACAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA649&lpg=PA649
 
That doesn't sound quite right. Sure your not thinking of Fordlandia? Which was more of a private corporate thing and not in any way an attempt to actually annex anything to the US.

No, I known Forland, bt according to my teacher dissertation (his name is Salloma Salomão, he was quoting Munis Bandeira), the USA really sent explorers and adventurers deep into the brazilian jungles to find those resources and considered even the colonization of those territories.
 
No, I known Forland, bt according to my teacher dissertation (his name is Salloma Salomão, he was quoting Munis Bandeira), the USA really sent explorers and adventurers deep into the brazilian jungles to find those resources and considered even the colonization of those territories.

By the USA do you mean companies or government? I really doubt the US government was planning on annexing a bunch of Brazilian jungle making one hell of a random ass enclave.
 
If you count the Galpápagos Islands as part of South America:

"The United States had taken a particular interest before 1939 in the Galápagos Islands, owned by Ecuador and located about 1,000 miles southwest of Panama. These undefended and almost uninhabited islands in hostile hands could become a serious threat to the Panama Canal. Conversely, an American base there would permit a wide aerial reconnaissance of the Pacific to guard against a naval attack on the Canal. Rumors circulated in the fall of 1938 that Ecuador wished to sell the Galápagos to the United States. At the beginning of 1939, Maj. Gen. David L. Stone, the commanding general of the Panama Canal Department, recommended that the United States purchase both the Galápagos Islands from Ecuador and the intervening Cocos Island from Costa Rica, on the ground that they were essential to defense of the Canal. The War Department at first favored General Stone's recommendation but subsequently had to disapprove it because of the Navy's opposition and for broader political reasons. It also disapproved his later suggestion that the United States secure base facilities in these islands through a long-term lease.." https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/Framework/ch01.htm

Admittedly, even in 2010 the population of the Galápagos Islands was only 25,124--presumably not enough for a state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galápagos_Islands But perhaos the Islands' population would have grown more rapidly under US rule...
 
Abstergo. My teacher said only "USA", he did not even gave a book as a source.

It'd be kind of weird to annex a bunch of jungle without having any connected ports. The only resource I can think of that would lead to any sort of similar effort would be rubber (much the same reason as Fordlandia). But why annex when you can just buy and bribe?
 
Nice one, metalinvader665! I love the Jungle State! How important is the communist insurrection? Comparable to Vietnam (and does that even happen in this timeline?)? And does the power of Jim Jones make Guyana an alternative (pun intended) capital of the counter-culture movement? Possibly at the expense of California? And is the general direction/spread of the movement affected by a closer link to Indian culture?
 
Nice one, metalinvader665! I love the Jungle State! How important is the communist insurrection? Comparable to Vietnam (and does that even happen in this timeline?)? And does the power of Jim Jones make Guyana an alternative (pun intended) capital of the counter-culture movement? Possibly at the expense of California? And is the general direction/spread of the movement affected by a closer link to Indian culture?

I imagine the communist insurrection as comparable to the revolts in Puerto Rico during the 1950s, but with more places to hide. They'd be a headache for the territorial police and Guyana National Guard, but would eventually get squashed, although like in Puerto Rico, there would be splinter movements and other communist groups continuing the fight (mostly with words), but the late 50s/60s would be the bloodiest period. I didn't think of the butterflies it might have on Suriname, Venezuela, and Brazil though, since they'd be able to hide in the rural backwaters of those countries right across the border. They'd get support from Cuba and the USSR, as well as local guerilla movements (Venezuela had a problem with them in the 60s).

Yep, Indian inspired counter-culture would be even bigger TTL, from actual Hinduism to weird Hindu-themed New Age groups. Chutney music (Indo-Caribbean folk music) would be popular at some point, like calypso and bossa nova were in the US. More sitars and tabla in rock music too, definitely. Guyana would be a mandatory destination for many, but California would still be important.
 
I'd think that an American Guyana after World War I would grow to include the Dutch and perhaps French after World War II....
 
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