DBWI: Mexico not communist

A non-Communist Mexico would be neglected imo. Unlike in OTL the US government does not intervene in the 1950s and pour in massive amounts of aid and build a functioning democracy. Without Communism in Mexico, US would be content to let kleptocrats run it so long as they don't challenge US interests. In the end Mexico would be no better off than other dysfunctional Latin American banana republics.

OTOH its sad to see the US intervention turn Mexico into a giant Nicaragua for much of the Cold War. It was like the Sandinistas and Contras times ten. Many left-wing Mexicans were persecuted by the US backed regime. Some of these left-wing leaders have since been democratically elected into government and remain harsh critics of the US.

Damned if you do damned if you don't it seems.
 
On a lighter pop culture note, would the TV series Dallas (CBS-TV) have achieved its popularity during the period of 1978 to 1994, with the story of the Ewing-Barnes political/corporate family feud? Who can forget the 1980 cliffhanger wherein resident bad guy J.R. Ewing was shot outside of Austin, after announcing his plans to run for lieutenant governor? Who can forget the 1983 cliffhanger, when Bobby James Ewing (Patrick Duffy) is abducted by Mexican Zapatista guerillas outside the South Fork Ranch and held for ransom? Even today, many of the stars of the soap opera are identified with the era and the conflicts along the border....

On a darker note, would we have had the 1992 Abel Gonzalez Riots in Los Angeles, CA? The famous riots were started when LAPD officers arrested and proceeded to beat a local motorist in the East Los Angeles area, after he failed to produce a driver's license. To this day many Latino and Chicano leaders see the riots as the reason behind the collapse of the Pat Buchanan (R) administration....
 

Hendryk

Banned
Good point, but think of all the advantages Mexico would have,

Oil, Proximity to the US, mmmm...
Actually I wouldn't think of oil as an advantage. Underdeveloped countries that happen to sit on strategic resources tend to have rentier economies, as they lack the incentive to invest in human capital and look for a competitive edge. If this alternate non-Communist Mexico becomes a regional economic power, it will be in spite of oil rather than because of it.

With the US next door, Mexico wouldn't even have to set up refineries; all it would have to do is ship the crude.
 
Do you think that Mexico would begin an expansion campaign in Central America as in OTL, but obviously not with the help of the Soviets.
 
Without a Communist presence in Mexico, would America have boycotted the 1968 Olympics? Twice in a span of less than 20 years the U.S. has boycotted the Summer Olympic Games, first with the 1968 Mexico City Games and again in 1980 in Moscow. In both cases, the reasons were rooted more in political showmanship rather than any deep belief in the "Olympic spirit". With Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Bill O'Reilly demanding that the U.S. boycott the Beijing Summer Olympics in August 2008, one has to wonder if America is truly interested in the "Olympic Spirit".....
 
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