Blessed Mexican Empire
Capital: León
Government Type: "Republic"
Head of State: President Antonio Bilbao
Language: (Mexican) Spanish
Population: 791 million
Formed: September 16, 2295
The Blessed Mexican Empire is one of the major superpowers on the planet Earth as of the twenty-eighth century. Forged out of a revolution in the old country of Mexico beginning in the 2280s, the Mexicans are rivals of the European Union for the greatest nation in Earth's Western Hemisphere.
The Mexicans have traditionally lagged behind the other major powers in the race for space. Their largest city, Mexico City, is the boarding point for the United Nations-run Persephone transport SV Revolution? and, in the twenty-fifth century, they founded the two Martian colonies of Santa Anna? and Mexico Station?. But they have tended to concentrate more on affairs closer to home and were the only superpower not to take a major role in the Persephone project.
The current national capital is the city of León. The largest city is the old, pre-Imperial capital of Mexico City, and other major cities include Guadalajara, Houston, San Francisco, Monterrey, and Los Angeles.
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1. Pre-Imperial history
The twentieth and twenty-first centuries saw a progressive decline in the power and prestige in the United Mexican States, usually referred to then as Mexico. A long-term economic depression, rampant corruption, and persistent illegal emigration saw Mexico fall from the second-leading nation in North America and one of the largest ten gross domestic products in the world to a massive recipient of foreign aid and, increasingly, a failed state.
By the twenty-second century, Mexico was nicknamed "the Sick Man of North America". Their northern neighbours the United States?, acting both for humanitarian reasons and out of their own self-interest, began funnelling increasing amounts of aid to Mexico which the corrupt government rapidly grew dependant on. Allegations soon surfaced in the international media that most of this aid was being funnelled directly to the bank accounts of leading government officials. A set of elections in 2144 installed a new party under Pablo Manuel Salazar?, who promised to end corruption.
1.1 The Salazar era
Salazar was a remarkable 34 years old at the time of his installation as President. A former major in the armed forces, Salazar had resigned his commission to run for office, although some whispered that he still commanded too much loyalty from the army to be a safe leader. He had acquired a reputation for toughness and steadfast honesty, and the lower classes in particular saw him as a saviour.
When in office, Salazar made a strong early impression. The armed forces were used to overwhelm the corrupt national police, and officers were replaced with those loyal to the new regime. Strict curfews and anti-association laws were passed and enforced by armed soldiers. Decades of rioting, crime, and political violence which had marked Mexico's recent history were reversed within two years, and the average Mexican citizen was too happy no longer living in fear to worry about his civil liberties.
Re-elected in a landslide in 2148, Salazar used his new mandate to expand his ambitious programs. The armed forces was soon stacked, top to bottom, with pro-Salazar officers, and militia groups in the countryside were subjected to a ruthless campaign, including lethal reprisals on civillians found to be aiding the militias. International organisations condemned these raids but Salazar's popularity with the masses was sky-high. Just before the 2152 elections, the candidates of the leading opposition parties were arrested, accused of plotting a putsch in collaberation with the rural militias. After a one-week trial they were executed, the election was "suspended", and Salazar assumed dictatorial power for the duration of the "crisis".
That crisis would last thirty-seven years.
Increasingly isolated by a bitter and betrayed international community, the standard of living in Mexico fell below even its worst previous state. Only the ruthless Mexican army kept order, and over a quarter of the gross domestic product went to defense. Starvation was reported in rural areas where soldiers seized entire harvests and left the farmers with nothing. This further depressed food supplies, but Salazar was too firmly entrenched to give up his hold on power.
1.2 American intervention
By 2189, the United States had had enough. Though no longer the premier power they were in the twenty-first century due to demographic change, they remained North America's leading industrial and military force. Though the United States - Mexico border was tightly patrolled, the increasingly desperate situation in Mexico was causing serious problems for the American border guards. There were even small raids on American farms by armed Mexicans dropped in by helicopter that were said to be condoned by Salazar. This was too much for the Americans to bear and, in November of 2189, they attacked Mexico with the aim of removing Salazar from power.
Though well-financed, the Mexican army was technologically behind the American and lacked rigorous combat training. As a result, they gave way to the American offensive, which concentrated less on large-scale battles and more on surgical strikes with elite troops and special forces to cut Salazar's lines of communication and supply. By February 2190, the situation for the Mexican government had grown desperate. Salazar fled Mexico on February 21, taking up residence in sympathetic Argentina with billions of dollars in embezzled funds. In spite of efforts to have him extradited, Salazar died of natural causes on October 16, 2200, never having paid for his crimes.
1.3 The United States administration
The remains of Salazar's government formally surrendered on March 9. In spite of an initial promise to hold new elections to appoint a Mexican government, the Americans eventually opted to run the country themselves. This was justified on the grounds that the corrupt and increasingly wild nature of Mexico was a threat to American security, but condemnation from all quarters was swift.
The Mexican people, in spite of having been downtrodden under Salazar, was not welcoming to the American. Several rebel campaigns sparked up, particularly in the countryside, tying up significant American resources trying to keep them down. The United States was forced to commit an ever-increasing amount of resources to keep Mexico under control, and successive American administrations began to fear the national security nightmare that would result if Mexico was ever restored to full independence.
As a result, though deeply unpopular and usually impotent outside the large cities, the American government remained in Mexico for nearly a century of "temporary administration". The immense expenditures required in Mexico did much to cause the major American recession beginning in 2264, which caused the United States's traditionally strong economic base to spiral lower.
2. The Ortiz Revolution
Throughout the 2270s, a Catholic León-based pastor, Pablo Ortiz?, began a campaign of denouncing the American occupation. Charismatic and intelligent, Ortiz called upon the establishment of an independent Mexico run along strictly Catholic lines. Arrested for sedition in 2279, Ortiz became a martyr in prison, and when he was released in 2281 he was a national hero.
Working behind the scenes, Ortiz began to tie together the various rebel factions into a coherent alliance under his leadership. Meanwhile, in public, he rallied popular support to his cause, and he was soon so popular that the authorities dare not touch him for fear of sparking a popular revolt.
The revolt came anyway beginning in 2283. Rebel soldiers seized Ortiz's home city of León and the second-largest city in the country, Monterrey. León was declared the capital of the newly-announced Republic of Catholic Mexico, with Ortiz the President.
For the next six years, the Mexicans fought a fierce war? with the Americans. The United States soon organized a full draft to counter the Mexican threat, but such was the enthusiasm for Ortiz's cause in Mexico that the rebels were able to match the Americans' numbers. With a faltering economy and widespread dissatisfaction for their role in Mexico, the Americans were simply unable to keep up a war against a determined enemy. By 2292, the Americans had left Mexico entirely.
However, Ortiz was not satisfied. His campaign continued into the United States, where he was able to shortly take Texas. With their homes being invaded, American resistance stiffened, but Ortiz was still able to grab control of most of California. The peace treaty of 2295 not only confirmed Mexico's gains but granted them most of western California. The old American states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, and most of California were in Mexican hands.
3. The Blessed Mexican Empire
On September 16, 2295, Ortiz officially declared the formation of the Blessed Mexican Empire. Ortiz himself was confirmed as president for life of what was technically a republican government, but one in which the President had a life term as well as the power to name his own successor.
Ortiz was far more successful than Salazar had been in re-establishing Mexico on the world stage. Starting with a fresh administration and a new bureaucracy, he was able to almost eliminate corruption. Personally powerhungry though he was, Ortiz was also an effective administrator with wide popular support for his campaigns, and he was able to build on the progress the Americans had made during their administration.
By the time Ortiz died in 2316, Mexico was a major player on the world stage. The rivalry with the Americans had died down to a simmer, but the two were locked in an economic campaign for primacy over the continent: relieved of their Mexican obligations the United States was arguably in a stronger economic position than they had been before the war!
3.1 The post-Ortiz years
After Ortiz's death, the founder of the country was given every honour his successors could think to give him. The Mexican Catholic Church? was founded exclusively so Ortiz could be elevated to sainthood within it, although its religious schism from Rome eventually grew more complete.
With a significant population now within their borders as well as a great deal of industrial capacity, the Blessed Mexican Empire eventually became a first-rate economic and military power. Further trade disputes and disagreements between the United States and Mexico were more and more resolved in Mexico's favour as the international community realised which of the two powers was on the way up.
Although increasingly successful, for most of their early existence Mexico was considered to be on the second tier of world powers, behind Russia, Europe, and China. This changed rapidly in 2454, when an expedition to form the Santa Anna? colony on Mars was launched, arriving triumphantly in January of 2455 and announcing to the world that Mexico was a major international player. This began a race to establish Martian colonies, of which thirteen were eventually built before the fad died off at the end of the twenty-fifth century.
Santa Anna, and its later companion Mexico Station?, did much to establish the Blessed Mexican Empire in the eyes of the world. For the next centuries the Mexicans were counted among the first rank of nations, and when the United Nations Security Council was reorganised in 2460, 2502, 2627, and 2733, on each occasion Mexico received a permenent seat and the right to a veto.
3.2 Mexico today
Today, the Blessed Mexican Empire ranks second in the world in gross domestic product, behind only China. Though not largely involved in extra-solar affairs, the Mexicans have a small spaceforce (the smallest among the major powers) and have contributed a number of colonists to the colony of Persephone.
The current president of Mexico is Antonio Bilbao.