In the post-Doomsday world, Mesoamerica (Mesoamérica, Mésoamérique, Mezoamerik, Meso-Amerika) is a distinct world macroregion. It encompasses the areas lying between the nuclear devastation of North America and the emerging great-power bloc of South America. Mesoamerica consists of three main subregions: Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, with the republics of the Guianas occasionally added in. The region contains a diverse set of mostly small nations. Mexico of course is the dominant territorial and economic power, but other powers also compete for influence.
Central America[]
Central America, the long isthmus connecting North and South America, is considered by Anglophones to be part of the northern continent, and by Hispanophones to be a distinct region of the American supercontinent. The small countries of the isthmus share much in common in their history, ecology and culture, but this has not prevented a large number of regional wars and disputes over territory.
Americans began to meddle in Central American affairs from the early nineteenth century, the era of the filibusteros of whom William Walker was the most notorious. By the early twentieth century, the United States dominated the economies and politics of the subcontinent, with the Panama Canal (completed in 1914) being the clearest sign of its rising power. In the Second World War, the Central American republics all dutifully declared war on the Axis soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the decades after the war, leftist movements in Central America fought against the order imposed by the United States, which tended to favor entrenched elites over the peasant and working classes. The USA fought to maintain its position using means both covert and overt.
The Third World War brought a sudden end to U.S. power in the region. This brought a temporary surge of strength to leftist insurgents in the region in Chiapas, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and elsewhere; though they did not manage to hold on to power everywhere. Meanwhile, Panama was the only part of Central America to be attacked directly with nuclear weapons, and the country soon collapsed into a mess of competing factions. This era also saw conflict between Guatemala and Belize, and between Nicaragua and Costa Rica; while rebels seized territory in Costa Rica and southeastern Mexico.
Mexico and the nations of South America have competed for positions of influence in most of the nations of Central America, as well as the Caribbean Federation, who exercises considerable influence not only in its member-state of Belize but also in the autonomous Nicaraguan and Costa Rican coasts of Zelaya and Limón, whose existing trade networks with the Caribbean were indispensable to the survival of millions. Parts of Panama have come under direct South American control, namely the regions of Darién, East Panama and Coíba, which have been annexed directly to Colombia, and the Panama Canal Zone, which is administered jointly by the South American Confederation.
| Nation | Flag | Effective independence | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free and Autonomous Municipalities of Chiapas |  |
1993 | Partially recognized insurgent republic | Territory claimed by Mexico |
| Republic of Guatemala | 
|
1839 | Independent republic | |
| Free State of Belize |  |
1981 | Member state of the Caribbean Federation | Not recognized by Guatemala |
| Republic of Honduras | 
|
1838 | Independent republic | |
| Republic of El Salvador | 
|
1841 | Independent republic | |
| Republic of Nicaragua | 
|
1838 | Independent republic | |
| Republic of Nicoya | 
|
1995 | Unrecognized insurgent republic | Territory claimed by Nicaragua and Costa Rica |
| Republic of Costa Rica | 
|
1838 | Independent republic | |
| Naso Tjër Di |  |
1983 | Indigenous kingdom with tacit recognition | Territory claimed by Costa Rica and Panama |
| Panamanian Federation | 
|
2013 | Partially recognized federation of small communities | |
| Panama Canal Zone | 
|
n/a (established 1990) | International Zone governed by South American Confederation | |
| Autonomous Region of Panama | 
|
n/a (annexed 2012) | Region of Colombia | |
| Autonomous Region of Darién | 
|
n/a (annexed 1999) | Region of Colombia |
The Caribbean[]
Map showing the members of CARICOM
The island nations of the Caribbean were the first part of the Americas to be colonized by Europe and the last colonies to be relinquished. In 1983 several islands remained non-sovereign overseas territories of France, Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States. Decolonization had begun slowly in the Caribbean with Haiti's revolution in 1804; the Dominican Republic followed in 1844, Cuba in 1902, and the smaller island nations in the later twentieth century right up to Saint Kitts and Nevis, which celebrated its first day of independence less than a week before Doomsday.
American dominance was a fact of life from the dawn of the twentieth century, as it was in Central America. The leading challenger to this hegemony was Cuba, whose socialist revolution of 1959, and subsequent close ties to the Soviet Union, made the Caribbean a field of competition in the Cold War. Tiny Grenada had more recently followed suit, a communist movement having siezed power in 1979.
Therefore the Caribbean was also a theater of World War III. American nuclear weapons detonated over key targets in Cuba. Bermuda, outside the Caribbean but culturally a part of it, was wiped out by a Soviet attack. Surviving Cuban and American forces continued to fight for several more months; an armed struggle for independence in Puerto Rico effectively forced the USA out of the war. American forces were confined to the Virgin Islands, where they established the United States Atlantic Remnant (USAR). The war even reached the Lesser Antilles when Grenada attempted to seize the Grenadines islands from neighboring St Vincent; the attack was rebuffed with support from Barbados and St Lucia.
The most significant geopolitical development of the postwar era was the revival of the West Indies Federation, a short-lived attempt to unite the newly-independent English-speaking islands in the late 50s and early 60s. It was revived under the name East Caribbean (later just the Caribbean) Federation in 1987 and became a significant regional power. CARICOM is a regional organization that aims to promote unity and cooperation throughout the region. It tends to pursue a nonaligned stance regarding outside powers, resisting the Caribbean's history of foreign domination and influence. It has extended its membership to Guyana and West Panama, mainland nations with ties to the islands.
| Nation | Flag | Effective independence | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caribbean Federation |  |
1987 | Federation of republics and former British colonies; the USAR is an autonomous state with ties to the mainland United States. | Member states:
|
| Republic of Cuba | 
|
1902 | Independent republic | |
| Dominican Republic |  |
1844 | Independent republic | |
| French Antilles |  |
1983 | Collectivity of the Republic of the French Southern Territories, a worldwide confederation | The four islands of the Antilles comprise a single state that participates in the Republic along with the Pacific and Indian Ocean islands. |
| People's Revolutionary Republic of Grenada | 
|
1974 (independence); 1984 (establishment of the PRRG) | Independent republic | |
| Republic of Haiti | 
|
1804 | Independent republic | |
| Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands Antilles) | 
|
1983 | Reconstituted fragment of the Dutch kingdom | Claims the European Netherlands, no effective occupation |
| Commonwealth of Puerto Rico | 
|
1984 | Independent republic | |
| Republic of Saint Martin | 
|
1985 | Independent republic | Union of the French and Dutch halves of the island |
Mexico[]
Mexico is the obvious great power of Mesoamerica, dwarfing any other nation. It has emerged as an industrial exporter and, in many ways, a keeper of the peace in the region. But this followed a long period of national struggle following 1983. The collapse of the United States was a humanitarian catastrophe unprecedented in the history of the world, and Mexico largely had to handle it alone. To this were added problems from a changed climate and a devastating 1985 earthquake. Insurgencies spread , especially in the indigenous south; the zapatista rebels of Free Chiapas remain effectively independent.
Mexico's path of development has emphasized self-sufficiency over the projection of power. Even in its natural sphere, the southwest of the former United States, it has only slowly and with some reluctance extended its influence. The state of Baja Arizona was added only in 2012. Though often mentioned in the same voice as the large economic powers of South America, Mexico has sought to remain aloof from the SAC and other powerful blocs and alliances.
| Nation | Flag | Effective independence | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Mexican States |  |
1810 | Independent federal republic | Claims all of Chiapas |
The Guianas[]
Although they are geographically part of South America, the Guianas have strong cultural and geopolitical links with the Caribbean and are occasionally considered together with Mesoamerica. People in the region speak English, Dutch and French rather than Spanish or Portuguese. The two republics are not members of the South American Confederation, though Brazil has historically had a great deal of influence in Guyane, the former French Guiana.
| Nation | Flag | Effective independence | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guyana Cooperative |  |
1987 | Union of Guyana and Suriname | Claims Essequibo, occupied by Venezuela |
| French Republic of Guyane |  |
2001 | Independent republic |
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