Alternative History

Raison d'être[]

The article implies that it was mostly economics that determined whether a given island joined the ECF or not. But it seems clear that there was a cultural thing going on as well, since this is essentially a union of the English speaking Caribbean countries, leaving out the French and Spanish speakers. Can I suggest that Belize is involved with the ECF? It's officialy English speaking, at least, although more people seem to speakSpanish or Maya. Benkarnell 19:19, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Formation[]

The history of the ECF hasn't been written yet, but can I make a suggestion for it? It would feel more realistic if the federation were to come together gradually - beginning, probably, with some of the members of the old West Indies Federation, then expanding to the Bahamas (possibly the country most in need of aid, with fallout and refugees coming over from Florida) and finally, Belize. I can also imagine Jamaica and Trinidad joining later than the smaller islands: this would explain the capital in St. Lucia. (The West Indies Federation had located its capital on Trinidad.) I also think that some communities around the Caribbean can be considering joining the ECF. I've hinted that there's a movement for that in Limonese Costa Rica, and the Netherlands Antilles has an ECF faction that balances its pro-South American faction. But there may be other movements, say, in the Mosquito Coastlands of Nicaragua and Hondouras, which are relatively remote and still have an English Creole poopulation. Maybe even in parts of Florida. Benkarnell 14:43, November 7, 2009 (UTC)

US Virgin Islands[]

Why are the US Virgin Islands a part of the ECF? I would think that they might be be drawn to Puerto Rico since they were both American territories. Mitro 23:38, November 20, 2009 (UTC)

i agree P Rican who now cannot go to USA find a little space in amer virgin islands, add 1980 population 96,569 and 3,196,520--Fero 23:55, November 20, 2009 (UTC)
They speak different languages. That may have played a factor and led the USVIs to develop ties to the other Anglophone islands - especially, maybe at first, the UKVIs. But I'm open either way. WHile this is a canon page, it's still sketchy enough that it can probably be tweaked a little. Benkarnell 02:11, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

Puerto Rico and the USVI could have worked together in the first days and months after Doomsday. Perhaps as it dawned on everyone the US government was not going to be heard from and they were on their own, then Puerto Rico and USVI decided to go their own ways...the USVI's path taking it into confederation with the other Caribbean nations and ex-European territories.--BrianD 02:18, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

i think after DD83 many puertoricans move to US visginisland, and that "magicly" become a spanish speaker territory, and a good part of english speaker move to british virgin island and they yes join ECF, i just think, puerto rico is just full of people--Fero 02:25, November 21, 2009 (UTC)
I like that idea. Benkarnell 02:27, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

Just like venezuela take some territory after DD, Puerto Rico Can do the same, 3 millon people, 3 british caribean cant stop them--Fero 02:29, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

So territory is the motivation for Puerto Rico? What would the situation be on the island that motivates them to solve their problem by making a power grab for the USVI? And why stop there - why not the British Virgin Islands as well?--BrianD 02:31, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

add they can have help of aprox 10millons of dominican spanish speaker; english in america is in a corner if USA and Canada (and UK) fall--Fero 02:35, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

remember Guyana is not part of South America comunity, is in a corner too: Where puerto rico stop, i still dont know, mush check maps and numbers, but big fish eat little fish--Fero 02:38, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

languajes in America(s), the reason of born of ECF--Fero 02:54, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

Not sure if this helps but I once heard that if Puerto Rico ever became a state it would be the poorest in the Union, but if it ever because independent it would be the richest nation in the Carribean. Mitro 02:55, November 21, 2009 (UTC)
Interesting. So it could indeed be a little fish. This may not be the place to iscuss it, but someone really nees to figure out PR's role in the region, and how events in Cuba and the creatopn of the ECF affected it. For what it's worth, I think the latest version had Guyana joining South America. Benkarnell 04:16, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

Update. It appears that the US Virgin Islands never did join the ECF, so I am going to place the government of the USAR on St. Thomas as a "provisional state" of the former United States of America. This provisional state is in hopes that the failed APA - which the USAR defied in even existing - will be replaced by a restored US (as the CRUSA declares publicly every chance it gets). As noted on the PR discussion page, though, I can work with this being an autonomous government under the authority of the Federation. SouthWriter 01:54, October 10, 2010 (UTC)

Renaming of the Federation[]

I propose to delete the East-part because it's quite misleading after the West Caribbean Jamaica and Belize joined this union and does not really reflect the nature of the federation. Will someone object my proposal? --Grand Prince Paul II. 17:17, April 5, 2010 (UTC)

Issues with South Florida[]

Whoever continues to add in every article they could that South Florida is to join the ECF, I ask that you read the discussion we had on the South Florida talk page here. We eventually decided that Eastern Florida would be the spot of exploration for the ECF. Arstarpool 23:43, June 7, 2010 (UTC)

I don't know what your smoking but as far as I can tell nothing was resolved. GOPZACK 23:45, June 7, 2010 (UTC)
If you clicked the link above, you would see what we wrote. Arstarpool 00:24, June 8, 2010 (UTC)
Yes you decided it dictatorially without listening to Southwriter, Ben or me. I've opened it up to the community and we'll settle this once and for all. --GOPZACK 00:49, June 8, 2010 (UTC)
In fact, Mitro was the one that originally stated it, and I agreed, so I don't know what your smoking, but whatever it is is making you talk bullcrap. Arstarpool 20:02, June 9, 2010 (UTC)
Mitro with all due respect to him is not a deity or the dictator of this timeline. His backing is not an automatic ticket to getting what you want. We build things on consensus here. --GOPZACK 20:09, June 9, 2010 (UTC)
I'm sorry, but what did I say? I have always supported South Florida joining the ECF, not East. [EDIT] Ah I see the issue. I wrote East instead of South in those later discussions. My bad. Mitro 21:26, October 10, 2010 (UTC)

Grenada[]

I assume Grenada is a part of this federation as well? It is an english-speaking island, and I can see no reason it would want to oppose joining the ECF. Regentage 17:52, September 20, 2011 (UTC)

Debatable, and probably not likely. The Communist-like government overthrown in October of 1983 otl is still in power, more likely than not. Lordganon 08:01, September 21, 2011 (UTC)

Population[]

I propose that the population of the East Caribbean Federation be changed. We can assume that most nations suffered moderate decreased population growth compared to OTL, due to the increased difficulties of the DD timeline, barring some exceptions.

Anguilla - Anguilla is not a self-sufficient island. Due to its poor and arid soil, its populace relies on imports for basic survival, other than the food that the fishing industry provides. In 2011 OTL, Anguilla had a population of 14,766. With half the population growth, it would be 10,300.

Antigua and Barbuda - In 2011 OTL, Antigua and Barbuda has a population of 87,884. With half that population growth, it would be 64,000 TTL.

Barbados - In 2011 OTL, This island would have a population of 286,705. With half that population growth, it would be 270,760.

The Bahamas - The Bahaman economy is highly dependent on tourism, which would disappear for at least a decade in the wake of Doomsday. In 2011 OTL, these islands had a population of 313,312. With half that population growth, it would be 300,100 TTL.

Belize - Unrest in Central America has historically been great in both OTL and TTL. Refugees fleeing from socialist or military regimes might try and find refugee in Belize, a territory of the democratic Federation. In 2011 OTL, Belize would have a population of 321,115. With half that population growth, it would be 217,500.

Cayman Islands - The Cayman Island has almost no natural resources that an independent society would require, with over 90% of food obtained through importation. In 2011 OTL, these islands would have a population of 51,384. With half that population growth, it would be 33,400.

Dominica - In 2011 OTL, Dominica would have a population of 72,969. With half that population growth, it would be 70,200.

Jamaica - As a powerful state in the ECF, Jamaica would most likely not have suffered between imigration and increased domestic growth due to its important position in the Central American / Caribbean region. In 2011 OTL, this nation would have a population of 2,868,380. With half that population growth, it would be 2,605,000.

Montserrat - Roughly 8,000 citizens left Montserrat in 1995, when the island resumed volcanic activity. It is more likely that, as a part of the ECF, this would have been treated as a federal issue, potentially leading those refugees to stay on Montserrat instead of leaving. Even if they fled to nearby islands, they would still have been taken into account in the ECF population. In 2011 OTL (taking into account refugees), the island would have a population of 14,140. With half that population growth (taking into account the refugees), it would be 13,600.

St. Kitts and Nevis - In 2011 OTL, these islands would have a population of 50,314. With half that population growth, it would be 44,910.

St. Lucia - In 2011 OTL, St. Lucia would have a population of 161,557. With half that population growth, it would be 152,600.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - In 2011 OTL, These islands would have a population of 103,869. With half that population growth, it would be 95,700.

Trinidad and Tobago - These two islands were early members of the ECF and a highly prosperous part of it. In 2011 OTL, These islands would have a population of 1,227,505. With half that population growth, it would be 1,213,600.

The Turks and Caicos Islands - Like the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos have to import most of their basic supplies, which would like damage their population in a survival situation. In 2011 OTL, These islands would have a population of 44,819. With half that population growth, it would be 24,600.

British Virgin Islands - These islands, like many others, suffer from poor soil composition. In 2011 OTL, These islands would have a population of 25,383. With half that population growth, it would be 19,300.

United States Atlantic Remnant - The USAR is quoted with the canon population of 244,000. As a group of disparate citizens across the islands, it is difficult to accurately measure the OTL population equivalent.

Adding this all up, we end up with a range between the 2011 OTL estimate and a TTL estimate that assumes all population growth has been halved since DD. This range is 5,583,600 - 5,379,570. As you can see from this, even if we assume that Doomsday caused ALL population growth in ECF member states to be cut in half permanently, the lowest part of the range is still 1.4 million people higher than the currently stated population of 3,900,000.

To further reflect the worst-case difficulties that may have taken place in the region, we will make some more subtraction. First, we begin with the figure of 5,479,570, the lowest bound of the proposed range. If we assume that famine and economic difficulty cut the populations of the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, Bahamas, and Anguilla in half (these islands being those unable to support their own agriculture), the population decreases by 195,850, down to a total 5,183,720.

Then we will assume that the populations of the islands of the USAR, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda are decreased by 20%, to reflect the difficulties small islands would have maintaining supplies with the sudden loss of multiple foreign exporters, as well as to reflect the loss of fleeing refugees. This would reduce the population to 4,995,320.

Following that, we would assume that Belize lost 25% of its population, to refugees fleeing to other Central American and South American nations. This drops the population to 4,940,945. Finally, we assume that Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Jamaica, lost 10% of their population to economic difficulties and refugees fleeing the nations. This would give us a figure of 4,559,085.

This process assumes that:

  • Central and South American nations have an inexplicable hatred for these states and severely restricts the trade of even basic foodstuffs and medicines to suffering Caribbean nations.
  • The citizens of these states would rather flee the Caribbean entirely when difficulties present themselves, rather than either A.) Remain in the country and await aid or B.) flee to a nearby prosperous and culturally similar island.
  • That the people of the Caribbean are, on the whole, weak and fragile, and die more easily than their counterparts in the rest of the world, being highly over-sensitive to disease, food deprivation, and injury.
  • That economic difficulty is capable of decimating at least a tenth of the population with ease, even in larger states with well-developed industries and agriculture.

Even making all these assumptions, the lowest possible estimate I can come up with for the population of the Caribbean is still over 600,000 people higher than the currently stated population. A population of 3,900,000 means that even without any direct attacks in the Caribbean and a high amount of organization and cooperation between the nations of the Caribbean, more than 1 in 3 people died.

Taking all of this into consideration, I would propose that the population be changed to one within the initially proposed range. I personally suggest the lowest bound of the range: 5,379,570.

Questions, comments, concerns? Population statistics are not my specialty, but I did my best, and I believe my logic is sound. Regentage 01:05, December 23, 2011 (UTC)

Well, I've a few quibbles about all of that - i.e. Belize and Jamaica would really not suffer at all, and Belize wouldn't have anyone fleeing it. The population growth would decline in the first few years, true, but by 1987, contact is fully restored in the region. Past that, it's going to be higher than otl. What population that still can't be supported on the various islands would go to Belize or Jamaica, I'd imagine, if not elsewhere. Add to that refugees from Haiti, Cuba, Guyana, and many other places.

I have to agree that the population is too low. But the otl population of these states - by my math, depending on the data, 4.8-5 million or so, (where's your estimate from, btw?) would be the population today as well.

Lordganon 01:35, December 23, 2011 (UTC)

Thank you, Regentage. I have done some work on population estimates in the USA based on far less analysis than you have put in here. It is interesting that all this analysis you have done still comes up higher than the assumed number given by the creator of the article. I'd say the changed conditions may have resulted in different population trends, to an extent, but perhaps not as drastic as 50% less. The formation of the EFC in and of itself would have assured that the people would not starve. The loss of tourism and other business would not necessarily reduce the population of the locals in any way. It might, but I don't see why today's figures cannot be taken at face value. As LG says, your figures can be adjusted up or left where they are. Either way, the population figure needs to be changed in the info box.

I have done some work on the USAR, but oddly enough, its population is not one of the things I worked on. I remember looking up figures of the American diaspora (may have them somewhere in my notes), but basically it would be those already living in the islands and possibly refugees from the mainland. I'm pretty sure there would be cruise ships running that weekend as well (turning back to the islands as the bombs began to fall). Stranded tourists would make up a small portion of the Remnant as well. SouthWriter 04:59, December 23, 2011 (UTC)

@ LG: Indeed, I would agree with you about Belize and Jamaica. I offered that process to prove that even in an unreasonably negative scenario, the population would still be clearly higher than 3,900,000. As for my information, for the OTL stats, I used www.indexmundi.com. Wikipedia was also used for a few stats. For the estimates of halved population growth, I back-tracked to 1983 using the population growth reported on IM and then adding back up to 2011 with the growth rate cut in half.

@South: You're welcome South, and thanks for checking in. As for the USAR, the USVI has an OTL population of about 110,000. I haven't analyzed how many tourists and mainland refugees would likely arrive, but depending on the amount we could potentially adjust the USAR's population up or down. Having several hundred thousand citizens, it does effect the ECF population estimate in a visible way.

A careful recheck of my data (done twice) has led me to the figure of 5,753,096 in OTL July 2011, including the US Virgin Islands as a stand-in for the USAR. Regentage 05:12, December 23, 2011 (UTC)

Heh. The numbers I used were a couple versions of estimates, based on a few different methods, on wikipedia.

Using the site I normally use for populations - http://www.citypopulation.de/ - which has the most recent census data for virtually anywhere, it adds up to, otl, a population of 5,598,709 in the areas.

So, I guess your number - round it to 5,750,000, though - would probably be about right.

Lordganon 05:30, December 23, 2011 (UTC)

That sounds like a perfectly reasonable suggestion to me. Anyone have objections to a population of 5,750,000? Regentage 17:44, December 23, 2011 (UTC)

Long enough for any objections, I think. Population adjusted. Regentage 19:26, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

Origins[]

Looking back on some of my previous work for member states, I tried to bring the nations of the ECF together bit by bit. However, some additional research has led me to the conclusion that it would be far more plausible for the ECF to originate from the union of the OECS (Organization of East Caribbean States), which I failed to mention in my previous articles. This organization already existed on Doomsday, and in OTL has led to increasing unification between states in the Caribbean. CARICOM and the OCS should factor in as well.

Does anyone object to me tweaking my existing articles to include the OECS and other pre-existing Caribbean unions as an important part of the foundation of the ECF? Regentage (talk) 03:39, January 22, 2013 (UTC)

Nit. :D 1 Imp (Say Hi?!) 18:16, January 22, 2013 (UTC)

Excellent. Most of that stuff was just my conjecture, so this'll be better and more plausible. Regentage (talk) 03:56, January 23, 2013 (UTC)

Would be really nice if you waited more than a few hours before you go ahead and do something, Reg. Really nice.

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States was barely established at DD, and the ECF has so many members outside of it that as a group, it would have had little to do with the ECF being established. Realistically, it would be nothing.

The third one you list does not, far as I can find, stand for anything. The ACS, the other Caribbean group, was not founded until the 1990s.

CARICOM was just a free trade area, nothing more, until 2001. And, it also did not have at all the same scope as the ECF.

Really, overall, none of these organizations would have had much of anything, at all, to do with the formation of the ECF. Heck, that's indicated in this article, even.

It's not more plausible, Reg. Rather, it is less. And counters, to some degree, what this article says. Your changes aren't accurate, Reg.

Lordganon (talk) 10:02, January 23, 2013 (UTC)

Hm. My apologies. I forget the pace at which this site moves. I have to disagree somewht that the OECS would disintegrate without doing anything. After all, its member states, as well as Barbados, signed on to an MOM declaring they would support one another economically and militarily in the event of national emergency, natural disasters, threats to national security, and a wealth of other topics. That was the Regional Security System itself, actually. I would say that Doomsday qualifies as a national emergency, natural disaster, and a threat to national security all at once.

In OTL, the RSS (The military subunit of the OECS) was a serious enough organization to put together Operation Urgent Fury, which occured only a month after ATL Doomsday. It also maintained a peacekeeping military presence on Grenada for years. Though only recently established, the organization was strong enough to organize the overthrow of a socialist government and oversee the aftermath militarily. Simply because the organization is new doesn't necessarily mean it isn't important. In times of crisis, people often cling to what structure they can find, such as this.

Also, I cannot find where this article indicates that pre-existing frameworks were not used to establish the ECF. I only see two potential lines.

"Within months regional government in the Caribbean had overpowered local ones. Eventually, they began to create a loose federation to unite these islands through there hardships." This only says that regional government overpowered local government, i.e. a federation was formed. This doesn't confirm or deny that it arose from pre-existing conditions or appeared from nowhere like a phoenix.

"A similar confederation of the West Indies' had been proposed some years ago but failed due to nationalist tensions between the islands, these were soon forgotten thanks to the apparent success in this new federation." This only says that, historically, the West Indies Federation was a failure. It, again, says nothing about the existing supranational frameworks in the Caribbean.

If I'm missing where what you're describing is indicated, please let me know, but I can't find it.

I'm simply proposing this as the starting point of the ECF's foundation, not the entirety of it. Multi-state unions don't often come about fully formed, all at once. Look at the United States. It started with a union of just thirteen states, and now has fifty, added as time went on. Existing canon in member-state articles already says that the ECF was originally founded with less than its full, current membership. Regentage (talk) 15:52, January 23, 2013 (UTC)

No shoving words into mouths, Reg - I did not once use anything remotely like the word disintegrate, or even espouse a concept remotely close to it.

Not the "pace" at which the site moves - you did that ten hours after Imp posted, and didn't even wait a half hour after you looked and noted his post before you did anything.

A MOU, not a "MOM." "MOM" means nothing.

That agreement was signed, true, but not established. Realistically, it was just Barbados, with the others being on paper. Something that didn't change for quite a while.

The RSS had almost nothing at all to do with the invasion of Grenada. Really, the islands hosted American forces. That's more or less it. The same applies for the aftermath, though the OECS did send some police after the invasion - American funded, trained, and supplied, may I add.

The RSS/OECS did none of what you attributed to them.

The article states that they had to "seek help from each other." This pretty solidly indicates that you're incorrect.

That Jamaica was one of the key players in the formation of the ECF - indeed, it seems to have been the one to take the lead in that venture - also invalidates your theory.

The statement about "months" on the article is not even remotely true. I'll be fixing that right after this post.

Not a single article mentions the OECS. For good reason - it had nothing to do with anything, being a simple economic group. It's not even a starting point.

The Federation did not "come about fully formed, all at once" or any such thing. Don't know where on earth you got that from.

Reg, your statement about the US is very much irrelevant to this. The expansion of the USA, and its founding, is not even remotely close to this.

In addition, look at the talk page here. Doesn't help you.

Overall, it's rather definite that the OECS had virtually nothing to do with the founding of the ECF, and was more or less non-existent off the bat. Indicated in more than one spot, even.

Lordganon (talk) 10:07, January 24, 2013 (UTC)

This is getting a little bit too agressive. So for now, I'm stepping away from this. You have an opinion about the plausibility of certain things, as do I, and they are simply not compatible. You hold the power on this site, so I see little point in arguing, nor am I interested in getting in a heated conflict. Thank you for your time. Regentage (talk) 18:06, January 24, 2013 (UTC)

Not aggressive, at all. Not even remotely.

Reg, simply put, while the further research you did was admirable, it's also incorrect. You need to fix your edits.

Lordganon (talk) 10:39, January 26, 2013 (UTC)

Oh. I thought they'd been reverted already. I will do so. Thank you for calling the research admirable. I do appreciate that. Regentage (talk) 16:22, January 26, 2013 (UTC)

Head of state[]

Dose any one think it is possible that the East Caribbean Federation is part of the Commonwealth of British nations and thus recognizes king Andrew as their Head of State? Goldwind1 (talk) 02:52, February 17, 2013 (UTC)

They would not recognize him as head of state, though would be involved in the Commonwealth.

There are several members that were republics, not to mention the USAR and the near-protectorate over Haiti. Andrew will be associated with most, but not all, of the members.

Lordganon (talk) 01:35, February 18, 2013 (UTC)

Navy[]

Working on building concrete navy statistics for the ECF. Currently, I'm considering a navy consisting of the following:

  • 2 corvettes
  • 14 patrol ships
  • 6 fast attack boats
  • 1 buoy tender (aux. support)
  • 1 training ship (aux. support)
  • 1 tug ship (aux. support)
  • 1 replenishment oiler (aux. support)

It consists of 28 ships, including auxilary non-combat ships, and is primarily geared toward civilian and coast guard functions, rather than military functions, something that is slowly changing as more prominence is given to the navy. Objections? Regentage (talk) 04:02, June 24, 2013 (UTC)

Vastly over-sized.

Only a single island nation in the Caribbean has ever had vessels larger than corvettes - and Cuba was given those. For that matter, those corvettes were only ever ordered - they did not actually happen, as T and T cancelled it. Nor have any ever had subs.

Lose the frigates, subs, destroyer and the sub tender. Increase the number of patrol boats significantly, and add a couple corvettes if you desire.

Lordganon (talk) 06:50, June 27, 2013 (UTC)

Ah, I see. Thank you. I updated the above list. Is this better? Regentage (talk) 15:58, July 24, 2013 (UTC)

Better, but now a little heavy in patrol boats. Take some of them away and add some smaller craft.

Too many support craft as well, I think.

Lordganon (talk) 12:24, July 27, 2013 (UTC)

Updated. Twenty-two combat ships, eleven auxilary ships. Swapped out some patrol boats for smaller fast attack craft. Regentage (talk) 16:25, July 27, 2013 (UTC)

Not entirely what I meant with the support ships, Reg. Keep the buoy tender, training ship, the oiler, and a tug for general use. The other ones are special-purpose things, too much so for a force like this. Hospital ships would fall under the Medifleet organization too. Lordganon (talk) 06:30, July 28, 2013 (UTC)

Ah. Updated again. ^^ Should be good now, I hope. Regentage (talk) 22:40, July 28, 2013 (UTC)

No further objections, just to check? ^^ Regentage (talk) 19:45, August 5, 2013 (UTC)

No, it looks good now. Lordganon (talk) 12:31, August 7, 2013 (UTC)

Updated. Regentage (talk) 18:44, December 1, 2013 (UTC)

Adoption request[]

If nobody has any objections, I'd like to make a request to adopt this page. I have some ideas for political and cultural details that could be added to flesh out the story in this region. GryffindorKrypton (talk) 02:56, April 2, 2020 (UTC)GryffindorKrypton


Since there don't seem to be any objections to my request, I will adopt this page. My plan for now is to add more detail on the local culture. Also, if my CARICOM proposal is adopted, I'll add that information here as well. GryffindorKrypton (talk) 03:15, April 11, 2020 (UTC)GryffindorKrypton 

If you do more work on it, I echo the suggestions above to rename this just the "Caribbean Federation", for obvious reasons. Benkarnell (talk) 23:58, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

Possible introduction[]

The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that were colonies of the United Kingdom, including Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and those on the Leeward and Windward Islands, came together to form the Federation, with its capital in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state