NationStates Jolt Archive

Pan American Conference

The US takes the following actions before the conference:

1. Legislation is introduced that would sharply increase tariffs on German steel, coal and finished goods (double them). This makes both the Republicans (the industrial leaders) and the Democrats (who are starting to recruit in labor) very happy. It will probably annoy the Germans, which also makes a lot of Americans happy. Since the primary American goods shipped to Germany are foodstuffs (wheat, beef), and there are other markets, the impact on the US is expected to be minimal.

Tariffs on Chilean and Colombian goods are removed entirely, which benefits Chilean copper miners, and Colombian coffee growers, and should help them increase exports and reduce their overseas debt sooner.

All legislation has a 10 year sunset provesion.

2. The US has begun a massive military buildup (see previous posts in the Military Thread)

3. The US has firm military alliances with both Colombia and Chile.

Proposals made at the start of the Conference by the US.
1. The Chagos Doctrine of no debt collection by force be accepted as policy by the governments of North and South America, and that all effort be made to present a unified front to the world and get that made as an accepted part of international law.
2. That the German occupation of Venezuela is in violation of the Monroe Doctrine, and that any government instituted by Germany not be recognized by any government in the Americas.
3. That all tariffs be halved or even eliminated between the nations of the Western Hemisphere.
4. That the election results in Puerto Rico be accepted as valid by the nations of the Western Hemisphere.
5. The United States will not intervene in the internal affairs of the nations of the Western Hemisphere except at the request of the legal government of that nation, and only if approval exists amongst the majority of the nations of the Americas.
6. That a treaty codifying these points be signed and called the Pan American Treaty.
7. That all nations who approve the Pan American Treaty also agree to come to the mutual defense of one another should a nation from outside the Western Hemisphere intervene, invade or use military force without the agreement of the majority of the treaty signatories.
8. The Great Britain, which has significant holdings in the Western Hemisphere, and as well as the Netherlands and France be included in the treaty should they sign it, although the defense responsibilities of the Pan American treaty signatories should only extend to the current holdings of those nations, and that any territory of theirs that gains its independence should be admitted into the Treaty automatically upon request.
9. That all pressure be placed on Germany to withdraw from Venezuela within 5 years.

ooc
basically this would reinforce the Monroe Doctrine

Britain is not pleased with some of the terms but will probably end up signing the treaty anyway on grounds of long standing friendship with the US.

OOC: Would the reduced tariffs affect:
a)Just the British territories in the Western Hemisphere
b)All British trade
c)No British trade

ooc
tariffs are a tricky issue... Britian and the US completely dominate economically the entire Western Hemisphere, and without at least some tariff protection, the smaller nations that attempt to industralize will have a difficult time of it. But the US is willing to live with reduced tariffs for Britain, France and the Netherlands.

IC
Roosevelt gently points out to the British that American public opinion, and for that matter public opinion in Latin America will not go along with the Americas promising to defend the British Empire in India for example. Anti colonial feelings are much higher in Latin America than in the US, but there is still substantial anti colonial feeling in the US too.

President Vincente Sewell will be arriving relatively soon, having okayed all the pre-conference happenings, such as; Military Alliance, and non-tariff trade.

bump

watching events in Europe closely, the US sends word to Chile and Colombia that if Germany gets involved in a war in Europe, it will be time to move them out of Venezuela sooner.

To that end, the Atlantic Fleet will be holding manuevers with the Colombian fleet off Colon, Panama

ooc
By the way, only 9 more years to go until the Panama Canal is finished (chuckle)

OOC: Ok, I want to get this clear: as the conference isn't over? so Germany so far is gonna keep doing what it's doing until people say it out loud. That or we're holding our hands over our ears and saying "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH" so we can't hear from our spies :p

Parthini']OOC: Ok, I want to get this clear: as the conference isn't over? so Germany so far is gonna keep doing what it's doing until people say it out loud. That or we're holding our hands over our ears and saying "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH" so we can't hear from our spies :p

actually I am stalling as I still need a ruling for Sharina or Von on how the rest of Latin America went as far as the Pan American Treaty goes... which you would know as well.

But since neither of us know...just saying the obvious really

I'll issue a formal ruling tomorrow. As a preliminary, I'd say Central America and the Caribbean will usually follow the United States. The only (NPC) doubts I would expect might be Argentina, or Uruguay, or possibly Paraguay, who might try to court Germany as a counterweight to Norteamericano hegemony. As I say, final rulings will have to wait another day, for which I apologize.

Zeeland, the Brazilian player, dropped out as well, so Brazil is a NPC now as well

OOC:

After reading this Pan American conference, and looking over who the active players (PC nations), as well as a request from Galveston Bay to look into this... I did some bit of research into this and found a possible solution.

Latin American countries should view this Pan-American conference with a mixed sense of neutrality and wariness. After all, the Latin Americans want to keep their independence, and to them, this may seem like an attempt by the USA to dominate the Americas. However, if the USA demostrates good-will and makes genuine examples of aiding Latin American trade, then the Latins will be more receptive to a Pan-American idea.

As for the Dutch, I cannot really say. They have colonies in Asia, Africa, and South America. They probably would remain neutral, as they would rather focus on their prized possessions such as Indonesia or Africa with all the wealth to be found there. However, if incentives are made towards the Dutch, they would probably open up somewhat, just like with the Latin Americans.



I believe this is a reasonable assumption, which allows for improvement or worsening in relations, without "Hey, lets all join the bandwagon" mentality. I'm open to feedback on this, and I might be convinced to alter my "ruling" somewhat. :)

Sharina's observations are good ones. I think pretty much all Latin American states, however, will sign, with the exceptions of German-occupied Venezuela, Argentina (Manarth had been deliberately playing up the resentment of American hegemony, which has always been a factor in Latin America anyway), and Uruguay, which is basically in Argentina's orbit. Brazil, deserting their recent Argentine allies, will ratify the treaty, however.
That's my opinion. I'll admit that it was partly done to make things interesting, but I also suspect that if America flexes any muscle, Presidente Roca will likely lose power and Argentina (and thereafter Uruguay) will fall into line.
As for the Dutch, alienating Germany is obviously a dangerous course for them, but I suspect they'd figure France will protect them, so they'd probably sign, too.

ooc
I am going to assume that Central America signed, as did Colombia and Chile. Apparently the British and Canadians were interested, but I don't know if they signed.

IC
The Treaty is signed in 1905, and ratified by the Senate in March 1906, after considerable debate.

French Parliament, after some debate, has agreed to sign the Pan-American Treaty.

Sorry again for my absence, I have just begun to catch up on foreign affairs.

IC: THe British will sign this treaty and enforce it in all their colonies.

After much debate in the Netherlands we finally decided to sign the treaty but some of our people are unhappy.

Hitler the Nazi:

You are not in this RP, and this is your second time to pretend to be playing as someone. If you continue to do such things, the Moderators and I will have a little talk. The NS Moderators, that is.

After much debate in the Netherlands we finally decided to sign the treaty but some of our people are unhappy.

this is an invitation only RP, and if you want to play in it, there is a procedure which is easily followed by going to the main alternate history RP thread. As thread owner, I can file a complaint against you with the NS moderators, but would prefer not too. Please respect our RP, and if you can't, than go somewhere else.

After much debate in the Netherlands we finally decided to sign the treaty but some of our people are unhappy.

Please respect our RP and either apply to join through the main thread (alternate history 1900) or if you can't play nice, go somewhere else. As the thread starter, if I must, I can request sanctions against you by the NS moderators. I would prefer not to, but don't push your luck.