RyansWorld: Caribbean War

'''Special Note: Please note that this scenario is meant to be read as entertainment, not as an accurate prediction of the future. Also note that the viewpoints and opinions that may come across in this scenario are not necessarily the viewpoints and opinions of the author.'''

The Caribbean War was fought between the years 2033 and 2039. It was fought between the superpower Canadamerica and its allies under the command of multiple presidents and the neo-communist Caribbean Union (Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela). Suborbital weapons played a major role in the war, making the artillery, ICBM, and air strikes of the past almost obsolete.

History
The war began when Communist revolutions occurred in the French-controlled islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, inspired by those in the other Caribbean countries. The communist parties on these islands overthrew their respective governments and attempted to break their ties with France and join the Caribbean Union. France and other nations of the European Union then sent troops to Guadeloupe and Martinique to stop this from happening and to protect their interests. They then declared war on the Caribbean Union after it invaded and conquered French Guiana, a major center for the European Space Agency's space launches. The Republic of Puerto Rico remained neutral during the beginning of the conflict, keeping its fleets on constant watch and its air bases on high alert. Puerto Rico, however, joined the conflict on the EU's side in 2037 when the new regime denied safe passage to Puerto Rican citizens to its territory. Meanwhile in Mexico, another Communist revolution occurred. The new regime sent forces into southwestern Canadamerica in and annexed the region.

They were supported by militant Chicanos in that area who were dissatisfied with the union of the U.S. and Canada and wished for the region to unite with Mexico as the State of Aztlan. Canadamerica then joined sides with the E.U. in the war against the Caribbean Union, with the support of the U.K. and other Commonwealth Realms.

In early 2037 CU troops from Panama, Colombia and Venezuela invaded most of the Lesser Antilles, overwhelming the EU forces and establishing communist control over the islands. When Anguilla fell, the Puerto Rican High Command along with its Canadamerican and European allies decided to execute Operation Gray Kingbird (Operacion Pitirre in Spanish) also known as Operation Hammerfall in the EU and Operation Avenger in Canadamerica; the Puerto Rican Navy would execute simultaneous attacks with frigates and destroyers against the Lesser Antilles while Canadamerican troops would invade Mexico and Central America from the north, opening a western front and giving time for EU troops to invade from the south.

By mid-2038 most of the Lesser Antilles were retaken by the Puerto Rican army, Canadamerica had retaken all of its territory and was now invading Central America and the EU was invading Venezuela and Colombia with the help of Brazil. Puerto Rico invaded the Dominican Republic in the winder of 2038 and crossed the border into Haiti before 2039, then took Cuba by the summer of 2039, ending CU control of the Caribbean. August 28th, 2039, was VC (Victory in the Caribbean) Day.

Venezuela became the last stronghold of resistance. With the capital of the Caribbean Union, Havana, under enemy control the last CU generals decided to surrender on November 21st, 2039. When all CU forces surrender VS (Victory in the South) was declared on November 25th.

Conscription
Conscription was introduced into Canadamerica during the course of the war. It had been introduced in 2010 in the United States in order to replenish troops for the War in Afghanistan. People who had at least a tenth-grade (this was before the Constitutional amendment was passed in 2030 making a high school diploma mandatory) education who were between sixteen and thirty-four years of age had to join the Land Force Command, Maritime Command, Air Command, Canadamerica Marine Corps, Coast Guard, the National Guard, or the Merchant Navy, including most college students (except for seniors and graduate students).

Exemption was also given to those who were already in an R.O.T.C. program at a civilian college or university or were employed in a government office, e.g. lawyers, police officers, political candidates etc. Conscripts were given a crash course on survival and weapons training and were expected to fight in the war after 6 weeks of basic training. A soldier would serve for six years in the Canadamerican Forces, or until their thirty-fourth birthday, whichever comes first. After this, two options await a soldier. If his or her record is relatively clean, they can become a commissioned officer, either through an R.O.T.C. program (mostly for those who don't have college degrees) or officer candidate school (mostly for those with degrees) and serve for another six years and then quit (resulting in a general discharge) or retire after twenty years of service (resulting in a honorable discharge).

However, if his or her record is blemished to a certain extent, then a dishonorable discharge may haven taken place, banning him or her from all government jobs (including working in public schools, working in government owned casinos, and even janitorial duties in a government building). Fortunately, the conscription law was repealed at the end of the war and by the 2040s, the Canadamerican Forces were once again 100% voluntary service.

Opposition to Conscription
The more liberal members of the post-rock generation and the world beat music artists opposed this war, as it forced people to fight and die in a foreign country with harsh terrain and even harsher methods of combat. Therefore, the war divided the liberal post-rock generation members from the conservative post-rock generation members (who eventually became the colonels and generals who ran the army by the end of the war). And when autism was cured, the problem only increased for anti-conscription activists as tens of thousands of people were no longer considered 4-F (mentally unfit for duty).

True to the tranquility of the world beat music philosophy, passive resistance was practiced at all times during campus protests against the war and the draft. The Canadamerican law enforcement agencies and the National Guard were not as patient, and began organised massacres of protesters. Much of this protest prevented Canadamerican Prime Minister Rita Chirila from winning re-election to a second term in 2036.

The Result of the War


The victory resulted in the annexation of several territories in the Caribbean and Central America. This included Belize, which later joined as a province. It chose to do this because of its strong British heritage. One of the most important war trophies, however, was the acquisition of the Turks and Caicos Islands, which made it possible to cruise ships to be chartered domestically rather than from a "foreign country." Puerto Rico (which had bought the U.S. and British Virgin Islands in the past) annexed Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Martin, Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Gaudeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Barbados. After the conflict ended, it returned its fleets to safeguard its territories. This meant the beginning of Puerto Rico as a Caribbean superpower, both militarily and economically, and a big league player in politics across the Americas. Later, in 2045, it would lead the formation of the Great Antillean Confederation, a supranational entity lead by Puerto Rico, the Republic of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and the Federated Republic of Cuba and Florida.

The war also had its price. Prices for bananas and other tropical fruit declined. This was a miserable time for farmers. Products once considered exotic were now domestic to the Canadamerican consumers and many farmers went bankrupt due to the decreased prices.

Canadamerica also lost some territory, however. Florida, which by this time had a majority Hispanic population, decided to join Cuba. Disney and Universal Studios pulled their business out of Orlando right before the mandatory Spanish language laws came to effect in the former Canadamerican state of Florida. Aztlan, for similar reasons, decided to join with the Canadamerican Trust Territory of Northern Mexico as an independent nation.