Central America

Central America, officially known as the Confederation of Central American Republics is a radical socialist republic in Central America.

**OUTDATED**

### **Official Name**

The Confederation of Central American Republics

# **History**

## **Socialism inside of Central America, 1910-1933**

The history of socialism inside of Central America largely deals around syndicalist and anarchist movements inside of Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador in the early 1900s.

### **El Salvador**

Anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism sees its roots in Anselme Bellegarrigue, who fled to the country following persecution from the 2nd French Empire. In 1904, the lawyer Enrique Córdova published *La perspectiva teórica del anarquismo*, becoming the first known Salvadoran anarchist. At the turn of the 20th century, an organized labour movement had arisen in El Salvador, forming an opposition to the country's ruling oligarchy, and anarcho-syndicalism began to develop among Salvadoran workers. Anarchist publications subsequently spread throughout the country, with the *Ritos* being first published in 1908 and the *Renovación* being first published in 1911. By 1913, the Salvadoran anarchists formed the country's first trade unions and became key participants in the resistance movement against the oligarchic government in charge.

Boosted by the German Union's establishment and by the Great Depression resulting in the drop of coffee prices, anarcho-syndicalism became a very prevalent ideology among Salvadorian workers. During the first free and fair elections in January of 1931, strikes and protests by workers, laborers and students began. Being 4 years into the depression without a proper growth, the movement for anarchism grew and grew, postponing the elections as the strikes shook the nation, resulting in the calling of the army. The army however was unable to quell the mass unrest and soon the strikes escalated into a general strike, freezing the country's economy. The strikers were supported by Mexico while the USA became isolationist after years of growing factionalism in its own country and its department from Nicaragua. As a result, by April the situation was untenable. The army collapse as unions took control of San Salvador and declared the Social Republic of El Salvador.

### **Guatemala**

Under Justo Rufino Barrios in the early 1870s, he began campaigns to privatize land, confiscating land from the indigenous people, redistributing them into the hands of a few landowners and creating a system of "farmland servitude", based on the exploitation of the native day laborers. Barrios issued a decree that placed the entire native population at the disposal of the new landowners, to work on their vast monoculture coffee plantations. This introduced a policy of forced labour and it was under these conditions that the Guatemalan labour movement began to emerge, organizing indentured workers to resist the landowning class, with the country's first trade union being formed in 1877.

By the turn of the 20th century, the internal coffee industry had collapsed and infrastructure projects were going unfinished. This led president Manuel Estrada Cabrera to begin offering concessions to the United Fruit Company, giving the corporation tax-exemptions, land grants and control of all railroads in the east of the country. Cabrera's rule turned despotic, violently putting down a number of workers' strikes against the United Fruit Company.

In December 1921, the new Unionist government of Carlos Herrera was overthrown in a liberal military coup, led by José María Orellana. Orellana reinstated the concessions to the United States companies and rich landowners. The growing labor movement began to protest against the new regime, leading to widespread rebellions throughout the country, with government reprisals against anarchists and communists. By this time, anarcho-syndicalism had already developed a significant presence in the Guatemalan workers' movement, with syndicalists founding the Federación Obrera de Guatemala (FOG) in 1922. Strikes began to break out throughout the country in the following years, but striking workers' faced fierce repression by the Orellana regime. In 1926, the *Orientación Sindical* began to be published in Guatemala, calling for trade unions to take up direct action, outside of and in opposition to the country's political parties. In 1928, Guatemalan anarcho-syndicalists founded the Comité Pro Acción Sindical (CPAS), which united workers' and student groups across the country.

With the Great Depression having dramatic effects on the Guatemalan economy, workers and unions began to agitate for greater reforms and change but to no avail. However, with each passing time the workers' voice was not heard, it grew louder and angrier. In 1931, the dictator general Jorge Ubico came to power, backed by the United States after a power vacuum was created for a short period of time. The election was not taken lightly by the working class in any sense of the word and instead, mutinies and strikes abound in the country. The economy collapsed shortly after, not being able to take any sort of work freeze. But Ubico, in a rage sent in the army to quell supposed syndicalist agitation. As violence escalated across the country, leftists in Tegucigalpa planned a successful assassination attempt in his car, watching and tracing his movements for about 1 month until the time seemed right to strike. With yet another large power vacuum to fill in the country, socialists seized Tegucigalpa and proclaimed the Syndicalist Republic of Guatemala. Over the course of 5 months the country would be seized back from anti-socialist forces and order would be maintained.

### **Nicaragua**

Anarchism and syndicalism has had a short yet meaningful history in Nicaragua, emerging only after the United States' occupation of its country, where revolutionary resistance began to be formed. Beginning in 1912, anarchism would not gain prominence until the 1927 reoccupation of the state, after Adolfo Diaz requested intervention from President McAdoo. Fighting broke out soon after that, but it would be short after Henry Stimson, an American statesman brokered a peace deal which included disarmament and promised elections in 1928. However, the Liberal commander Augusto César Sandino, and 200 of his men refused to give up the revolution and would fight a new guerrilla war against the United States for their permanent expulsion.

On June 30 1928, Sandino seized the San Albino gold mine, denounced the Conservative government, and attracted recruits to continue operations. The next month saw the Battle of Ocotal. Despite additional conflict with Sandino's rebels, US supervised elections were held on November 4, 1928, with Moncada the winner. Manuel Giron was captured and executed in February 1929, and Sandino took a year's leave to travel across the world to gain support from fellow socialist nations By 1930, Sandino's guerilla forces numbered more than 10,000 men, 5,000 were foreigners from across the world. Because of already existing economic woes in America, as with increasing divides in the country's political sphere, then president Herbert Hoover announced a full withdrawal of American troops from Nicaragua.

Following the departure, Sandino gained widespread popularity among the general population for fully expelling the Americans from the country. As such, in the 1932 general election he ran for president under a new platform, promising to bring Nicaragua under a new age of prosperity. He won by a landslide victory , ushering in a new era of anarcho-communism for the country.

## **1933-present**

After the 1932 Nicaraguan elections, storm clouds set in in the region. Ideological clashes was the norm in Central America. In Guatemala, Nicaragua or El Salvador opponents to socialism were arrested, deported or even killed by radicals. In Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama trade unions were disbanded and any leftist political parties were banned outright. War was looming, and each nation took respective precautions. The socialist nations decided to band together and guarantee each others' independence, while the anti-socialist bloc did the same. Conscription was enacted as industries across Central America turned from civilian to rearmament programs. In 1934, things took a turn for the worst as conflict erupted into open war over the Panama Canal. After the collapse of the United States and its exile in Alaska, its overseas possessions were unguarded and undefended. On the 6th of February, the United States signs the Anchorage Accords, giving them legal access to annex the Panama Canal to protect American interests. A mere hours later, the Panamanian government decided to seize the canal all for themselves.

This angered Canada, which declared the seizure illegal and proclaimed war against Panama. In response, Honduras, Belize and Costa Rica began aiding the Panamanians to defend their borders. At the same time, Honduran soldiers at the Nicaraguan border began harassing Nicaraguan troops. Tensions grew, and in a few hours shots were fired. It is still unknown who fired, but in the end 5 Nicaraguans while 2 Honduran soldiers were killed. Seeing this as a perfect excuse, Sandino blamed the Honduran government of instigating the assault and began arming the border with troops. Perceiving the move as a threat, Honduras declared war on Nicaragua, and soon after Central America became engulfed in war.

Central America would be imperative to the Caribbean War and the shift in North American politics, but the war meant a new victory for socialism after El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua emerged to be victorious.

In the war, the Guatemalan army was able to overpower and rush Belize in 1 week, while the Salvadorian army held off Honduras, as they also fought Nicaragua which was fighting Costa Rica at the same time. Under pressure from both sides, Honduras collapsed after 2 months of fighting, allowing the bulk of the red armies to fight in Costa Rica which also died under the pressure. Feeling overpowered, the generals of Central America ordered their troops to march into Panama, but it was a lost cause. The more experienced, more well equipped Canadian army stopped them in their tracks. Canada, not wanting a new socialist power in North America decided to fight until all of the region was liberated, but this task would be impossible to accomplish.

Panamanian guerrillas and the tenacity and grit of the Central American armies led to a stalemate. Only after the fall of Chile 4 months later was peace made to the continents. Shortly before the Panama Accords, the leaders of Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador met in Managua to discuss the status of the country. Overall, all leaders were in favor of uniting Central America under a single socialist authority. 1 day later a statement was issued proclaiming the Confederation of Central American Republics. It was not originally recognized by any country in the world except the socialist bloc, but even after the signing of the accords almost no country in North or South America recognized Central America. Nonetheless after the war, its leaders eagerly began work on improving the country. A new constitution was signed and ratified, while the government in charge announced new elections to be held to decide the new leader of the country. By that point millions had already been recognized as citizens and legible to vote as well as women, which the constitution guaranteed. In late October, the new leader announced was anarcho-communist Augusto César Sandino.

For the next year society would be reorganized according to anarcho-syndicalist principles. Despite Sandino being an anarcho-communist the matter is not up to him as in the constitution it defined government in syndicalist terms, with trade unions in charge. Instead, Sandino would expand indigenous rights and their communities similarly to Mexico and the PUA before him. The unions with the help of Sandino expanded the rights and freedoms for individual republics. Instead of answering to a centralized authority in Managua, each country would be granted the same amount of rights with government so long as they stay inside of the confederation.

# **Politics**

## **Political Parties**

Central America prides itself in being a multi-party republican democracy, and while this is technically true on paper, in reality non-socialist parties are regularly harassed and suppressed, especially in Honduras, Belize and Costa Rica. Central America is a federal republic without a central ideology due to its unification of syndicalist Guatemala, El Salvador and anarcho-communist Nicaragua. At most, it is defined as a libertarian socialist country with syndicalist and Anarchist principles. Communism however is more popular among the peasant classes of Central America, syndicalism is popular among the industrial workers of major cities, while anarchism is supported, mainly by the various indigenous groups that inhabit Central America, who choose to form their own communities and communes away from any government. In an agreement signed 4 months after the Panama Accords, the government in Managua promised not to interact with indigenous communities, allowed them to form their own communities and are exempt from conscription as long as they don’t declare independence.