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GWOT V - Mexico
Feb. 8th, 2022 09:16 pmGWOT V - Mexico
The Mexico-California border is extremely volatile and dangerous.
This condition began with the militarization of the US-Mexican border in the 1980s. It accelerated at the start of the FIrecracker War when hundreds of thousands of American refugees fled San Diego and Los Angeles fearing nuclear attack. American forces devoted to border security were dramatically reduced in numbers but authorized to use deadly force lavishly and - a new escalation - to cross the border at whim. This soon enraged border communities (on both sides), further worsening the security situation.
US forces functionally invaded Mexico for nearly a year, establishing a military road net to the port of Ensenada in particular. No attempt was made to occupy or enforce laws outside the port complex itself, except that any interference with American military convoys was met with the lavish deadly force mentioned above.
When Mexican Army forces finally put themselves into position to overrun this enclave and cut the road net, a nuclear ultimatum was issued by the Americans. This forced a stalemate. which continued until the Texas revolt. At this point, with seven (later six) American states including California in open rebellion, the Americans evacuated Ensenada as part of the general withdrawal from California and Arizona.
During the Resistance campaign, urban and suburban guerilla fighting devastated the entire region - Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernadino, San Diego. These campaigns were secondary to what became open desert warfare between the California Republic's nascent Army and two Category III (worst) divisions of American armor. Mexican arms dealers freely sold arms to first the Resistance, later the California Republic, and finally to pro-American guerillas until their absorption (see below) or destruction by California regular and irregular forces. Most of these arms, but not all, are now under California control.
It is noteworthy that one of the primary peacekeeping mechanisms used by the California Republic has been to regularize and discipline armed groups of irregulars, some with very shaky histories. In some cases, peace deals required that the former anti-California combatants keep their weapons for their own safety. In others, irregular groups had already changed sides several times due to changes in ideology, leadership, resources and/or the world political situation. They were given "a last chance" to conform to new California law and regulation. It is fair to say that some of these are little more than armed gangs, and that when they are mustered, larger and more heavily armed regular California forces seem as if coincidentally to be mustered at the same time nearby.
It is an open secret that some of these irregular forces, although lawful and regulated by California, are suspected of being at least as, if not more loyal to Mexico as to the CR. Accordingly, they are deployed (when they are activated at all), in Northern California east or north of Sacramento. More often they are in a permanent training and drill status to keep them close to home.
The converse is not true. Armed forces south of the Border are under the strict control of the Mexican government, either directly in the case of Federales (Federal police) or Mexican Army, or indirectly in the case of provincial police, authorized village militias, and the proudly paramilitary Cartels. In no case and at no time do any bear any loyalty to America or to California - any that did fled north to survive what Mexico calls La Consolidation and survivors call The Terror.
The Mexican government is a creature of the Cartels. It is fair to say that the Cartels tell the government what to do, and that Cartel paramilitary forces therefore outrank (and often outgun) all but line Mexican Army troops. Even then, the credible threat of Cartel operatives horribly murdering Army officers, their families, their neighbors, and any nearby townspeople, pets, etc. keeps the Mexican Army under both formal and informal controls.
As compared to pre-War, the Cartels now follow three iron-clad rules that did not exist prior. This is credited to the revelation that intra-Cartel fighting was encouraged by the American government as early as the 1990s.
Rule 1: we are all Mexicans first.
Rule 2: we do not fight each other.
Rule 3: we rule with generosity.
Rule 1 causes alignment between the Cartels, even rivals, with respect to defending Mexican nationals, Mexican sovereignty, and what they believe to be Mexican values. Being Mexican is a matter of choice, blood and language. The joke, told openly north of the Border and under one's hand south of it, is that "two of three are close enough."
Rule 2 keeps intra-Cartel conflicts limited to jockeying for power and influence. The Cartel leader advances by what they can get done, not by assassinating rivals. Brutal hand to hand combat, often bloody and sometimes fatal, have taken the place of pre-War assassinations, bombings, etc. These arranged clashes are attended amid a festival atmosphere, like bull fights but with picked champions and even the leaders themselvces. (Failure to show loses all honor and is de facto resignation from Cartel leadership.)
Rule 3 is double edged. A Cartel village is wealthy, the villagers are genuinely loyal, and the Cartel rewards this with open hands. But the Cartel is equally "generous" with violence when its authority is flouted. Would-be rebels are savagely beaten and expelled from Cartel territories. If they return, their deaths are reported as suicides.
One of the few memetic benefits to the security situation is that pre-War California territory is recognized as legitimate. For now. The CR's possession of nuclear weapons is certainly one of several factors here, and keeping these weapons secure is a constant headache for the Collections Group and the newly founded Strategic Defense Force.
The Cartels continue to have their roots in smuggling - items of value, persons, information, arms, etc. California attempts to interfere in this flow are often comic, sometimes tragic, and commonly ineffective.
Cartel-dominated communities on the north side of the Border are remarkably law-abiding and opaque to California Republic operatives. These range, as pre-War, from a few houses in predominantly Anglo areas to entire mid-sized towns in areas with large numbers of Spanish-speaking population. There is even, half-jokingly, a "Cartel representative" in the California Senate.
Two non-trivial complications on the Border are the presence of tribes of native peoples, and the infiltration of American special operations and intelligence personnel into California from Mexico.
By policy and for consistency, California recognized what the Americans called 'Indian tribes' at once, not only honoring the semi-sovereign pre-War status of these as fully sovereign, but also expanding this recognition. Part of this was for moral reasons, but some of it was practical. The tribal sectors broke up into chunks the otherwise large areas that would have had to be controlled directly by line California forces. The tribes have their own agendas, which often involve 'dealings' with the Cartels while trying to preserve their independence. Information flows relatively freely, resources and troops not so much.
American special operations troops are extremely unwelcome in Nevada and in Arizona. The former has the wealth, technology and muscle (elite troops) to make this stick - as well as political leverage from being the "Paris of the American West." The latter socialist/populist regime has a popular hatred of Americans that rivals that of the Mexicans themselves, while hating the Cartels _almost_ as much. They take anyone in, but shoot at anyone so misguided as to want to leave.
Therefore, the 'southern' route - smuggling of persons who happen to be American operatives, with paid Cartel help, through Mexico into California - is a deadly threat to California's shaky sovereignty. Much of the interdiction of refugees is actually to try to catch these particularly dangerous persons - US Army Special Forces 'A' teams, CIA intelligence agents, former Homeland instigators and bluntly, pro-American terrorists under a variety of covers. The northern route through Oregon is longer, more difficult, and does not have a built in smuggling network as provided by the Cartels - for a hefty middleman fee, of course. Nor is it possible to smuggle in the large quantities of weapons and equipment useful to these persons through the northern routes.
However, the primary national security issue for California on the Border is the same that the Americans faced - trying to control the flow of persons, both ways, and the flow of weapons and drugs, again both ways. The reasons for the flows are different, the motives are often very different, but the mechanics of the flows are the same.
North: people claiming to be 'returnees' (i.e. Californians coming home, for family or for the white-hot labor demand economy), but who cannot satisfy California immigration of their right to do so. Some of these are harmless, but others are expelled war criminals or American operatives. Others never were Californians at all, but are claiming to be for the economic benefits. A generous visa program tries to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Some are being smuggled into California by criminal organizations to work on illegal projects or in illegal industries, particularly the sex trade. (As sex work is legal in California, their fate is highly illegal and especially cruel - the 'snuff' industry in particular.) Drugs of abuse, notably South American cocaine and Asian heroin and low-quality pot grown in Cartel farms with chemicals and fertilizers. Low quality firearms and explosives, often of mass production quality for the use of terrorists and insurgents worldwide, but especially in California. (America subsidizes this -- see below.)
South: escaping war criminals, American sympathizers (although those with money nearly always leave through Nevada), aspiring Mexican migrants who will not or cannot wait for matriculation. (Note: this process takes several months and involves genealogical research - if successful, the matriculador is immediately a Mexican citizen with all the rights and privileges. If not, there is no way or method of appeal and they go illegally or not at all. This is a subject on which the Cartels will not help, see Rule #1.) Some person are being smuggled into Mexico by criminal organizations to work on illegal projects or in illegal industries, particularly the sex trade. (As sex work is illegal in Mexico, their fate is particularly cruel as they will be imprisoned if caught, often enough put right back to work in a different set of walls.) Drugs of abuse, notably diverted synthetic medical opiates from Europe (a serious crime in California!) and boutique, high quality pot to evade California export taxes. High quality firearms, often of former American make, very popular with the Cartels. Explosives for use against Americans. (California subsidizes this, see above.) At the risk of being repetitive, Bear Force resupply operations, both south of the Border and through Mexico into other American states.
...
The Mexico-California border is extremely volatile and dangerous.
This condition began with the militarization of the US-Mexican border in the 1980s. It accelerated at the start of the FIrecracker War when hundreds of thousands of American refugees fled San Diego and Los Angeles fearing nuclear attack. American forces devoted to border security were dramatically reduced in numbers but authorized to use deadly force lavishly and - a new escalation - to cross the border at whim. This soon enraged border communities (on both sides), further worsening the security situation.
US forces functionally invaded Mexico for nearly a year, establishing a military road net to the port of Ensenada in particular. No attempt was made to occupy or enforce laws outside the port complex itself, except that any interference with American military convoys was met with the lavish deadly force mentioned above.
When Mexican Army forces finally put themselves into position to overrun this enclave and cut the road net, a nuclear ultimatum was issued by the Americans. This forced a stalemate. which continued until the Texas revolt. At this point, with seven (later six) American states including California in open rebellion, the Americans evacuated Ensenada as part of the general withdrawal from California and Arizona.
During the Resistance campaign, urban and suburban guerilla fighting devastated the entire region - Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernadino, San Diego. These campaigns were secondary to what became open desert warfare between the California Republic's nascent Army and two Category III (worst) divisions of American armor. Mexican arms dealers freely sold arms to first the Resistance, later the California Republic, and finally to pro-American guerillas until their absorption (see below) or destruction by California regular and irregular forces. Most of these arms, but not all, are now under California control.
It is noteworthy that one of the primary peacekeeping mechanisms used by the California Republic has been to regularize and discipline armed groups of irregulars, some with very shaky histories. In some cases, peace deals required that the former anti-California combatants keep their weapons for their own safety. In others, irregular groups had already changed sides several times due to changes in ideology, leadership, resources and/or the world political situation. They were given "a last chance" to conform to new California law and regulation. It is fair to say that some of these are little more than armed gangs, and that when they are mustered, larger and more heavily armed regular California forces seem as if coincidentally to be mustered at the same time nearby.
It is an open secret that some of these irregular forces, although lawful and regulated by California, are suspected of being at least as, if not more loyal to Mexico as to the CR. Accordingly, they are deployed (when they are activated at all), in Northern California east or north of Sacramento. More often they are in a permanent training and drill status to keep them close to home.
The converse is not true. Armed forces south of the Border are under the strict control of the Mexican government, either directly in the case of Federales (Federal police) or Mexican Army, or indirectly in the case of provincial police, authorized village militias, and the proudly paramilitary Cartels. In no case and at no time do any bear any loyalty to America or to California - any that did fled north to survive what Mexico calls La Consolidation and survivors call The Terror.
The Mexican government is a creature of the Cartels. It is fair to say that the Cartels tell the government what to do, and that Cartel paramilitary forces therefore outrank (and often outgun) all but line Mexican Army troops. Even then, the credible threat of Cartel operatives horribly murdering Army officers, their families, their neighbors, and any nearby townspeople, pets, etc. keeps the Mexican Army under both formal and informal controls.
As compared to pre-War, the Cartels now follow three iron-clad rules that did not exist prior. This is credited to the revelation that intra-Cartel fighting was encouraged by the American government as early as the 1990s.
Rule 1: we are all Mexicans first.
Rule 2: we do not fight each other.
Rule 3: we rule with generosity.
Rule 1 causes alignment between the Cartels, even rivals, with respect to defending Mexican nationals, Mexican sovereignty, and what they believe to be Mexican values. Being Mexican is a matter of choice, blood and language. The joke, told openly north of the Border and under one's hand south of it, is that "two of three are close enough."
Rule 2 keeps intra-Cartel conflicts limited to jockeying for power and influence. The Cartel leader advances by what they can get done, not by assassinating rivals. Brutal hand to hand combat, often bloody and sometimes fatal, have taken the place of pre-War assassinations, bombings, etc. These arranged clashes are attended amid a festival atmosphere, like bull fights but with picked champions and even the leaders themselvces. (Failure to show loses all honor and is de facto resignation from Cartel leadership.)
Rule 3 is double edged. A Cartel village is wealthy, the villagers are genuinely loyal, and the Cartel rewards this with open hands. But the Cartel is equally "generous" with violence when its authority is flouted. Would-be rebels are savagely beaten and expelled from Cartel territories. If they return, their deaths are reported as suicides.
One of the few memetic benefits to the security situation is that pre-War California territory is recognized as legitimate. For now. The CR's possession of nuclear weapons is certainly one of several factors here, and keeping these weapons secure is a constant headache for the Collections Group and the newly founded Strategic Defense Force.
The Cartels continue to have their roots in smuggling - items of value, persons, information, arms, etc. California attempts to interfere in this flow are often comic, sometimes tragic, and commonly ineffective.
Cartel-dominated communities on the north side of the Border are remarkably law-abiding and opaque to California Republic operatives. These range, as pre-War, from a few houses in predominantly Anglo areas to entire mid-sized towns in areas with large numbers of Spanish-speaking population. There is even, half-jokingly, a "Cartel representative" in the California Senate.
Two non-trivial complications on the Border are the presence of tribes of native peoples, and the infiltration of American special operations and intelligence personnel into California from Mexico.
By policy and for consistency, California recognized what the Americans called 'Indian tribes' at once, not only honoring the semi-sovereign pre-War status of these as fully sovereign, but also expanding this recognition. Part of this was for moral reasons, but some of it was practical. The tribal sectors broke up into chunks the otherwise large areas that would have had to be controlled directly by line California forces. The tribes have their own agendas, which often involve 'dealings' with the Cartels while trying to preserve their independence. Information flows relatively freely, resources and troops not so much.
American special operations troops are extremely unwelcome in Nevada and in Arizona. The former has the wealth, technology and muscle (elite troops) to make this stick - as well as political leverage from being the "Paris of the American West." The latter socialist/populist regime has a popular hatred of Americans that rivals that of the Mexicans themselves, while hating the Cartels _almost_ as much. They take anyone in, but shoot at anyone so misguided as to want to leave.
Therefore, the 'southern' route - smuggling of persons who happen to be American operatives, with paid Cartel help, through Mexico into California - is a deadly threat to California's shaky sovereignty. Much of the interdiction of refugees is actually to try to catch these particularly dangerous persons - US Army Special Forces 'A' teams, CIA intelligence agents, former Homeland instigators and bluntly, pro-American terrorists under a variety of covers. The northern route through Oregon is longer, more difficult, and does not have a built in smuggling network as provided by the Cartels - for a hefty middleman fee, of course. Nor is it possible to smuggle in the large quantities of weapons and equipment useful to these persons through the northern routes.
However, the primary national security issue for California on the Border is the same that the Americans faced - trying to control the flow of persons, both ways, and the flow of weapons and drugs, again both ways. The reasons for the flows are different, the motives are often very different, but the mechanics of the flows are the same.
North: people claiming to be 'returnees' (i.e. Californians coming home, for family or for the white-hot labor demand economy), but who cannot satisfy California immigration of their right to do so. Some of these are harmless, but others are expelled war criminals or American operatives. Others never were Californians at all, but are claiming to be for the economic benefits. A generous visa program tries to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Some are being smuggled into California by criminal organizations to work on illegal projects or in illegal industries, particularly the sex trade. (As sex work is legal in California, their fate is highly illegal and especially cruel - the 'snuff' industry in particular.) Drugs of abuse, notably South American cocaine and Asian heroin and low-quality pot grown in Cartel farms with chemicals and fertilizers. Low quality firearms and explosives, often of mass production quality for the use of terrorists and insurgents worldwide, but especially in California. (America subsidizes this -- see below.)
South: escaping war criminals, American sympathizers (although those with money nearly always leave through Nevada), aspiring Mexican migrants who will not or cannot wait for matriculation. (Note: this process takes several months and involves genealogical research - if successful, the matriculador is immediately a Mexican citizen with all the rights and privileges. If not, there is no way or method of appeal and they go illegally or not at all. This is a subject on which the Cartels will not help, see Rule #1.) Some person are being smuggled into Mexico by criminal organizations to work on illegal projects or in illegal industries, particularly the sex trade. (As sex work is illegal in Mexico, their fate is particularly cruel as they will be imprisoned if caught, often enough put right back to work in a different set of walls.) Drugs of abuse, notably diverted synthetic medical opiates from Europe (a serious crime in California!) and boutique, high quality pot to evade California export taxes. High quality firearms, often of former American make, very popular with the Cartels. Explosives for use against Americans. (California subsidizes this, see above.) At the risk of being repetitive, Bear Force resupply operations, both south of the Border and through Mexico into other American states.
...
