2014 invasion of Central America

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Operation Redemptive Glory Operación Redentora Gloria (es)
Part of Second Cold War
Image released by the Mexican Defense Ministry depicting the ruins of a building in Guatemala City.
Date December 20, 2014–February 1, 2015 Location Central America Result Ended Signage of the Bogota Agreement Predecessor to the 2015 Invasion of Mexico
Belligerents
Colombia Mexico Client states Fascist Guatemala Fascist Nicaragua Mexican-occupied Central America Paramilitary/civilian groups Contras Black Shirts Red Shirts	Guatemala° El Salvador° Honduras° Nicaragua° Panama Paramilitary/civilian resistance FLMN FSLN URNG Military/Logistics aid Canada Chile Sierra United States Humanitarian aid 33 participants Albania Armenia Austria File:Union Flag (including Wales).svg.png Britannia Belize Belgium Costa Rica Cuba Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland Gaul Hungary Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea Lan Na Luxembourg Morochan Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Spain South Vietnam Sweden Switzerland United Arab Emirates Westland
Commanders and leaders
Pablo Hildago de Veracruz Juan Hector Barroz Santiago Meza Alejandro Ramírez	Otto Pérez Molina (POW) Juan Orlando Hernández (POW) Salvador Sánchez Cerén¤ Daniel Ortega  Adam Gallant Steven Hong Jeb Bush
Strength
1,000,000 active military personnel 400,000 reservists 890,000 paramilitary personnel 800+ tanks 300+ bombers 250~ fighters 60 vessels	75,000 active military personnel 20,000 paramilitary personnel 158 tanks 180 vessels 200 aircraft 350~ special forces personnel 16 logistics aircraft 22 logistics vessels
Casualties and losses
5,000–10,000 personnel dead 10,000+ injured 43 tanks destroyed 19 tanks captured 45 aircraft downed	10,000–20,000 personnel dead 19,000+ injured 89 tanks destroyed 45 tanks captured 176 aircraft downed
Civilian casualties as of January 13, 2015 9,000–50,000 killed, injured, or missing 10,000,000+ homeless/displaced $9.5 trillion+ in damages
°Invaded by Mexican and allied forces ¤In exile

The 2014 invasion of Central America was a military campaign launched by the Mexican Social Republic on December 20, 2014 under the name, Operation Redemptive Glory (Spanish: Operación Redentora Gloria). During the initial week of the invasion, Mexico invaded and replaced the government of Guatemala with a pro-Mexican regime. On January 1, 2015, Mexico launched new military operations in the region invading the countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua simultaneously. Following decisive successes, Mexico declared that its military operations were no longer on the offensive but rather, defensive, to protect its new client states from the intervening coalition forces. On January 14, Argentina and Mexico officially entered into Eight-Party Talks with the coalition forces to address the diplomatic issues surrounding the invasions. A ceasefire was declared on January 13 between the parties and the Eight-Party Talks was created. Following intense negotiations, the conflict was declared over with the promulgation of the Bogota Agreement. The agreement legitimized Mexico's political gains but forced it to pay $2 billion in grievances to the conquered states as well as formally relinquish its claims over the Baja California peninsula and the Sonoran region, an area it had disputed with the Kingdom of Sierra.

The rationale provided by the Mexican government concerning throughout its operations was to "protect Mexican integrity and sovereignty" and the "resolute desire of the Central American people". Up until recent years, Mexico was a isolated pariah state that kept much of its operations on low-profile. Following the turn of the 21st century, domestically, Mexico eased its authoritarian control over its people while internationally, it facilitated blossoming relations with other powers, particularly Russia and China. At the same time, Mexico reintroduced radical nationalist ideas including retaking the former Mexican territories of the Baja California peninsula and Sonoran region (see Baja California crisis) as well as the Central American states.

Mexico's invasions received widespread international condemnation. After Mexico's initial invasion of Guatemala, foreign powers including the United States and Sierra threatened to place sanctions on the invader if it did not remove its troops within 48 hours. Following the Mexican government's failure to abide, the reactionary states sought assistance from the international community via the League of Nations. On January 6, 2015, the League of Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2188 approving military intervention in Central America. By January 11, the Mexican government declared the invasion phase over and committed towards nation-building over its client-states: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. These gains were solidified following the end of the conflict through the Bogota Agreement.

Background

Historically, the entire region of Central America was part of Mexico. Having achieved independence from Spain, the First Mexican Empire inherited the vast majority of territory, including parts of Central America, from the former Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Captaincy General of Guatemala declared independence from Spain and joined the Mexican Empire in 1821 but it and the rest of Central America seceded from Mexico two years later following the abdication of Emperor Agustín de Iturbide. With the Empire dissolved, the Central American states formed the Federal Republic of Central America which eventually balkanized into the modern-day states.

In 1925, Mexico, after years of political instability and turmoil, underwent a bloody political revolution that saw the rise and victory of the Red Shirts, a radical fascist paramilitary organization. The Mexican Social Republic was proclaimed and promoted extreme Mexican nationalism that included the assertion of "indisputable" sovereignty over the Central American region. For nearly 80 years after the creation of the fascist regime, this assertion was dormant and not actively considered by officials.

Following the ascension of the new Generalissimo Pablo Hildago de Veracruz in 2003, De Veracruz revived various tenets of Mexican nationalism including the claim that Central America, the Baja California peninsula, and Sonoran regions were inherently Mexican land. Mexico opened up to the world with an aggressive foreign policy and frequently confronted countries, especially Sierra, over territorial disputes. In October 2014, Mexico finally gave substance to its claims by launching a missile strike in the Sierran city of La Paz in disputed Baja California territory. The attack left dozens dead and sparked the Baja California crisis wherein Mexican and Sierran forces faced off over the Gulf of California almost daily in an increasingly hostile and tense environment.

In respect to Central America, Mexico made no direct confrontation towards its neighbors although frequently criticized incumbent Central American governments and pressed the claim that the states' historic secession from Mexico was illegal. Dismissing the fact that the region remained only part of Mexico for a little more than two years, the government asserted that the dissolution of the empire did not warrant the Mexican nation's "loss" of land. The Mexican government attested that Mexico's inheritance from Spain meant all lands from the Viceroyalty of New Spain which included Central America. Inadvertently, this also implied Mexico claimed sovereignty over all of Sierra (it only actively claims the Sierran territories of the Los Pacíficos), parts of the United States, Lan Na, the islands of the former Spanish East Indies, the island of Hispanola, and Cuba although all of these claims have never been asserted (at least officially). The only nation to recognise these claims apart from Mexico is Colombia who subsequently supplied Mexico with personnel and military equipment.

Timeline

Invasion of Guatemala

Soldiers from the Mexican paramilitary organization, the Black Shirts, on patrol in Guatemala City.

On December 20, 2014, Mexico invaded Guatemala at around 6 PM local time. At the initial phase, six divisions of the Imperial Revolutionary Guard entered Guatemala through the departments of Petén and Huehuetenango. Meanwhile, squadrons of Northrop F-5s and UH-60 Black Hawks were deployed with the primary intention of establishing air superiority. Guatemala's air force consisted of only 92 aircraft at the time and were scrambled within 45 minutes of Mexico's initial attack. Relying primarily on Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, which had limited defenses and attack capability in the air, over 40% of Guatemalan aircraft was destroyed within 5 hours of the invasion.

Guatemalan troops were caught off-guard and completely overwhelmed. For months, the Guatemalan government was wary of Mexico's increasingly provocative actions with Sierra although could not foresee a full-scale invasion upon itself. Within Guatemala, there was a sizable movement of Guatemalans advocating fascism although according to Guatemalan intelligence officials, no inquiry or investigation was established to monitor these groups. By the time the invasion took place, cities everywhere experienced attacks from members of the fascist movement and subdued municipal governments long before Mexican troops arrived.

By midnight, certain strategic areas in Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango, and Huehuetenango were bombed periodically while ground troops marched towards the city. Commandos in conjunction with pro-fascist Guatemalan organizers attacked important state locations and seized several prominent government officials including President Otto Pérez Molina. Molina was prepared to flee from Guatemala City via plane but the runways of La Aurora International Airport, the president's primary means for escape, were severely damaged by Mexican aerial bombing. Troops caught the president and his special security team attempting to escape the city barricades at around 11 PM. Following Molina's capture, pro-fascist Guatemalan leader Rafael Paz was declared the interim president of the new Free Republic of Guatemala.

For the next following days, Mexican and allied forces continued to fight against resistance–mostly by civilians, throughout the country. Remnants of the Guatemalan military still loyal to the pre-invasion government were forced to retreat to the neutral nation of Belize in the city of Puerto Barrios before either surrendering, defecting, or fleeing to the Belizean border.

Navidad Agreement

With Christmas approaching, the Mexican government decided to delay its invasion plans until the next year. Officials believed that the holidays were the perfect time for celebration. State-sponsored festivities were held nationwide to commemorate the Mexican victory over Guatemala. The invasion marked the first time since the Mexican–American War that Mexican troops were deployed outside its territory. State media reported that the invasion was met with "jubilant and patriotic livelihood" among the Mexicans as it boosted confidence in the strength of the Mexican nation. The invasion itself was codenamed "Operation Redemptive Glory" (Operacíon Redentora Gloria) to suggest that the act was a means to give Mexico redemption for its humiliating defeat from the "American War of Aggression".

Globally, the international community condemned the invasion and were especially critical on the humanitarian crisis that erupted in Guatemala. Entire cities were devastated and millions of civilians were without shelter, adequate food or water, or electricity. Mexico allowed limited humanitarian aid to enter Guatemala from neutral international agencies and states. In addition, Mexico and the Free State of Guatemala began implementing a rations program to distribute the needed resources for the Guatemalan public.

With international pressure mounting (Sierra and the United States opened the case of Mexico's invasion to the League of Nations Security Council), Mexico proposed a non-aggression pact with the state of Belize. Belize, a country that was historically a Britannian colony, was, according to Mexican officials, not part of Mexico's invasion plans. With strong ties with the United States and Sierra, Mexico believed it was necessary to assure the international community that it would not invade Belize.

On December 23, 2014, Mexican officials began negotiations with Belizean dignitaries in Mexico City while Guatemala was still being invaded. According to foreign news sources, the Belizean government initially pleaded for Mexico's withdrawal from Guatemala but later acquiesced to Mexican insistence of its military operations. Talks were concluded on Christmas Day with the signing of the Belizean–Mexican Non-Aggression Pact or the Navidad Agreement. The agreement essentially assured Belize that Mexico would not invade it so long as it continued to stay uninvolved in Mexico's invasions. In addition, Mexico would allow Belize to provide humanitarian aid to Guatemala and agreed to have it as the official mediator between Mexico and the international community.

Following the announcement of the agreement, most governments criticized Belize's implicit approval of Mexico's invasion. There was mixed reactions in Belize where news of the government's talks with the fascist neighbor were shocking. On Christmas Eve, Colombia announced that it would aiding its fellow patriotic nation in the liberation of Central America from "Godless commies". Colombia criticised Mexico in failing to "liberate" Belize of "socialist scum".

New Year's Invasions

Hours after the 2015 New Year rang in, Mexican and Colombian troops resumed military operations and simultaneously attacked El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua within hours of each other on the same day. While all of these states were better prepared than Guatemala and anticipated Mexican attack, none were capable of defending itself from Mexico's overwhelming forces and focused primarily on slowing down Mexican advancement in time for international powers to intervene.

El Salvador

Within minutes of Mexican intrusion of Salvadoran territory, El Salvador sent a distress call warning its neighbor states and the United States. Salvadoran troops were mostly concerned with protecting the capital and surrounding areas where the lives of government and military officials were at stake. The Salvadoran government did not believe it had the capacity to withstand the Mexican invasion and because of that, were willing to rely on its neighbors to provide for defense and the hope that more larger powers such as the United States and Sierra would intervene. With only 16 aircraft capable of offensive power, the Salvadoran government made the order to send them to Nicaragua where they would be better needed. Within a day, El Salvador was neutralized but several officials including President Salvador Sánchez Cerén fled to Peru, narrowly escaping Mexican capture. Throughout El Salvador, there was heavy civilian resistance and violence.

Honduras

In Honduras, the state military staged a coup against the civilian Honduran government by seizing assets and buildings and capturing prominent government officials. A military junta was set up and the new government declared loyalty to the fascist invaders. There was widespread panic and violence throughout Honduras as thousands took to the streets in defiance of the regime change. Several thousands of Honduran military personnel defected from the military and joined up resistance organizations formed in response to the coup. For two days, Mexican-Argentine forces and the Honduran government attempted to subvert control over the civilian population. Hundreds of political opponents were executed and many more were arrested for their involvement in the armed resistance. President Juan Orlando Hernández was placed under house arrest although was allowed to address the Honduran nation on the state of affairs on television. Reading a scripted speech written by the military junta, Hernández admitted his crimes to the state as well as his conspiracy to underwhelm the power of Mexico. He called himself a failure and urged the Hondurans to cease hostilities with the fascists and make peace.

Nicaragua

Nicaragua faced an invasion by land, air, and by sea. While the Mexicans advanced from the north from the Honduran border via the Mogotón with a land invasion force of 15,000. At sea, about 20 vessels supported by 30 aircraft from the Argentina Navy approached the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and bombarded the strategic targets in Puerto Sandino, San Juan del Sur, and Corinto. Later on, Mexico sent a fleet of 33 ships including an aircraft carrier to the Atlantic coastline and bombed various locations along the coastline. An additional 5,000 Mexican troops landed in the city of El Bluff with the intention of meeting up with the main invasion force at Managua, the capital city.

Nationwide, Contras, which had, for months been coordinating plans with the Mexican government, launched a rebellion against the Nicaraguan state and assaulted resistant military and civil law enforcement officials. Dozens of cities were placed under Contras control and affirmed loyalty to the invaders. Daniel Ortega, the incumbent president of Nicaragua and an avowed leftist, was declared a traitor and Contras encouraged the capture of Ortega and other prominent politicians.

In Managua, the entire capital was put on lockdown and civilians were urged to return to their homes while the military set up perimeters preventing infiltration by the invaders or Contras militants. Local Contras units emerged within the city, stormed the capital including the National Assembly building and the National Palace, forcing officials including Ortega to take refuge in a military base. With most of the government effectually unable to continue normal operations, communications between the civilian government and its citizens were cut off by Contras militants via radio jamming.

Contras declared the formation of the Provisional Republic of Nicaragua and that the state constitution invalid. Commercial broadcast centers were hijacked by Contras militants who began directing orders to civilians including the need to remain indoors and to cooperate with the incoming invaders. Meanwhile, a massive protest began near Revolution Square, in opposition to the invaders and expressing solidarity with the deposed government. Following news of the Mexicans' and Argentinians' crucial successes throughout the country and the fact that Contras had shut down all normal government operations, Ortega made the personal decision to surrender and turned himself in to Contras. Ortega and his staff were then escorted to a local prison which was converted into Contras' military headquarters and detained there.

On January 4, the entire state of Nicaragua was declared "neutralized" by the fascist forces with small-scale fighting continuing mainly in the rural areas of Nicaragua and the departments of Chontales and León.

International intervention

Following the invasion of Guatemala in the late December 2014, Mexico received widespread condemnation from the international community. The United States and Sierra took issue with the invasion and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Mexico demanding it withdraw troops immediately or face severe diplomatic and military repercussions. After Mexico failed to honor the demand, the American and Sierran delegation to the League of Nations petitioned to the Security Council to place economic sanctions on Mexico. In addition, the United States, Sierra, Canada, and several other countries closed diplomatic missions with Mexico and declared Mexican diplomats persona non grata in protest of the invasion. Sanctions were successfully placed after Mexico began its latest invasions in Central America on January 2, 2015.

On January 6, the Security Council passed Resolution 2188, authorizing military intervention on behalf of the invaded states. Controversially, permanent Security Council members: China and Russia, abstained from the vote leading to questioning the two states' "silent approval" of Mexico. For about a week, coalition forces composed of troops from the United States, Sierra, Canada, and Chile fought alongside paramilitary troops in Honduras and Nicaragua in attempt to dispossess the power of the fascist-installed governments. Intensive fighting along the Pacific coast of Nicaragua produced heavy casualties from both sides but fascist control remained ineffably firm. On January 12, the Mexican government offered the opportunity to enter into diplomatic terms with the coalition force. The next day, a ceasefire was ordered and the Eight-Party Talks tribunal was formed between Colombia and Mexico; Sierra and the United States; China and Russia; and Britannia and Brazil.

Eight-Party Talks

The Eight-Party Talks, held in the city of Bogota, was an LN-sanctioned diplomatic talks convention between the Mexican-Argentine aggressor states and the pro-Central American coalition forces. The mission of the talks were to quickly deescalate and prevent any further measure of violence, as well paving the path toward restoring the invaded governments. By January 20, a week into the talks, officials stated that negotiations were close to conclusion following an agreement with all of the parties. The talks came to an end following the signing of the Bogota Agreement, the official document that put an end to military conflict and ordered the arrangement of another talk to be held that fall.

Bogota Agreement

Main article: Bogota Agreement

On February 1, the parties of the Eight-Party Talks signed the Bogota Agreement. Mexico and Argentina agreed to pay over $2 billion in war reparations for the damages and losses incurred due to the invasion; Mexico agreed to relinquish territorial claims of the Baja California peninsula and the Sonora region (which were both administered by Sierra); the international community would agree to temporarily allow Mexico limited control over its conquered states; Mexico and Argentina would agree to enter in future talks regarding the conflict; and Mexico would promise to restore the previous governments it ousted by 2020 after it rebuilds the countries under LN supervision. The agreement was met with mixed reactions from all parties and in Mexico, the signage was reportedly met with "embarrassment" and virulent opposition among hardliners.

The issues of the Central American invasion were further brought up again in the 2015 Chicago International Summit which resulted in Mexico consenting to a human rights inspection by the LN of Mexico itself and its client states.

International reactions

• File:PRFflag.png Falklands: General Secretary Diane Chesterton has condemned the Mexican government, and has stated that the Falklands is "willing to support the fight against fascism and for the people". She has also voiced concern over a possible Argentine invasion of the Falklands, and has appealed to Britannia to supply it with aid.
• Westland: Chancellor Oska Stärk released a statement regarding the conflict on the 6th January, condemning the actions of the "vicious" and "aggressive" Mexican government, and has gone as far to personally denounce Mexican Generalissimo, Pablo Hidalgo de Veracruz. He also stated that Westland will dispatch humanitarian aid to the affected Central American countries, stating that "the welfare of the people is paramount in this conflict."

See also

• Second Cold War