United Americas

The United Americas is a political, economic and partially military union of the 36 nations of North and South America, as well as Luna, that was formed in 2104 as a counter to the emerging superpower that was the Rising Empire of the Shining Sun. A relative latecomer to the colonial race, the United Americas sits in a position of an envious second great power with extensive colonies in Sol and beyond but without the dominance of RESS. Although it has become increasingly centralised throughout the 22nd century, the UA has also overstretched itself, resulting in its unrepresented colonies becoming increasingly rebellious.

Fleets


1st Fleet	Stationed in orbit of Luna, the First (and only) Feet of the United Americas is a relatively small force of destroyers and patrol transports. The United Americas fleet relies on the USCM for most military operations against pirates or other nations and instead maintains its own forces for potential intervention if member states or Sol colonies lean towards undemocratic principles. Aside from its limited involvement in the Sol Campaign (mostly in transporting troops), the First Fleet has seen almost no combat since its creation in 2112 as the Sol system is generally stable.

United Americas Government

The supranational body that is the United Americas is run by an extensive civil service but is governed at its highest levels by elected officials. President: The constitutional system, assembled from the constitutions of multiple American nations, is ruled by the president. Only able to serve a single 6 year term, the president is elected by the entire population of the United Americas who are at least 17 years old, not imprisoned and mentally sound. Any natural born citizen of the United Americas territories in the Sol system of at least 33 years of age is eligible to run for President. The system uses the two-round system to require a second vote if no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes. A point of contention for the outer colonies, however, is that they only vote in the second round to reduce bureaucratic burden. Since 2188, USA born Jodie Baker has held the position. Congress: The laws of the United Americas are created by a tricameral legislature, the UA Congress. Designed to balance the power of smaller and larger American nations, the three chambers, which use different electoral systems, are:

Senate. Every American nation and Luna elect 3 senators for 9 year terms through triennial elections for a third of the senate's seats. There is no term limit.
House of Representatives. The House of Representatives has 600 members which are divided between nations proportional to their populations on Earth and the colonies. Representatives serve 4 year terms without term limits.
Chamber of Deputies. 1000 deputies sit in the Chamber of Deputies, a chamber elected by party list proportional representation throughout the entirety of the United Americas. All deputies are re-elected after two years and cannot serve consecutive terms.

Although the structure of Congress does create a fair relationship between the American nations, it is infamous for giving an unfair deal to the colonies. The Senate and House of Representatives elections are managed by individual nations which are only required to let any citizen become eligible for voting, meaning that they cannot implement discriminatory measures but can decide to let their Earth citizens vote on behalf of the colonies (the 2124 MacDonald v. Canada case controversially ruled in favour of the practice). Even though the colonies are not restricted in voting for the Chamber of Deputies, Congress sits only two months after elections, resulting in deputies from certain colonies not being able to attend a substantial part of the session due to travel times.

The constitution is superior to national laws but laws passed by Congress only have supremacy in the colonies but can be enforced on Earth if they don’t conflict with a national law. Under the 2104 treaty, the United Americas Congress is also the only body that can declare war but it often does so at the request of a national government. A law or constitutional amendment can pass Congress with the support of a two thirds supermajority in 2 houses or an absolute majority in all three houses. After the law meets this requirement, it can only be stopped by a veto of the President (which can be overruled by a supermajority in all 3 houses) or a veto of 3 heads of state (which cannot be overruled).

UA Supreme Court

The UA Supreme Court, although it rarely sees cases, can make binding rulings on matters of the UA constitution and adjudicate disputes between American nations. Although its rulings on constitutional matters have sometimes been flaunted by larger powers, it has had a successful record in resolution of territorial and maritime disputes.

Colonies

With the exception of Luna, all UA colonies are considered to be part of an American nation. The constitution declares that colonies receive independence when they are suitably self sufficient but the vagueness of terminology allows their mother countries to block any votes in Congress to recognise an independent colony

History

Four years after the invention of the Thiokol-Rockwell FTL drive brought the galaxy within reach of humanity, the momentum of the space race had begun to accelerate rapidly. The United States of America, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Canada, as well as other large nations of the Earth, participated in a chaotic rush to the stars, often sacrificing the opportunity to expand territory to invest resources into safeguarding colonies perceived to be at risk of an enemy attack. In 2079, Peruvian president Agustín Romero, who had won the 2076 election on an unfulfilled promise to bring Peru to the stars, called for a convention of Latin American nations to create a united rival to NASA for Latin America. The Cajamarca Conference lasted two months without any progress as the participants were keenly aware that the small nations wouldn’t be able to proportionally fund their participation but the deadlock was broken with the arrival of the USA’s ambassador. To the surprise of the conference, the ambassador conveyed an offer from the United States to reform NASA into a multinational agency for American nations to participate in colonisation so that they could pool their resources and populations rather than compete with each other.

The newly formed United Americas Aeronautics and Space Administration organised the joint funding of American nations to colonise the stars as well as the division of territories colonised by the constituent nations. To fully exploit the colonisation drive, the UAASA signed multiple contracts with Weston-Yamada on behalf of smaller American nations to prepare worlds for American settlement. As the UK and Japan had raced ahead to claim large parts of the Sol system, the UAASA primarily focused on extrasolar colonisation (although it didn’t neglect the colonisation of Mars and Luna).

After the unification of Japan, the United Kingdom and other powers on Earth into the Rising Empire of the Shining Sun, the space power of the UAASA began to decline in comparison to the new superpower. To coordinate between the three year old USCM and other national armed forces in space and to ensure a united democratic front in the Human Sphere of the galaxy, the members of the UAASA agreed to form the United Americas in 2104. The ideologically inspired constitution of the new union set out the universal rights of Americans, such as the non-negotiable democratic nature of American nations and basic equalities. Members of the United Americas also agree to joint declarations of war by the new Congress set up in Sao Paulo and an economic union that guarantees free trade in the Americas, invests 1% of national income into the poorer members to bolster prosperity and oversaw the creation of the United Americas Dollar.

As the American expansion into the galaxy continued, the democratic principles of the alliance began to degrade with every colonial uprising suppressed. Even though member states in the core territories of Earth and Luna are equally represented through the constitution, the colonies in the outer Sol system and beyond lack any real representation in two of the three chambers of Congress. The Eighties Uprisings by the CLF have sparked substantial constitutional debate but observers are pessimistic about the prospects of the constiuent nations sacrificing their political power to colonial representation.

Events

2111 Constitutional Crisis

In October 2111, inspired by the prosperity of the increasingly powerful Rising Empire of the Shining Sun, the Canadian people narrowly vote in a majority government of the Canadian Royalist party despite them only winning 34% of the electorate’s votes. Immediately after the opening of Parliament in December, Prime Minister Monroe issued 48 hours notice for the Imperial Unification Bill. For the next two days, Canadian cities were awash with protests and riots demanding the resignation of the government while other Americans faced similar demands to oppose the Royalists in Canada. Two days later, the House of Commons of Canada rushed through the new law, completing all of its readings in two hours and removing opposing MPs before sending it to the Governor-General for Royal Assent rather than sending it to the Senate as required.

This shocking move caused ripples throughout the still new United Americas which eventually landed at the feet of its second president, María Camila Gálvez. Faced with a crisis that could break the fledgling alliance, Gálvez made the decision to invoke the Presidential veto on laws that violated the United Americas Constitution, thus buying a key 2 days during which Prime Minister Monroe had to wait for the 48 hours notice on the new law (which also withdrew Canada from the UA). Wasting no time, she ordered the UA envoy to the USA to pass on a formal request for the United States Army to intervene in Canada. The USA, likewise committed to the alliance, invaded with little resistance from the mutinying Canadian Army to overthrow the Royalists from power. The conflict was fortunately kept brief thanks to the dissemination of UAIA reports about conditions in the Empire; exaggerated accounts of the repression of republicans and democrats served to eliminate most Royalist support in Canada and the Caribbean, as well as quelling the disgruntled members of the UA who feared a similar intervention if their politics weren’t satisfactory.

In the aftermath of the crisis, the Canadian Royalist party was dismantled but only a handful of its members were given custodial sentences as the United Americas focused on reconciliation. By the date of the next election, Canada was stable enough for the withdrawal of the USA’s troops. Although propaganda efforts created a rift between RESS and Canada, the invasion likewise damaged relations with the United Americas. The Royalist parties of other Commonwealth nations diminished in influence after the crisis but the anticipated uprisings in the RESS controlled Caribbean failed to materialise. The First Amendment to the United Americas Constitution was passed in 2112 to form the United Americas Armed Forces to protect Earth and Luna from danger within or without. The First Amendment also granted the President the right to remove a national government that attempts to repeal democracy, although any use of the law would result in a UA Supreme Court case to assess if it was necessary. The Crisis ultimately resulted in a more powerful UA and reminded Americans that RESS were the enemies of their enemies but not necessarily their friends.

Armed Forces Reforms

2163: After the conclusion of the brutal Sol Campaign, members of the United Americas implemented reforms to their individual armed forces to better equip them for interplanetary warfare whereas the United Americas overhauled the structure of its armed forces to be top heavy with the assumption that a major conflict would be better lead by the UA organising all the national forces. All UA nations also adopted a policy of allowing citizens of other UA countries to sign up to their militaries, although this was theoretically (but not practically) mandated by the constitution since 2104.

2173: After the failure of Operation Canton, blamed greatly on the refusal of the USA to allow the USCM to be subordinate to UA high command, proposals are brought to the UA Congress to integrate the armed forces of constituent nations into the UA Armed Forces. Although the legislation passes through Congress successfully, the presidents of the USA, Mexico and Canada issue the three vetoes required to stop a law being passed and the legislation is put to rest.

2187: In the midst of the Eighties Uprisings by the CLF, proposals for a united armed forces are once again revived. Despite losing the vote in 2188 and being stopped by veto in 2189, the debate around the bill has continued to 2190 although it will likely continue to be fought back and forth through Congress, alongside colonial representation reform bills, for years to come.

Relations

Factions	Connections
USCM	Although considered by many members of the United Americas to be the unruly child of the United States of America, the USCM is ultimately the most vital element of the United Americas presence in space as it controls 3 times the combined naval force of other UA nations and spends approximately 4 times as much on its ground personnel. The USCM has never accepted orders not sent through the USA’s government but countless marines have died in defence of UA colonies regardless of their nationality.
UPP	Since their inception, the Union of Progressive People and the United Americas have been locked in an ideologically driven Cold War. The Great Space and military conflicts such as the Sol Campaign and Operating Canton have undone the limited detente of the twentieth century and left the two superpowers with extremely tense relations. Military forces of American nations and the UPP are frequently moved along colonial borders and often clash with mutual disregard for international humanitarian law. Even though knowledge of these skirmishes has been supressed to avoid calls for nuclear escalation, the leaders of most American nations have encouraged their interstellar forces to pursue conflict in the belief that victory is achievable.
CLF	The result of United Americas mismanagement of colonies and unfair representation, just as much as UPP agitation, the Colonial Liberation Front have become a serious threat to American control in Tychon’s Rift. Unlike the USCM, the UA government also has to concern itself with being the supposed defender of democracy while tightening an iron fist around freedom fighters, forcing the UA and national governments to carefully monitor information relayed home about the conflict.
File:RESS Patch.png RESS	Despite the democratic nature of the United Americas and the tension over RESS territory in the Caribbean, the Rising Empire of the Shining Sun is considered to be the lesser evil by most Americans. This tense alliance has been helped by the UPP’s opposition to the UA and RESS forcing them to work together since the Sol Campaign but the two nations' ideological opposition could easily be geared toward conflict if tensions worsen and the need arises.
Weston-Yamada	Although Weston-Yamada’s involvement in United Americas colonisation has left it with a lasting legacy of being tied into the UA’s economy, the company’s links to the absolutist RESS and links to disappearances of Americans have strained tensions in recent years. The status of Weston-Yamada as an economic behemoth in almost every constituent nation makes it unlikely that the United Americas will act against them without proof of these links, however.