The sun never sets in America

Chapter 139 American Diplomacy and Cuba

After experiencing Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and other small Central American countries.

The long journey to Central America has finally arrived at the last stop...the Republic of New Granada.

This republic is also the country with the largest territory in Central America, but when it is funny, most of its territory is in South America. Its main territory is actually Colombia and Panama in later generations.

Originally there was Venezuela, but during the last disintegration process, Venezuela became independent from Granada, which is now the Republic of New Granada.

The population of this country is second to none in all of Central America. According to estimates, the population should be more than 300 million. As for the specific number, they themselves don't know, because the entire Latin American population belongs to a Schrödinger state. (Although later estimates put it at more than 400 million, everyone knows the data in Latin America, and it is basically in a state of chaos)
Sometimes mixed-race people are counted as citizens, sometimes they are not, and sometimes Indians are counted in and then kicked out. The population size depends on the changes in the country's political situation.

When the political situation is stable, the mixed-race population, and even the Indians, are all our own people. Once the political situation is unstable, all our own people are gone. You told me that you are our own people, but I'm sorry, not anymore! !
New Granada is also such a country.

Bogotá, the capital of New Granada, is also the capital of the later Republic of Colombia.

This capital has a long history in the entire history of South America.

Compared with the previous small countries that welcomed the arrival of Wanfang, the people of New Granada are obviously more reserved, or arrogant.

After all, New Granada has a much longer history than the Han Kingdom, which was founded just over a year ago.

Moreover, it is not that New Granada has never been a great power. Before its disintegration, New Granada was also considered a great power in the Americas. (Although America needs to be added to this area)
This gave the people of New Granada a kind of self-confidence that they didn't know where it came from, thinking that they were on an equal footing with the Han Dynasty.

When Wan Fang arrived in Bogota, there was no greeting team. Only local officials found a carriage for Wan Fang. They found it on the street and it was for rent. Wan Fang refused to ride on the spot.

But he didn't think that his words would completely make Wan Fang angry.

"Han people, if you don't sit down, then you will have no choice but to walk to the Presidential Palace." These were the original words of the New Granada official. While speaking, he looked at Wan Fang with a careless look, as if It was already a very polite gesture to find Wan Fang a carriage.

"Is this how your country treats guests??" Wan Fang suppressed his anger and looked at the New Granada official and asked, "Or is this how the president of your country is treated when he travels??" Wan Fang continued to ask New Granada the Granada official demanded, his eyes filled with anger.

The New Granada official was unable to refute the rebuke. He couldn't really say that the president sat like this, so he didn't want to do it anymore.

In the end, after Wan Fang argued hard, the New Granada official finally gave Wan Fang a replacement for a government bus that looked pretty good...

But that's it, there is no escort team at all, and even Wanfang's entourage can only rent a few carriages and follow behind.

When Wan Fang's convoy entered the city of Bogota, what they saw was a city that was much more prosperous than several other Central American countries, with a population that was not too poor, and some decent-looking soldiers guarding the city. .

Perhaps this was the reason and basis for New Granada to challenge Han.

In this city, Wan Fang also saw embassies from many countries.

The Union Jack of the British Empire, the tricolor flag of France, the double-headed eagle of Tsarist Russia, etc.

This is different in other small countries. Those small countries, these Western countries, can at most have an office, because they actually have no interests in those small countries. This is why the United States can control Honduran coffee from such a distance. industrial reasons.

Because in the eyes of these great powers, especially Britain and France, these countries were too small.

It's so small that it can be ignored. The market here may not be as big as a city in the United States.

But New Granada is different. First of all, although it is also a Central American country, most of its territory goes deep into South America and borders many South American countries.

The other part of it is close to the Caribbean Sea, which means that New Granada has the possibility of trading with Europe. Although it is a huge Amazon rainforest, it is not without roads and ports.

The geographical situation of being bordered on three sides makes New Granada more diplomatically flexible than other small Central American countries.

This is also the reason why New Granada has no scruples when facing the Han Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, I just spotted you Han Guo and now there is nothing I can do against you.

In this case, why don't I take the opportunity to show some prestige? This is also a common problem in many small countries.

It is good to try to take advantage of a country that is more powerful than yourself, even if it is verbal or formal advantage.

If we don't find a sense of presence in the big countries, to be honest, who among these small countries will remember them.

What's more, from New Granada's point of view, Han is not as strong as imagined. Han only has a population of more than 300 million, while New Granada only has a lot more. Han has an army. New Granada people are convinced that their The army was able to defeat the Han people.

As for the remaining industry, technology, and even the actual combat effectiveness of the Han army, that is not within their consideration at all.

"Another example of arrogance..." When he learned that the new president of Granada had something to do and did not plan to see him, Wan Fang looked at the Spanish-style presidential palace in front of him with a smile and said disdainfully.

"Tell your president that we no longer plan to establish diplomatic relations with New Granada." Wan Fang said to the New Granada officials who had been accompanying him, "We plan to go to Venezuela and visit your neighboring country..." Wan Fang's words directly caused the New Granada official's expression to change.

But before he could say anything, Wan Fang had already boarded the carriage with his entourage and embarked on the journey out of New Granada.

Originally, according to the route, the best way to get to Venezuela was to take the overland route from New Granada, but now that we have fallen out with New Granada, we can only return from Nicaragua across the Caribbean Sea and take the sea route to get there in one step.

At this time, the famous Nicaragua Canal had not yet been opened, but Nicaragua's special terrain and the side close to Pirates of the Caribbean still had small ports that could be used for navigation, but they were not as famous as those international deep-water ports.

The Nicaraguan president was shocked when Wan Fang returned to Nicaragua, because after Wan Fang signed the free trade treaty with Nicaragua, he had always thought that the other party's real destination was South America. Unexpectedly, he came back in a roundabout way.

Faced with the Nicaraguan president's inquiry, Wan Fang did not answer, but said a few vague words, and then headed to Nicaragua's port near the Caribbean...

…………

On the Caribbean Sea, Wan Fang stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the Spanish merchant ships passing by, with a glint in his eyes.

"Wen Yun, you guessed it right, these Spanish ships should be going to Cuba, right?" Wan Fang asked his secretary Lu Wenshan.

"It's my lord, it's indeed a ship to Cuba..." Lu Wenshan glanced at the Spanish merchant ship in front of him, and then replied, "The ship should be carrying cane sugar produced in Cuba." Lu Wenshan thought for a moment, and then asked Wan Fang replied.

"Sucrose..." Hearing the word sucrose, Wan Fang's eyes brightened as he looked at the Spanish merchant ship in front. "Sucrose is a good thing. Today's international hard currency, the sucrose in the Americas, is the sucrose from Peru and Cuba. For top quality, the takeaways are worth millions of pounds every year..." Wan Fang's tone revealed his envy for the Spanish occupation of Cuba.

"And there is tobacco in Cuba." Lu Wenshan then added to Wan Fang.

After all, there is no market for sugar in the entire world. Especially in an era when the world's population is growing rapidly and Europe's industrial population is increasing, sugar has become a necessary daily necessities for Europeans.

Human beings are born to be irresistible to sugar. This can be seen from diabetes and tooth decay. The human body is born to like sugar, because sugar is one of the most direct and primitive foods with high energy density. ...In fact, Han also planted a large amount of sugar cane and engaged in the cane sugar industry. After all, the sunshine in California is really conducive to the growth of plants. However, due to development issues, it is still not as good as Peru and Cuba. , after all, the geographical location of these two places is really unique.

Moreover, Cuba does not only produce cane sugar. Cuba’s unique soil quality puts Cuba’s tobacco cultivation at the pinnacle of the global tobacco industry.

It can be seen from the famous Cuban cigars of later generations that even before Kennedy wanted to sanction and blockade Cuba, he had to stock up on Cuban cigars that he could not finish for decades, although in the end he had no chance to smoke them...

When the entire Spanish America became independent, the only things Spain retained were Cuba and Puerto Rico, the most valuable of which was Cuba.

Apart from its economic value, the most valuable thing about Cuba is its geography.

Cuba is located in the heart of the Caribbean, separated only by a small strait from Florida in the United States. Objectively speaking, Cuba is the lifeblood of the United States.

As long as other major countries station troops here, Americans will never sleep well.

They were afraid that the other side would attack, which was also the main reason why the United States was so tough during the Cuban crisis.

In addition to seeing Cuba's coveted sugar and tobacco resources, Wan Fang also saw Cuba's natural geographical location to control the United States.

As long as a navy is deployed in Cuba, the entire east coast of the United States will be on alert. If this fleet does not disappear for a day, Americans will have no peace on the east coast.

If Han owned Cuba, not to mention the constraining effect on the U.S. military, the consumption of U.S. national power would be immeasurable! !
"Cuba...Cuba..." Wan Fang kept mumbling the name of Cuba, with a look of desire on his face. Cuba's geography was so good that Wan Fang wanted to kill the Spaniards and take Cuba over, but He knew this was impossible.

From this point of view, Cuba is really a God-given place. Unfortunately, it is too far away from Han. If it were really in the hands of Han, Americans would not even be able to sleep well.

But then again, if even Cuba was in the hands of Han, you can imagine what the United States would be like at that time.

"Wenshan, you said it would be great if this Caribbean Sea became the inland sea of ​​our Han Kingdom..." Wan Fang looked at the magnificent blue Caribbean Sea, his eyes full of desire for possession.

"If one day, the Caribbean Sea can become the inland sea of ​​my country, by that time, my country may be more powerful than the United Kingdom!!" Lu Wenshan heard this and said with some emotion, "But as long as we work hard, the country will prosper sooner or later. There will be such a day..." Lu Wenshan replied to Wan Fang with a firm expression.

"Yes... the ancients said that if you work hard, you can devour Wu with three thousand Yuejia." Wan Fang heard this and nodded in approval, "Sooner or later, our Han navy will be able to swim proudly on the Caribbean Sea. , I believe that this day will come!!" Wan Fang looked at the endless Caribbean Sea in front of him with a somewhat excited expression, as if he had seen the future scene of the Han national flag flying in the Caribbean Sea and the Han national warships flying around.

.............................................

Venezuela, a country in northern South America, is a neighbor of the Republic of New Granada.

Unlike the Venezuela that was often sanctioned in later generations, Venezuela during this period was actually no different from other American countries.

They are all emerging countries that are independent from Spanish colonies. Their history is only a few decades, and it can be said that they are not much longer than Han Dynasty.

In other words, the entire American countries, except for the earliest independent United States, most countries have a very short history. For example, Argentina during this period, most of the land in later generations was still occupied by some indigenous Indians and mixed-race ethnic groups.

The whole of South America can be said to be a strong country, and only Brazil is left.

Brazil is simply too big. It occupies most of the Amazon rainforest and the entire Brazilian plateau. From a geographical point of view, Brazil is born with the genes of a big country.

However, the complicated domestic racial situation, the colonial economy left by the Portuguese, and the colonial aristocracy make Brazil like a giant who grew to two meters from birth, but his hands and feet were trapped by several iron chains. , and there are no chains. Either use an ax to split it, or wait for these chains to age on their own...

But unfortunately, until the 21st century, there is no hope of self-elimination, but the trend is getting worse.

Therefore, Liu Peng once made a classic evaluation of Brazil, that is, a strong man's body, a maid's life! !
This sentence is apt, and it tells the history of the entire Brazil and even the entire South America at once.

That is to have the planet's first-class resource endowment and climate conditions, but to live forever in the pre-colonial era. I have to say that this is a kind of sadness, a kind of sadness that ordinary people can't imagine! !
The capital of Venezuela, Caracas, is a coastal port city, just like Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.

But Caracas only has the appearance of Amsterdam, but does not have the soul of Amsterdam. It is a small port city at best.

From a population point of view, it is larger than Jinshan City in Han Dynasty, but from an economic, even industrial and export perspective, Jinshan City is far better than Caracas.

Today's Caracas is obviously different from usual. The entire port is surrounded by guards in uniforms, and the entire city has been cleaned up, making it look like San Francisco in the United States in the 21st century.

In the port, the President of Venezuela came to greet him personally, with a group of Venezuelan officials standing behind him.

"Mr. President, here we come..." the secretary beside the Venezuelan president reminded in a low voice, pointing to the sailboat with the Chinese flag in front.

After hearing this, the Venezuelan president packed up his dress with ribbons and looked ahead with a serious expression until the sailboat docked.

"Hello, Mr. President..."

When Wan Fang stepped off the boat and saw the richly dressed white middle-aged man in the middle of the crowd, he immediately stepped forward to shake hands and say hello.

"Hello, Mr. Minister." The Venezuelan president also hurriedly shook hands with Wan Fang.

Because Wan Fang did not speak Portuguese, the two of them spoke Spanish. (Actually, there is not much difference between the two languages, except for some differences in words, pronunciation, etc.)

"Mr. Minister, you've had a hard journey. I heard that you came from Nicaragua." On the carriage back to the city, the President of Venezuela specially sat in a carriage with Wan Fang to show his closeness.

"Originally, I wanted to enter New Granada, your neighboring country, but I didn't expect that their foreign policy would be so rough..." Wan Fang chatted with the President of Venezuela about New Granada's foreign policy towards them. The envoy's rudeness, of course, was naturally mixed with a little story that Wan Fang made up himself.

What New Granada people are arrogant and look down on Han and Venezuela.

"These New Granada people are just like this, they are not good people!!"

Sure enough, when the Venezuelan president learned about this incident, some of them shared the same hatred and cursed.

Wan Fang's eyes lit up when he saw this. After all, Venezuela and New Granada were part of the same country before the disintegration of New Granada. Now that they are separated, the relationship is probably not going to be that good. Now it seems that it is indeed the case.

"Don't worry, Mr. Minister, we Venezuelans will not be like the rude New Granada people. We are a civilized country." The Venezuelan president took the opportunity to assure Wan Fang.

"I came here this time to establish diplomatic relations with your country..." Seeing this, Wan Fang immediately told the Venezuelan president the reason for his coming this time and the tasks that needed to be accomplished.

In summary, there are only two items: establishing diplomatic relations and commerce.

"And after your country establishes diplomatic relations with our country, our country can also support some of your reasonable demands." Wan Fang looked at the Venezuelan president who was thinking and said, "For example, the territorial dispute between your country and New Granada." Wan Fang Said meaningfully to the President of Venezuela.

After hearing this, the Venezuelan president’s eyes lit up.

　Please give me a reward and make a full order.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)