In the evening of February 10, at the Rainbow Palace in Rio de Janeiro, US Ambassador Johnson, who had been rejected several times, finally met Prime Minister Constantine.
As soon as they met, Lyndon Johnson took up the topic of Uruguay and explained the US government's position to the Portuguese Prime Minister.
"Prime Minister Constantine, Uruguay is an independent and sovereign country. What Portugal is doing now is a shameless act of aggression and a challenge to the international order. Please stop this behavior immediately."
Foden Johnson, the U.S. ambassador to Portugal, was an upright man, acting as an international pacifist warrior, and angrily denounced Portugal's hegemonic aggression against Uruguay.
"Invasion? Mr. Johnson, please watch your words." Constantine responded unceremoniously with a contemptuous attitude.
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"We in Portugal have unquestionable legal rights towards Uruguay.
When we Portuguese developed in Uruguay, your United States did not exist. Whoever discovered and developed owns the great laws of navigation, don’t you know?”
As an American, Johnson did not follow Constantine's example. The United States was a colony before its independence. In his view, the anti-colonial independence movement in the Americas was natural, reasonable, and an act blessed by God.
Foden Johnson denounced the Portuguese Prime Minister's blatant colonialist tone.
"Mr. Prime Minister, Uruguay was once occupied by you, but it was shameless colonialism. They are now an independent country, and this independence is recognized by the whole world.
Now Portugal, no matter what words or fancy explanations you use for what Uruguay has done, it is essentially an invasion of a sovereign country, which is against international law."
"International law? Anti-colonialism? You, the United States, have the nerve to talk about international law and anti-colonialism."
If it is a small country, for fear of offending U.S. imperialism, it will not dare to talk much about the double standards of the U.S. that it talks about one thing but actually does another.
Small countries are afraid of the United States, but Portugal is not afraid. As a member of imperialism, how can it be afraid of trouble, especially when facing the United States?
As a qualified Prime Minister of an imperialist country, Constantine would not be polite to the United States and bluntly exposed the United States' double standards.
"How did Mexico become what it is now? Did you, the United States, make them like this? Did you consider international law at that time?
As for anti-colonialism? Do you in the United States have the capital to mention this? Are you sure that the United States is not engaged in colonization?
Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and other places are now colonies of your United States. At that time, you were under the banner of liberating the colonies. These places cooperated with you to fight against the Castilians because they believed in you. Why are they still colonies now?
ah?"
Seeing the American ambassador who was upright and as high-spirited as a rooster before, but his temperament declined as he said his heart-breaking words, Constantine felt full of contempt in his heart.
cut!
A nouveau riche guy who became ambassador to Portugal by relying on political donations and behind-the-scenes deals actually had the nerve to fight with him.
For the United States, a country where capitalists dominate everything, Constantine, who was born into a veteran aristocrat, is full of disdain.
"Uruguay is a separatist and rebellious region in Portugal. There is no doubt that any country that touches this topic is interfering in the internal affairs of Portuguese imperialism." Constantine spoke solemnly and said loudly to Foden Johnson.
"All matters in Uruguay are family affairs of the Portuguese Empire. Any country that attempts to support Uruguay's rebellion is provoking Portugal. In this regard, Portugal will retaliate in kind.
Ambassador Johnson, I hope you can accurately convey what Portugal means, and I hope the United States will not make any mistakes."
After the U.S. ambassador left, Carlos, the cabinet secretary and second-in-command in the civil service in the Prime Minister's Office, spoke.
"Constantine, were your words a little intense just now?
After all, the United States is a major country in the Americas. It is on the same continent as us, and its overall strength is stronger than ours. We still have to give the United States some face when dealing with it. It is not good if it is too tense."
"Carlos, why are you giving face to the United States? The United States is Portugal's most direct competitor. We are a conflict of interest. Besides, the countries in Europe do not want us to have a good relationship with the United States. There is no benefit to us having a good relationship with the United States.
If there is no benefit and it is still a direct competitor, there is no need for Portugal to have a good relationship with the United States."
As the power of the Portuguese Empire increased, Constantine also experienced some changes and became more confident.
When Constantine was the Prime Minister of Brazil, he was still a little afraid of the United States and had a friendly attitude towards the American ambassador. However, due to changes in current affairs, now that it is the Portuguese Empire, he has become more confident.
"U.S. ambassadors basically only serve one term. They are basically the product of exchange of interests. As the prime minister of the empire, I don't need to be polite to him at all.
The newly appointed U.S. Ambassador Johnson is much worse than the previous one. His political skills are mediocre, but his business skills in making money are much higher. It seems that this guy came here just to play with political cash. He will not last long.
of."
"I don't know much about the United States as a whole, but the Prime Minister has a thorough understanding of it."
As cabinet secretary, Carlos still has a very heavy task, and his job is to do a good job of docking.
"Constantine, except for the United States, what is the current attitude of the world's major powers towards our annexation of Uruguay?" Carlos asked.
"France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Netherlands do not oppose our actions, and Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the Netherlands are very supportive of us.
Belgium is very opposed to us, but their power is not enough to change the status quo. His Majesty the Emperor recently wanted to take some actions in the Congo region to teach Belgium a lesson.
Britain is also opposed to our continued expansion to the south. They want us to expand to the north, but because they are afraid of pushing us towards the Allies, they are only trying to persuade us to stop our actions diplomatically."
"Didn't Uruguay say they have support from the United Kingdom, the United States, Belgium, Argentina, and Chile? Did the United Kingdom provide military assistance to Uruguay?"
"Hahaha, the UK has given Uruguay all support except actual support. In essence, all the UK can give them is sympathy in public opinion."
Constantine said with a smile: "Britain doesn't even sell weapons, and its support is not as strong as Belgium's.
You must know that after the incident broke out, Belgium supported the Uruguayan government and quickly provided a large amount of arms when Uruguay asked for help. Now I heard that it is preparing to mobilize some volunteers to help."
"Constantine, can't our relationship with Belgium improve? Belgium has always been against us, and this has been going on for a long time."
Since Portugal unified Luxembourg, Greater Luxembourgism has openly become the mainstream of political opinion in Luxembourg.
Belgium occupies the province of Luxembourg, which is larger than the mainland of Luxembourg. They are very wary of the swelling Luxembourg, and Belgium, of course, does not deal with Portugal, Luxembourg's backer.
"Well, I also want to improve relations with Belgium. After all, Portugal has very good relations with mainstream countries in Europe. Only Belgium has very poor relations.
In fact, we all know that the Luxembourg province in Belgium is a French-speaking area, and it has a different relationship with Luxembourg. It will be quite troublesome even if it is taken back.
However, His Majesty the Emperor seems to have different ideas from ours and unequivocally supports the Greater Luxembourg Doctrine and does not care at all about offending Belgium."