... The Presidente's arbitrary desicion-making alienated everyone in Chimerica, especially the Junta of Insurrection, the organization that placed him into political power in the first place. Gloria Jimenez Fleming took advantage of this discontent to plot a 'coup' against the regime. With Correa's commandos surronding the Palace, Ealb Albright Guardia saw no choice but to buckle to pressure, as he always had. Gloria's demands were incredible: the formation of a NL-dominated Cabinet, establishment of a land reform program, and the demotion of the Presidente to a mere figurehead.
Gloria quickly sought to oversee the Land Reform Program, and thus took over the Agricultural Ministry.
Julio Olivares Las Casa, a promoter of Liberation Theology, was granted control over the Internal Affairs Ministry to allow for him to oversee the literacy program.
Manuel Calderon Iglesias, head of the leftist gurellia forces during the Insurrection, was placed in charge of gaining better relations with other socialist nations, and thereby defend the Chimerican Revolution.
The token non-Liberation Theology member, Oberon, was given control over the Defense Ministry. Oberon sought to keep stablity between the two armed forces, and thus was considered a compromise candidate. The Reconciliation Army would stay united, for now.
The new Cabinet were united only under one common goal, opposing the Presidente's ill-considered policies. Yet, they were in dispute over what policies to actually implement.
Gloria understood that her own regime was under threat, especially from the rightist forces, and so argued in favor of a decentralized Cabinet Government. Each Cabinet Member is responsible for deciding policy within his or her own ministry. The Cabinet was dominated by National Liberation though, and can be expected to only propose their policies.Last time, I was only reliant on the Influentials. This time, I'm only going to engage in Cabinet Encounters. Unlike Influentials, you can choose what to talk about for Cabinet Encounters, and you can consult with other Cabinet members, thereby allowing you to see other policies.
"Control of Marketing of Exports" sounds like an interesting topic to consider (Land Reform is already being conducted, but slowly. I believe I might have quickened the pace of land reform though if I have talked to 'Land Now' though...).
...uh, sure? Oberon wanted to have such a Board be voluntary, but we should let Gloria decide.
This may have been a good idea, but as per the recent...
well-considered decree I signed, I have to consult my minister.
Yes. My wishes. We haven't even seen if this Board actually works in setting export prices, and now we're entering into import prices too. The last time we set prices, we saw the formation of the Chimerican Mob. I better hope the God of Communism saves us here.
General Oberon wanted to address the pressing issue of the army.
The army is a delicate issue, and any wrong move could lead to a civil war. As a way to end the impasse, Oberon proposed increasing the power of Correa.
Oberon received a lot of support for his proposal. A bit more support than he liked.
Julio wanted to deal with the pressing issue of LIMIPA and its frequent rampages through leftist strongholds.
Oberon had other ideas. Oberon sought to pull rank by claiming that LIMIPA was a military-only affair, but Gloria sided with Julio. LIMIPA was once more outlawed.
But LIMIPA gets the last laugh.
Another crisis was defused with Colonel Ehrlich restored back to his previous position, and LIMIPA once more free to operate.
Gloria once more opposed Oberon's attempt to pull rank. The US army was once more kicked out.
As 'Land Now!' once used force against the landowners, now the landowners uses force against 'Land Now!' Many rightist army officers also happen to own cotton plantations, which gives them an incentive to stop land reform.
Oberon once again try to pull rank, Gloria shouts him down. The farmers are given weapons.
And...once again, Colonel Ehrlich was dismissed from his position and then reappointed, this time over the issue of abuses against 'Land Now!'. The possiblity of the military staying united became bleaker and bleaker.
With the death squads unable to be controlled, Julio decided to propose a minimum wage. Oberon protested meekly, but even he knew that this was an 'internal affair', and the National Salary Scale was adopted.
Oh, thank you Gloria! We may finally be able to end this stupidity...
Well, we
could take steps, and we could have a civil war on our hands and the entire country turning commie. Or, you know, we could just ignore LIMIPA. Your choice, Buffard.
Debate continues over how best to deal with 'land-related' violence. This time, though, Oberon finally was able to successfully argue against Gloria, and called in US military advisors in an attempt to defuse the crisis and possibly put an end to the violence.
Oberon sought to push his hand here, and tried to end the food shortages once and for all by urging for the government to spend its money to buy free food. But National Liberation isn't going to deal with such radical ideas, and instead focused itself on clamping down on illegal activities...while turning a blind eye to the Chimerican Mob. FOR SHAME!
Oh, and it's okay to commit crimes if you're poor? The rich aren't the ones breaking the law here. Whatever, I'm not running this show anymore.
Should the constituion be written or should 'popular democratic organizations' take the led? The answer became clear in the eyes of the Internal Ministry; 'popular democratic organizations' should be empowered.
Chimerica once more became an armed outpost of communism, against Oberon's wishes. Oberon again claimed the Defense Ministry, but Gloria backed Calderon. Oberon fumes at this.
After a long time, it soon became clear that US military advisors weren't going to stop the land reform violence, and that LIMIPA isn't going to be banned any time soon. Gloria and Oberon made a deal; Colonel Ehrlich was formally granted control over LIMIPA, while Correa was granted control over the countryside. All was well...
...until the issue of elections was raised.
... When Gloria declared that elections would be postponed indefintely, the reaction was swift. The right-wing army revolted in defense of democracy......and lost.Meanwhile, Calderon proposed establishing relations withh Libya and the PLO. Allying with terrorist regimes...what could go wrong?
I'm trying to think why LIMIPA is targeting health care and literacy workers. I understand that The Doctor and The Teacher aren't really alturistic fellows: The Doctor sponsored the resistance against Farsante so she can get more money, and The Teacher is in league with National Liberation's 'popular democratic whatevers'. I also understand that these are 'soft targets', and that insurgencies would rather target them instead of 'hard targets' who can defend themselves.
But wouldn't it still make better sense to target the military (like Correa) or National Liberation politicans? You know, the people who are
turning the country socialist?
Gloria gets to deny loans to capitalists interested in 'profits'. Pfft.
Oberon finally gets to use his control over the army to do something important...which is, keep the army at its present level. The military is already a collosal waste of money, and the insurgency itself is rather weak.
We accept more aid from the socialists, despite the fact that the socialists' aid turn out to be not so hot. Oh boy, free coupons. How about
cold hard cash, Gorby?
Oberon decided that fighting an insurgency required too much money, and decided to puruse secret talks with LIMIPA. To little avail, though.
Oh wow. Oberon, I really need to have a word with you. A word about
following orders from the Cabinet.
"Elections are not needed in our utopian socialist democracy", says Julio. "Popular vigliante thugs are the key!" Oberon sighs, yet again.
And so we come to the most important issue of dealing with the cooperatives. Gloria, controlling the Agricultural Ministry, was able to push through her agenda of providing technical assistance.
...What now?
"We have the military, and the support of the masses. You only have the weak, feeble forces of LIMIPA! Bring it on, reactionary scum!" said Gloria.Then Gloria went into exile in Cuba while President Ealb Albright Guardia gets slaughtered.What happened? Well, I didn't really fund the Chimerican military...it could have been possible that doing so may have helped me out. (However, in a Popular Stability run, I kicked out the leftists, funded the rightist military heavily...and then get couped by Gloria. So I doubt the military will save me that much.)
What's more likely is that I still lack the support of the people, especially the right-wing (Encyclopedia PaxAmericana whined about how the rich were being oppressed). Popularity is key in fighting off coups, not just military strength.
Of course, so does preventing coups in the first place. I reloaded to my last save, which had only one Encounter left, but I couldn't be able to appease Alejos.
Look at his wish list!
-Modernizing Export Crops: Uh.
-Keep US military aid: Er...now that we're an armed outpost of communism, that's out of the question.
-End Government Corruption: We haven't really focused on getting rid of it, because it is a waste of time and doesn't deliver any votes
-Keep Close Ties With The US: Welp.
So, it looks like another game lost. Well, Gloria gets to have her one year of socialist utopia. I, on the other hand, have an idea of how best to procede with that original save from earlier.