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[Servant Corps]

The Alejos Cabinet, Year 3, Rainy Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Last Time On "Let's Horribly Break Hidden Agenda", I appeased Alejos so that he doesn't coup me. We now have two more seasons left to go before the game ends, so let's get this over with!



Gloria, we're not going to restore that Marketing Board. And corruption...ugh...what a waste of time. Let deal with land reform.


...uh. Gloria, don't we got better things to do?


Oh shut up Alejos. Gloria runs agriculture, so she implements that...'service cooperative' whatever.





Well, considering how I almost got killed by the reactos...

* Servant Corps glares at Alejos

...I could see the argument for making the army stronger. Yet, this doesn't seem to be how LIMIPA operates. They usually just act as death squads; they find a leftie and kill it, no questions ask. These raids are...different. IEDs? Taking Prisoners? Actually ASKING people to support the insurgency? That's not how LIMIPA rolls.

Is Padilla really leading this insurgency? Or is someone else behind it?



I think something has to be done. Oberon's peace talks plainly aren't working. Yet to raise a military would require money. Money we can't afford to spend. The fact is, this insurgency is weak and impotent. It can be contained.




Really, it seems that military is least on our Defense Minister's mind. But no matter. Now it's time to transition to what is the best policy in the game.



Oberon and Alejos hates these stupidly expensive subsidies. So do I.



But National Liberation has a solution. Rationing is the cheapest susbidy you can implement. The cheapest policy, of course, would be abolishing the food subsidies all together, but you know how offended the unions would be when they hear that. Of course, what Gloria doesn't mention is the fact that the Chimerican Mob will just hoard their food to circumvent the rationing system, meaning that we have an organized crime problem on our hand.

We can handle crime enough for the subsidies to have an effect though. Let do it.




Oh dear, I misclicked.






There, subsidies implemented. Happy?



Next up. Internal affairs. Let address corruption.



Miami. You National Liberation people are very good in keeping corruption out of the news.

No, tighter regulation isn't going to be enough to counter this. And Alejos' belief in cutting money to the program won't address the root cause. Oberon isn't doing much in his present job, so I'll have him be in charge of restructuring the bureaucracy, from the top down. He hates all of us equally, so he'll be fair and unbiased. Is that okay?




Alright, Alejos. It's your turn. This is about the only time I'm going to listen to you, so you better make it good. What does the Yanquis want?



...Do nothing? You really are a useless External Minister. Let ask somebody else.




On the other hand, the 'attacks' are just a couple of jets bombing the capital of Diwanyia. And if Diwanyia is in fact holding terrorists, it'd be pretty hard to sympathize with that nation's actions. At least the Americans aren't invading the country and forming a puppet government; that's a plus. I like to encourage such good behavior, so I'll abstain.



Abstaining is not a sign of leadership.



You're really annoying me, Correa.



How would having a super-huge army do anything to STOP those land mines? Unless, you're trying to get human minesweepers, in which case, you're just like the 'reactos' you claim to fight.

Come to think of it, if it is the reactos who are using the landmines, why would they too need human minesweepers?

Anyway, Correa, your boss says "No". So, get out of my office. Now.

Gloria, it's your turn.



This is The Lion that I mentioned all the way back in the OP. In the 1920's, the United States fought against The Lion. The Lion, of course, lost, but the way he fought...that is what inspires National Liberation. Of course, The Lion is now dead, so we don't really know if The Lion is a traditional Marxist or not.




Other people aren't so impressed with The Lion's heroics, and are more focused on the present day.

I admit, creating a new ideology when our country is in big trouble...isn't really wise. However, abolishing the Barrio Defense Committees would likely be illegal under the current constitution.

Democracy promotion is a job for the Internal Ministry, which is controlled by National Liberation. So I guess we'll defer to Gloria and support this nationalist ideology...or whatever.



Oberon already talked to Correa, so it's time for Internal Affairs! All that money we're saving with those rationing cards could mean we can afford infrastructure.





...Oh wow.

While we do have a surplus, this surplus is based off market fluctuations. We need to invest in our economy so that we can pay for the rest of our government programs. Alejos is right. Let invest in the export-producing centers of our economy.




Oh.

 

So much for our surplus.



One last season left though and then we can--




You Insufferable Prick Who I Can't Appease!

Luckily, my last save brought me to the beginning of this season, so I'll need to think about how best to handle this issue. It looks like I have to lean toward Alejos more often, but to do so has its own risks. I'll talk about those threats later on. Let say we likely haven't seen the last of Calderon.

Spoiler: Encyclopedia PaxAmericana (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Newspaper Articles (click to show/hide)

[Samio]

Is there ANY chance at all you can win the battle against a coup, or are they just alternate endings?

[Servant Corps]

You can defeat a coup if you have popularity and a strong military. One tactic is to quickly build up the army and provoke the 'other side' to try and coup you while you're still strong and popular; they'll lose and retreat, making you immune from future coup attempts by those people. Basically, if you can survive one coup attempt, you can survive them all.

You could also lose the election and get kicked out of office by the National Assembly. Unlike a coup though, you have no choice but to give in.

[Servant Corps]

I Hate You Alejos, Year 3, Rainy Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Alright, so I got two objectives for this re-run.
1) Appeasing Alejos. The bad news with this though is that, since I start from the begining of the season with all 9 encounters, I may never be able to know from trial and error what is Alejos' Hidden Agenda.
2) Reducing the Chimerican debt burden. Chimerica currently starts out with a debt of 2 billion dollars. So we can't really get rid of the debt, but we can showcase ourselves to be responsible people who might begin to pay it off.

Luckily, I can fulfill both objectives at the same time.




Alright. First, we finally terminate land reform. Gloria seems especially upbeat about the whole process...despite the fact that she wanted to overthrow me over the land reform program to begin with! It did however lead to Gloria being upset at my later concessions to Alejos.


Then, we implement rationing. It should save us some money, giving us some breathing room. We can't get rid of them outright since doing so will lead to union protests, and as our agricultural and internal ministry are controlled by National Liberation, we're going to be forced to re-implement the subsidies anyway.

And I'm not going to fire Gloria.


The game is also bugged here. I made sure I accept Gloria's advice, but I still get the union protests about the subsidies being lifted. The Union Boss seems to be happy about the rationing system...despite the fact that I was going to implement that rationing system here. You really are a lame Syndicalist, Hector.


We abstain on Diwaniya.


We get the nerve to say no to communism. Communist aid really haven't been useful to our country anyway, and it will finally showcase the hollowness of the 'reactos' and their struggle.


And, we tell Correa to get out---oh, and if anyone here knows how best to appease rampaging death squads to...not rampage as much, I'd be really happy if you tell me about it.

I have two encounters left, so I instead use them to talk to our banker.

(It really does look like this run doesn't quite have any focus whatsoever for this run. First, I talked only to influentials, then cabinet members...but realize that I already am a dead man walking since Year 2. I really want to enact a certain policy, but it looks like nobody wanted to talk about it...)


You really are some unprincipled bootlicker, aren't you?


Gloria loves that sort of thing, but I don't. I'll talk to Cotton Guy here then (who's also at the National Bank).


Here's the thing, Ex-Farsante Accountant and Gloria. We are a country with our income based on export crops. Not a country based on patriotism and socialism and equality. A country based on producing coffee and cotton for the American masses. Once, Ex-Farsante Accountant, you knew that.


In the past, see, you told me to shift loans back to these "unpatriotic" people because they actually pay their loans on time! Yet, now things have changed?

I'm not going to preside over the bankruptcy of my--no, YOUR country, out of a belief in 'fairness'.


We still receive this letter though, but the season has ended without any sort of violence from Alejos. We tacked pretty far right in this run, it's just going to bite back at me at the end of the next season though. I don't want National Liberation angry at me...since I was nominated by them after all. I need to prepare for that.

Spoiler: Graphs For Year 3 (click to show/hide)

Once the game ends, we get kicked to Encyclopedia PaxAmericana without looking at the graphs. So this is the latest graphs I can show you.


Whether we like it or not, it seems that the insurgency is taking its toll. Since we rejected new funds to the military, it looks like the increased damage comes from the attacks by the 'reactos'. Still, their effective struggle against our regime, and the fact that military spending is starting to inch towards the $150 million mark suggests that the 'reactos' may actually lead the next Insurrection. All they need is an image overhaul.


Oh boy look at all that money we're saving, this is a stupid policy and we never should have engaged in subsidies in the first place. Even if we do end up saving more money, all that money we wasted until we came up to this 'correct' subsidy gets turned into government debt.

It's funny however how we're spending more money on food than we are on education and health care. This system isn't sustainable, and eventually, even National Liberation will know it.


I still can't blame NL though for at least suggesting them. These subsidies did end hunger, and that can win me praise from the left-wing. The terrible news is that Chimerica just can't plain afford them. We really do have to make painful sacrifices for the greater good.


The Chimerican health care system is continually improving. A steady reduction in deaths. That's good.


Land reform is finally over, with the poor and middle class owning ~45% of the land, and the rich owning ~55% of the land. Of course, this graph conceal some important data: coffee producers benefited most heavily from our policies, food producers received some token pieces of land, and cotton producers being kicked to the ground and beaten heavily with sticks.


Cotton production is down, coffee production is up. Both coffee and cotton prices are very high, suggesting that our 'mandatory' Marketing Board had nothing to do with these prices. Oh well.



Here's our problem right here. Our hard currency earnings are increasing. We now have more money in the bank than we did pre-Insurrection. However, our loans are increasing. We're borrowing money to pay for government programs, and other banks are worried that such borrowing is unsustainable. The banks aren't worried that we aren't going to pay off all our loans. What they're worried about is that we won't be able to make payments on our loans, and thus go into default.

If we go into default, then we'll have to make devastating cuts. Cuts that may make National Liberation angry.


And it looks like all that US aid had nothing to do with Christian Reform at all. Election is over, and yet the Americans decide to throw even more money at us. The Americans really are being pretty generous for a country currently run by Marxist guerrillas. I actually decide to talk to the American ambassador to determine what's going on.




It seems that the Americans are spending money on development aid...rather than giving us cold hard cash. I suppose you can't look a gift horse in the mouth, and the fact that the Americans are giving us more money than they did under Farsante must count for something at least.

Spoiler: Media Lies for Year 3, Rainy Season (click to show/hide)

[Servant Corps]

The Final Stretch, Year 3, Harvest Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Before I start, I need to let you know of a mechanic called impeachment. After elections, the National Assembly gets called into session and is controlled by a single party. The National Assembly is a rubber stamp body, but it has the power to remove El Presidente. Due to those so-called "elections", the National Assembly is controlled by the National Liberation Front. And since I went extreme right during Year 3, Rainy Season, I am severely threatened. That Constitution gave me massive powers as President, but I'm still worried about the possibility of being impeached. So, in this final season, I will go hard-left, in an attempt to ward off a National Assembly challenge.


I want to start by making token concessions to communism, so I'll engage in 'democratic promotion'. Maybe we might use this cult of The Lion as an attempt to shore up my own legal powers.



...And the game decided to loop on itself, starting back with the original "National Liberation" proposal for promoting democracy: empowering the Barrio Defense Committees. Okay, Julio. We empower the Barrio Defense Committees even more. Let have them appoint governors of provinces now!

This is getting stupid, so I'll head over to the Human Rights Commission, controlled by the Catholic Church. Maybe they might have some smart ideas.



Aren't they dead? Julio, your thoughts?



I'll admit that what the Farstante Guard/LIMIPA did was a little bit cruel. And I was too harsh on Mendoza, so let see if we can devote more resources to finding her lost child's body. It's what she wanted (she also wanted to be alive, but she can't have everything).

We need some more token policies! Gloria, tell me what's going on with the rationing program.



Eek! I don't really want to go against the Chimerican Mob, but, if that's what it takes to make the rationing program effective (and reduce the amount of money necessary to have it be enforced)...alright...

...But I still don't feel secure.



And not because of Hector's insane protests even though we're doing what they want. (The game thinks we're removing the subsidies, and thus triggers their protests.)



Mostly because of Gloria here. She was the first person to try and kill me, and she is part of the National Liberation Front. If she's angry, she might lead the Impeachment movement. It looks like that if I really want to stay in office, I have to address her complaints.

We aren't going to restore that mandatory Marketing Board (and make Alejos angry), and we're certainly not going to loan to 'patriotic producers'. And land reform...well, that is Gloria's Hidden Agenda. I think my hands are tied.



Restart land reform? Are you crazy? Banks are worried we might default on our loans, and all you're worried about is stealing more land to the poor. We need to increase the amount of export crops if we are to survive.




However, as much as I hate land reform, the fact is, only the opposition supports it. I am beholden to the National Liberation Front, and thus I have to do what they say. And I do need an external enemy to rally my "supporters" against, even if it just the very folks who is trying to save what's left of Chimerica. Gloria, I restart land reform.



Correa. I got good news and I got bad news.

The bad news is that I'm not going to increase military spending. The 'reactos' are weak and impotent, and we need to make sure we don't go into default. Oberon is doing all he can to talk to the 'reactos', sooner or later, we'll have a break through.

The good news, however, is that the international community has understood our plight and have sent over military equipment to assist us in our struggle against the 'reactos'.




No, Correa, I don't understand this either. I don't know how in the world Colonel Ehrlich is running the traditional elements of the military from Panama. Nor do I care. We need all the military aid we can get, and unlike that evil Commie military aid, accepting US aid will help secure valuable Yanqui dollars.

Yet, maybe Oberon might agree with you. I'll defer to the wishes of your boss.



What the hell, Oberon? Although it does explain why those 'reacto' negotiations were held in Colombia.

I'm going to state that what Oberon meant to say was..."No." Sorry, Correa. Alright, back to appeasment. I have one last encounter, and I better make it good. Alejos, you said you receive a letter from some 'commie'?





I don't really have strong feelings for or against the Non-Aligned Movement. And since it pleases National Liberation...why not?

So this is it. The moment of truth...







After this game ended, I reloaded to try and get myself impeached by the National Assembly...and failed miserably. The best I got was getting overthrown by Alejos again, otherwise I get this letter and the game ends. It looks like I still need to figure out how impeachment works. Oh well. We may deal with impeachment later on in this LP...but it is possibly a rare mechanic indeed. From memory, impeachment and coup attempts occurs right after you see the "Season Change Screen", so potentially, we were immune for it in this last season.

On a unrelated note: this does help people who want to engage in implementing moderate policies while still keeping Correa as the sole leader of your army: go extreme during elections to gain nominated by the National Liberation Front, and then once that happens, quickly turn right-wing. The NLF can only grumble, and you get to stay in office. And if you are indeed immune from 'impeachment' and coup attempts in Year 3, Harvest Season, then you have no real reason NOT to go moderate.

Spoiler: Encyclopedia PaxAmericana and Epilogue (click to show/hide)

...with fears about an incoming default, Albright had to make hard decisions. A proposal by the IMF to cut funds to education and health care was rejected outright, while the military refused any attempt to disarm during an insurgency. Albright finally decided to listen to Gloria Jimenez Fleming's idea of cracking down on the black market, in the hopes of making the rationing system more effective and drive down the costs of food subsidies.

The so-called "Occidental Massacre" led to a general uprising against the regime, backed by both the right and the center. As the Second Insurrection intensified, Sub-Commandate Correa made a successful attempt to engineer the President's ouster. He invoked martial law and engaged in a brutal campagin of repression, leading to international isolation. By the time United States marines stormed the beaches of Chimerica,  it was clear that the days of the Correa dictatorship was numbered.

In the forefront of the rebels, succeeding to the Presidency was a former Farsante Guard member and leader of the 'reactos', Roberto Padilla Pasqualle. The new Presidente moved swiftly to consolidate power, reversing many key desicions...

Spoiler: Some Extras (click to show/hide)

Look like Correa is secretly raising an army anyway, violating the orders given by Oberon. If you talk to Manzon, she calls for the abolishment of the Barrio Defense Committees, suggesting that the People's Protective Milita is connected to the Barrio Defense Committees and somehow threaten her turf.


This explains Quezada's love for supporting 'patriotic' producers. He wants to keep on loaning money to the producers of export crops (rather than just food producers), but if he has to loan to both equally, then he'd rather to limit the loans to the 'patriotic' export producers, to ensure that those loans actually benefit the country. At least he's adapting to the situation.




Finally, we come to the real reason for our inevitable default. The IMF is refusing to loan us money that could help bail us out, because we're "wasting" our money on education and health care. And since education and health care is a drain on our budget, it might have been responsible for us suffering in the first place (although the insurgency also plays a big role). Of course, I'm not that willing to cut government programs and alienate my few allies.

I'm taking a small break for now, and then will be starting the Radical Moderation run.

EDIT: Come to think of it, how popular is the idea of livestreaming future runs of Hidden Agenda? The game itself is quite easy to finish; the problem is updating it and coming up with text. I'm used to screenshot updates and never really done a Video LP before though. However, livestreams seem very popular on this webboard for some reason...

[Servant Corps]

Okay, um. If anyone is following this LP, I got some news that explained my original "No Cabinet Run" failed miserably.

Turns out that I misread the instructions for doing said "No Cabinet run":

Here is a guaranteed way to win Hidden Agenda (I've tried it many times, it always works).

So warning: this post is kind of a spoiler! (You may not want to read the rest!)

1. When it comes to answering the initial reporters questions, always pick the FIRST choice.

2. Don't appoint any cabinet ministers!!!

3. Go directly to encounters (the telephone). Start in the upper left, and go straight across, left to right (like you're reading). For each encounter, always agree to whatever the person proposes.

And that's it! Keep on going through the encounters (always starting in the upper left each season) until the game ends. You'll always win.

I didn't start in the Upper-Left Hand Corner each season, I kept on continuing through the Influential list. This may have been the reason why I lost.

Whoops. Oh well. I'll do this No Cabinet Run 2.0 eventually. 

[Rolan7]

If you want to get overthrown, you can always rely on Alejos!

Your no-cabinet run was probably more interesting than a 100% guaranteed win would have been.  Appeasement may not always work, but it can be funny to watch.

[Zaranthan]

Just a quick post of encouragement! Interesting show, despite the bugs. I wonder if the disappearing rationing program was one of your cabinet members going behind your back and abolishing the subsidies instead?

[Servant Corps]

Just a quick post of encouragement! Interesting show, despite the bugs. I wonder if the disappearing rationing program was one of your cabinet members going behind your back and abolishing the subsidies instead?

If it was, then the Cabinet is actually far more powerful than I realize.

For now though, I'm assuming the game is thinking I am adopting whatever Oberon is telling me to do...but since I asked Oberon about Elections and Food Subsidies, it is possible the game is thinking "Oberon's Defense Ministry gives him the power to control elections and food subsidies, and since he hates Ealb, he'll implement what he wants". I'll really need to contact the game designer about this and give him the URL to here, so as to solve this issue.

[Zaranthan]

"Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence misunderstanding." - Every wise person on Earth, EVER.

Three times, you consulted Gloria for what to do next. Three times, Gloria proposed a socialist leaning, yet still moderate, course of action. Three times, the proletariat rose up in revolt as though you had done something radically capitalist, almost aristocratic.

...I think Gloria has a hidden agenda that belies her party alignment. Maybe she's got a real "Hidden Agenda" that she's managed to keep under wraps throughout her entire NLF career. Wouldn't THAT be a stinger?

[Grakelin]

You can defeat a coup if you have popularity and a strong military. One tactic is to quickly build up the army and provoke the 'other side' to try and coup you while you're still strong and popular; they'll lose and retreat, making you immune from future coup attempts by those people. Basically, if you can survive one coup attempt, you can survive them all.

You could also lose the election and get kicked out of office by the National Assembly. Unlike a coup though, you have no choice but to give in.

When I play as pure Leftist, I get 3 coups against me and win all of them.

[Servant Corps]

Radical Moderation, Year 1, Dry Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Independent. A member of a persecuted religious minority and the owner of several coffee plantations, Pathos was arrested numerous times during the Farsante dictatorship on suspicion of human sacrifice. Although acquitted, Farsante used these trials as an excuse to confiscate Pathos' coffee plantations and hand them off to members of the Farsante Guard. Pathos eventually rallied his religious minority to assist Christian Reform during the Insurrection. In return, Christian Reform lobbied relentlessly for Pathos to be nominated as Presidente of the Junta.




I made these choices in the press conference in an attempt to try and get a 'conservative Presidente speech' result in Pax Americana. I failed, because it's pretty hard to determine which answers are the conservative ones. Aw well. Maybe next time.

Since this is a Cabinet run, I should talk about how I organize it. I want to have as much advice as possible, so I want to usually have at least one person from each of the three parties sitting in the Cabinet, with that last seat being given to. I also usually want to have a PS foreign policy (please the US) and an NL domestic policy (please the Chimericans).



For this run, I appointed two familiar faces from the previous run: Alejos to the Foreign Ministry, and Calderon to the Defense Ministry. I also appointed two new people:



Meet Bernie. He's going to be our agricultural minister...even though he has no experience in agriculture. The reason is, quite frankly, I don't want to conduct land reform in this run, and the other two parties want to conduct at least some level of land reform. Land reform reduces the production of export crops, and our country needs them if it wants a strong military to fight off the two insurgencies we're facing off. Land reform could potentially be expensive if you accept the NL's plans to give cotton producers "government bonds"...which will add to our national debt.

I suppose I could have chosen Rosario (son of a cotton plantation owner) instead, but a dead Hidden Agenda LP apparently had tons of problems with Mr. Bernie here, and I like religious wackos, especially religious wackos who support human rights while belonging to the party of death squads. So Bernie gets the job.



Our internal minister will be Laranjera. I don't really like typing such a confusing name, so Larry it is. I appointed him to this job because I never tried Larry out, mostly due to his boring background and pacifism.

Alright. We're done with the Cabinet here, so the first thing I'm going to do is meet up with Lady Mendoza and start dealing with a certain 'leftover' from the Farsante regime.




We arrest the Farsante Guard on charges of human right abuses.




Yes, we need to respect judicial independence. Innocence before proven guilty, and...wait a second...

Military court? I understand that 'trial by one's peers' is an important right, but come on here! Padilla could say, "I killed that baby in self-defense", and the right-wing military jury will sympathize with Padilla and acquit him because, after all, they too kill babies in self-defense.

This is a mockery. I can't allow for something like this. I'll need to oversee see these courts more personally.




We like military aid, Buffard. However, the fact that you are funding Colonel Ehrlich might be a little offensive to National Liberation...hm. Maybe if I---


Oh no. Oh no. Calderon, get in here!



We're stuck with a choice here. We can deliver amnesty and just end up wasting three encounters doing absolutely nothing except give the go-ahead for Padilla to create LIMIPA...or we can crack down on the mutiny, starting up the Right-Wing Insurgency and giving us an excuse to build up our own army. A hard choice.

Colonel Ehrlich, you're fired. Here's a free ticket to Panama.



Colonel Ehrlich is right though about one thing. The wounds will never heal at all after this. I don't think they can ever heal though; I have never seen a game that has brought Padilla to any sort of 'justice', and certainly never seen any game where Lady Mendoza offers forgiveness.





The civil war ends with the leftist Correa at top, and the criminals being sent to military court to be tried by one's own peers. However, based on pure strength alone, Colonel Ehrlich should have won, because he had the US military aid on his side while Correa has nothing. It seems that the game automatically rigs the army you're backing to win the war...because it would be awfully embarrassing for Colonel Ehrlich to win after the Presidente backed his rival...


I have been doing some thinking trying to wonder why the Colonel Ehrlich is defending Padilla, this very man who declared that Ehrlich was a weak-willed traitor. But I was asking the wrong question. It's not just the Colonel...it's the entire right-wing military. It was Padilla's own prison guards...and not Ehrlich that freed Padilla from prison!

It all start to make sense. Padilla, as a person, is despicable. But as a weapon, he's a beautiful work of art. Effective at assassinating Influentials, efficient at clearing entire areas at a time, and never losing a single man during combat operations. In any other game, Padilla would be the Hero, gloriously fighting and acquiring a huge body count. As it stands, he is a tool, and he is a tool that his fellow comrades aren't that willing to part with, even if they dislike the 'mess' that he causes.

No wonder Christian Reform is even willing to tolerate Padilla's excesses...Padilla's guns are turned towards the leftists, and even the moderates have a secret desire to crush the leftists, in the hopes that the peasants are forced to support the center against the rightists. It also explains National Liberation's own hatred of Padilla: NL hates the death squads not because they kill people...but because they are right-wing. If Padilla converted to Liberation Theology, it would be National Liberation advocating for amnesty, and Popular Stability calling for Padilla's execution.

I wonder if Padilla himself is aware of this dynamic at play. It makes me almost feel sorry for him.


Instead, I have to deal with these leftists in a more civilized manner.


...but price controls cost, you know, money. Money that we technically don't really have since we have a huge national debt.


Bernie, you're quite frankly wrong. We're going to be stuck with these shortages for a long, long time. It's not that there is a shortage...it's just that the poor can't afford the food at equilibrium prices to begin with. This problem can easily be solved through a rationing system to ensure that the poor gets at least some food, coupled with a crackdown on the Chimerican Mob.

It's just expensive and a waste of time, just all. It's not an investment in the future of Chimerica...in fact, it's a loss, since we'll have to borrow money to pay for these price controls. We also need as much funds as possible to fund our army for national security purposes. I'm sorry, Hector.


Tell that to Correa. Or, even better, tell it to the farmers who are just going to protest next season about how price controls harm food production.


We'll see, Bernie. We'll see.


This is our army? A bunch of people wearing Afros? Ugh.



Alright, so it appears the right-wing insurgency is starting, right on schedule. If you followed the No Cabinet Run, you may remember this article:


It remains to be seen if Padilla can carry through his boasts. I highly doubt it. Padilla may have the skills to cause damage, but he doesn't have popular support, possibly due to his connection to Farsante. So, I'm not worried about Padilla. He can't hurt me.


This person on the other hand can. Since I'm not going to engage in land reform, Gloria will launch a military coup against me. The only guarantee against that is a strong military...because I'm certainly not going to rely on Popularity to bail me out here.



Well, that was fun. We should start dealing with these Farsante farms, by the way. A lot of land that should be dealt with as soon as possible.




Calderon, these state farms are lame. So it's either selling it to the rich or breaking the farms off and selling it to the middle class. Selling it to the middle class seems to be the most efficient strategy in terms of  coffee production, and we need export crops, so we'll side with Larry.



Then comes the question of American aid. Surprisingly, the Cabinet happen to agree on this important issue.






This moment of consensus imploded when the discussion turned towards how to rebuild Chimerica. The rightists seem rather adamant about seeing that funds are directed towards export efficiency.



Very adamant.




The center wants funds to be devoted to aid the cities...


While the left wants funds devoted to their support base in the food producing regions.

The rightists make the case that their investment will lead to economic return and prosperity for the country, and so we'll embark on their policy preference. We need hard currency if we are to survive.


...Larry isn't too pleased.

Finally, we end this first season by discussing aid from socialist countries.


The socialist is in favor of it.


The rightists are against it.


And the center seeks a centrist policy.

Calderon's paranoia aside...we really need socialist military aid to supplement our military strength. The Americans aren't providing us any military aid after Colonel Ehrlich went into exile. In my previous run, the Americans eventually provided us with military assistance, but far too late for it to do anything...and we need military assistance now, to defend Chimerica from coup attempts by Gloria.

We hereby accept military aid from the USSR and Cuba.



Eh. It's just a letter.

[Servant Corps]

Radical Moderation, Year 1, Rainy Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So the communists...aren't really in favor of pure communism. Well. At least they understand the difficulties.


...Why do all these socialists persist in calling the Insurrection a 'revolution'?


In a way, Alejos. In a way. Speaking of you, I want to talk about International Relations with you. What you got?





Another moment of consensus!





Power, yes. Wealth...uh...


Bernie is right here...somewhat. Land reform only hurt Cotton producers, which are already failing. It is possible to just go against the cotton producers and just hope the coffee producers pick up the slack, except that didn't quite work in the No Cabinet Run. Ultimately though, land reform will harm the economy...and harm our army.

We're rejecting your plan, Claudio.






Well, that didn't do any good. However, it does help to provide a new reason why there were a violent right-wing reaction to the land reform...this whole belief that 'land reform' is basically the theft of private property. A military officer, owning large parcels of land, would want to violently defend his estate from the peasants if he felt that he was 'entitled' to it.

I don't like throwing people in prison, but you gave me no choice Claudio. A mule, when angered enough, will kick back.

Next up, we head to the National Bank, to decide how to allocate credit resources.



We all agree on concentrating limited resources on export crops...although the decision has been a season late.

Alejos draw my attention to another UN resolution in the war in Bokuta. The Cabinet discuss this heavily, as it deals with our current military ally, Cuba.




Why does Cuba seek to turn Bokuta into a colony, I may never know. But Cuba is providing us with the military aid necessary to support our glorious army. We have engaged in a major right-wing turn by refusing land reform outright, so it's clear that we need to provide them with diplomatic support to appease them and gain their favor.



Isn't the entire United Nations a propaganda forum? Eh, whatever.



This thing seems important, but according to the wise mind of Alejos, is clearly none of our business. Instead, Alejos discussed how Libya and the PLO is trying to establish diplomatic relations with Chimerica, and the details was so boring I decide to ignore the whole issue. It's not like these four newspapers are going to let an 'Order' tell them to stop being biased.


Meanwhile, the Cubans decided to cut off military aid from us right after we supported their occupation of Bokuta. I guess the land reform protests really made the Cubans upset. I have to find some way to repair our relationship...


...And we have it. The Cubans and the USSR seems to believe that the United States funds the 'reactos', and they're very happy to battle against the United States for international prestige, so much so that they'll ignore the "Land Now!" movement. This right-wing insurgency should provide us with the diplomatic cover necessary to engage in the right-wing policies that will save Chimerica. You know, sacrifices must be made, yadda yadda yadda.




I don't feel too upset about having the government protect your right to strike, Hector. It's not like you guys really need that 'right', considering you can mobilize crowds easily.



Don't abuse this 'right', Hector. I'm warning you.

We do need to deal with that right-wing insurgency. We can't let the 'reactos' operate with impunity.



Calderon has a plan to stop the 'reactos' by building up the army, while the Right and the Center do not...negotiations just won't work with Padilla. Of course, so do building up the army, but remember, Padilla isn't the enemy. Gloria is.




Yes, El Independent. I remember when, during the 1960's, many left-wing Americans clamored for the United States to institute a draft so that America no longer need to rely on a mercenary army, even going so far as to fabricate draft cards and present them to US military bases.

Oh wait, I lie. You really are a mouth piece of National Liberation.





The USSR and Cuba are now able to re-offer its military aid package due to the 'reactos'. We again get that same letter...who cares about that letter?


Oh. Um. That's bad. That's very bad.

[Servant Corps]

Radical Moderation, Year 1, Harvest Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Buffard, I hate to say this, but you are a buffoon. How could a country of 4 million people seriously threaten the United States---


Oh. Since Correa is in charge of the army, I can't really rein him in entirely...so Correa could be funding Marxist rebels behind my back...

But I'm trying to protect myself from the reactos--wait. That won't work either. A huge army buildup won't deal with the root causes of death squads, and won't do anything to protect a bunch of clinics. All it does is make the army more powerful against conventional foes...unconventional forces can act without any fear of retaliation. In fact, the huge army buildup is worse for Chimerica, since it means that the war against the reactos become more expensive.

But I'm trying to protect myself Chimerica from a coup from the left-wing---"Then why did you back Correa when he wanted to purge the army?" Buffard would ask. "Sounds like a coup from the left-wing to me."

But, can't you trust me---no, no you can't. This is the Cold War, where countries lie and conceal their intentions. Everyone is paranoid of everyone else. The United States is no exception.


There are some things we can't do, Calderon. Here I was, thinking you're reasonable, and then you resort to such platitudes.

But you know what Buffard? I'm tired of being the US' crony. I'm tired of listening to your pleas and your insanities. Chimerica has been suffering a great and terrible divide between the left and the right, between the rich and the poor. I can transcend that. I can heal the divisions. To require that, I need an army, so I can crush the 'extremists' and allow for a peaceful transition to democracy.

If you can't understand something simple like that, Buffard, then it's now time for Chimerica to enter into the Soviet orbit.





...


Oh dear.
1) The United States is using its influence to block the IMF from loaning to Chimerica...which I guess make a certain amount of sense...the army doesn't contribute to Chimerica's prosperity, so why should the IMF subsidize it?
2) The army build-up is costing money, money that is reducing our hard currency.


This is called Finlandization, Alejos. Not really a good example since you guys were calling for us to adopt right-wing policies in the first place. I think we should still try this socialist alliance a chance though. We need to see if our army have a chance against the real enemies of the state.





If you guys are thinking, "OH NO, US IS GOING TO INVADE CHIMERICA", you're wrong. I haven't seen any invasion attempts in Hidden Agenda...yet. If you guys are thinking, "The United States might fund military coups", well, they might already have done so, since US popularity might play a role in the general Popularity.

If I remember something, this 'surgical strike' is really lame and pointless, although it does lead to the United States getting sued, which is always fun. We'll likely encounter it.


Cuba, the "Bay of Pigs" is not a US invasion. But, um, keep on...doing your thing. We need it.


...wha? But didn't we already allocate resources to export crops. I'll do it again, Cotton Guy. You can get your loans.


Okay, Coffee Guy. Tell me what's up.



Huh. So this voluntary Marketing Board is really just welfare for the middle class? I still don't see the point of it, but I think I prefer it over Bernie's lamer idea. I don't really think ads will help promote the Chimerican economy. There's a reacto insurgency going on. Major businesses are going to be rather reluctant to involve itself in such a unstable location.



Yeah. Reaping storms. Speaking about that...right now, our hard currency earnings are decreasing rather heavily, and we may face the risk of default. I don't want that risk, Bernie, and we need to engage in changes to raise some currency during these tough times. I'm reopening discussion on the Farsante farms.





I can pretty much tell that all three of you are just lying through your teeth.

But...Cabinet, we are suffering through a period of...restructuring. If we are not going to go into default during this period of restructuring, we need to ensure that we get a stable supply of hard currency. Our current privatization program isn't going to raise enough funds. We're going to adopt Bernie's privatization program, even if I believe it might be less efficient than Larry's views, because such a program will raise us more money in the short-term...when we need it the most.

You may begin this privatization program now.




Bernie, for a man committed to human rights, you sure seem to rely heavily on the New Reconciliation Army.

But we need the money, and we're going to get that money. The privatization program will continue. Unleash Correa on these agitators.


You can exit to your right.

Next, I decide to bring the Cabinet together to discuss democracy promotion.

I decided on this path, partly to appease National Liberation, but also to try and help the people prepare for Moderation. It isn't the people who are extreme, it's the parties ane 'extermists' that make them extreme. If I can create new 'organizations' that can help rally the people to a moderate, sensible course of action, that would be useful.


If the US weren't funding the reactos then, they are certainly doing it now. I think.

It is certainly a little suspicious why the CIA is flying over supplies to the 'reactos' rather than just giving the supplies to the reactos' bases. The only reason I could think the CIA would do so is if the 'reactos' have bases within Chimerica that need constant resupply, which isn't the case; the reactos don't want to hold territories, just beat up communists. However, the international community seem to believe the evidence, so I'll just assume it to be Yankee incompetence rather than any sort of deliberate framing by Correa.


Uh. I don't think that we can survive a war against the United States. We may bleed them, but the US will prevail.


The US is wrong. This is Padilla we're talking about here. The CIA is involved here, his non-denial denial proved it.


Yet so is El Monde. This is a purely indigenous resistance movement, one that will survive for a long, long time. My main evidence is the No Cabinet Run, where the 'reactos' never got defeated, despite the fact that the US didn't fund them, and in fact, ended up funding our army instead. Remember, the 'reactos' are from the Farsante Guard, they didn't need US resources or even the support of the official government to engage in effective violence.

Why are the 'reactos' unable to be defeated, despite lacking popular support? Simple. They have a base in a neighboring country. I'm guessing that base is Panama, since Padilla made his declaration of war against the state in that country. Unless you target the base, it will become impossible to disrupt the insurgency. And you can't target this base without being accused of invading a fellow country and violating national sovereignty...giving the US a casus belli.

(In fact, maybe this is why the US was worried about an arms buildup? Because they were thinking Correa might invade Panama and establish a puppet socialist government there? And Panama holds the Panama Canal...and that is vital to US interests.)


This is bad. This is very bad. I'm not talking about the "miracle" in Las Vegas, Chimerica. I'm talking about the fact that we just lost the support of the Catholic Church, which have traditionally backed Christian Reform, the moderate party. We got another enemy against our rule.



...because those people realized that if they have to fight, they'd rather fight with the reactos. Thanks, National Liberation!


...This is a bit of an overreaction, Calderon. If you suppress free speech, then you won't know if what you're doing is idiotic and stupid.



The Right and the Center offers alternate solutions.

However, I am reliant on Correa, so I need to find some way to appease him. And I do need to suppress dissent, so...a "state of emergency" it is.





Times are a-changing. Popular Stability is now a firm defender of human rights, while National Liberation wants to arrest and kill dissenters. And that Revolutionary Tribunal seems just ripe for abuse.

Wasn't this sort of situation the entire reason why we cracked down on death squads in the first place?




I think I'll let the Tribunals operate though. Mostly to appease Correa and the leftists rather than out of a desire to actually arrest subversives.


...and? We'll just find new trading partners, Buffard. Our country is still developing fine, and our reforms should let us avoid---


Ugh. Now our National Bank will start cutting stuff randomly, including our army, in the hopes of paying off our loans. Well, hopefully things won't get worse...



And now Gloria decides this is the perfect time to coup me. This will be a test of how effective Correa's army is at stopping leftist scum.



...

Now will be a perfect time to explain a bug within the game. It was intended that only National Liberation and Popular Stability can launch military coups. The creator of the game said it in an email to me:

Can Christian Democrats launch coups? If so, where would they get the military? I would guess the Popular Stability people uses the rightist military, and the National Liberation have access to the masses and the leftist military, but the Christian Democrats doesn't seem to have a natural base of support.

I tried to base what happens in Chimerica as much as possible on the real histories of the countries used as models and inspiration. While both left-wing coups and right-wing coups have happened frequently over the decades, I can't think of an example of a centrist coup. So no, the Christian Democrats do not launch coups.

However, for some unknown reason, Oberon can indeed launch a military coup against me. He may very well be the only Christian Reform politician who can launch coups. I can only assume it to be a bug. A bug that I HAVE TO DEAL WITH.

It does make sense to me though. I always believed Oberon was the one responsible for unifying the military at the start of the game, so it could make sense he could assemble his own army. And Oberon would be a reasonable person to lead a coup against the left-wing.



Okay, so our army is lame. Well if coercion won't work, how about appeasement?


-Export crops: Already doing that.
-Balance of the two military forces: Uh...I don't think that's going to happen.
-Protection of the rights of individuals: The Revolutionary Tribunals aren't really helping here.
-Stronger relations with major trading partners (the United States): Oh boy.

Ugh. None of these options look appealing or doable. Maybe I should try repression once more. I'll call in a discussion over socialist aid.



Let accept socialist aid in preparation for the centrist military coup. Maybe that might lead to me surviving?



Alright, appeasement it is. But let do it right.



We fire Larry and replace him with Oberon. Then we'll address the issue of promoting human rights.


It's time we should abolish the Revolutionary Tribunals. This will ultimately protect Chimerica from Oberon.


Okay, maybe not.


Why don't we start with dealing with the Civil Liberties issue?




Calderon, you don't really know what the words 'democractic' means, do you?

This draft really doesn't seem like a really good idea and it may push people into supporting the 'reactos'. I highly doubt that National Liberation is actually indoctrinating the masses, but I do believe nobody likes to get randomly chosen to be in the army.




Oh well. I guess I'll click on "Resist Coup" like I normally do, skip through the letter stating that I die, and the whole PaxAmericana encyclopedia, then reload and try the next item on the list.



Huh?

The reason is actually quite simple. I gained enough Military and Popularity in order to stop Oberon. Oberon's proposed policy actually caused his military coup to fail.
1) When we abolished the draft, we did not receive the letter declaring 'default'. It was that 'default' that led to extreme cuts in the military, leading to a weakened military prone to Oberon's attacks.
2) The draft itself was very unpopular with the masses. By abolishing this draft, I gain their support, enough support to defend against a military coup.

The draft turns out to actually HURT our regime in the long term. Gee, thanks National Liberation Front! You really deserve a medal or something.

Well, it looks like this year is over--



Once we defeat one coup though, we can defeat them all. Sorry Alejos, the days of appeasement are over!



At first, when I saw this, I thought it meant that I won because I was popular. In reality, it's just the game switching between two different letters when detailing that I successfully fought off a coup.

So, we did it. We survived a year, and our army seems to be tough enough to resist Gloria. However, now we have to deal with a US embargo, which will certainly lower our profits

Spoiler: PaxAmericana (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Graphs for Year 1 (click to show/hide)

It appears we are spending just as much on the military as Farsante did during the Insurrection. I wonder if part of the reason of that is due to CIA's assistance allowing for the reactos to operate more effectively. Most of it has something to do with our military build-up though.


We're increasing infrastructure funding too, in order to help fuel our economic prosperity and aid export crops. That could contribute to the debt, but nobody is willing to cut such important programs, and besides, we're investing in our future. But...why are food subsidies increasing?



We're training left-wing crack commandos to suppress left-wing protests. Huh. But how much money does it cost to do such a thing?

I always feel this game is most similar to Nicaragua, so I'll use the Nicaraguan córdoba exchange rate to represent the Chimerias. According to this website, in 1988, thanks to hyperinflation, a Nicaraguan córdoba went for US$1 = C$60,000 on the black market. We are paying 1 billion chimerias for "crowd control", so that should come out to...um...$16,666 USD. The "official" currency rate at the time is a more reasonable US$1=C$20,000. Using this, 1 billion chimeras is equal to $50,000 USD.

Regardless of the 'true' exchange rate, it does appear that "crowd control" is actually a pretty cheap exercise...at least when compared to the $50,000,000 USD being thrown around in pursuit of the 'reactos'. I hesitate to call it an actual 'insurgency'. It's more of a cost-saving measure to ensure we don't implement real food subsidies.


The food situation is stabilizing, by the way. More people are starving on the streets, but not that many. We also stemmed the tide of the decline in food production. We could possibly seek to decrease food prices by increasing the production of food crops, but then again, if nobody can afford the decreased food prices, it's really for nought.


Babies are dying on the streets. Nothing new.


As a result of the privatization efforts, 5% of the people own 75% of the land. Hopefully the funds we acquire through such sales will help us in the long term.


Cotton production is stable, coffee production is increasing.


Coffee producers are profiting greatly, while cotton producers are breaking even.


This is the main trouble. Our hard currency earnings are very, very low, while our debt is increasing heavily, due to the military build-up. Now the IMF won't lend us any money, so we're still at risk of default. We need to end that US embargo if we want a chance to dig us out of this hole, but that will require certain sacrifices I don't want to do.


The effect of the IMF boycott is clear, and while the USSR and Cuba are providing great funds, it seems that our human right policies has many countries a little...uneasy. They have cut off aid to our country entirely. This is devastating; not even the Other Countries cut off aid during the Farsante regime. By losing this pillar of support, we guarantee future disasters for Chimerica.

This year, I went a little too left to secure power. For the next year, I need to tack more right to secure Chimerica.

I'm going to right now slow down the pace of updates, or possibly break them up into smaller chunks. I have to do other stuff, so hence the cut-back.

[Servant Corps]

INTERLUDE: Impeachment and Policy Assumption

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Coffee Guy, let's adopt this proposal. We need to show the Americans that it cannot intimidate us, while at the same time showing the Americans that we're open for business and willing to talk. Maybe the Americans will reconsider its ill-advised policies.

Oh, and Bernie? We're going to ignore your whole 'appease the Americanos' plan. Is that okay with you?



Welp.

What happened here was what I call an 'impeachment'. I've been trying fruitlessly to get impeached in the No Cabinet Run, but now gets impeached endlessly by Bernie and Calderon. Impeachment occurs when your Minister gets upset when you reject that Cabinet officer's advice and adopt a different policy. That Minister will try to remove you by using the National Assembly. Impeachment is not tied to Hidden Agendas and is an automatic success, but it can only be done by Ministers. There are three ways to stop Ministers from engaging in impeachment:
1) Fire the Minister in question before implementing the policy you want.
2) Implement that Minister's policy.
3) Don't let your Minister engage in 'policy assumption'...

This third method is a little hard to understand at first, so let me explain about 'policy assumption'. In the Minister Consultations screen, you have a list of topics you can 'talk' with each Minister. If you select one of these topics, then the Minister 'assumes' responsibility over this issue, and will act primarily on that issue. When you are talking with Influentials, the Minister that is advising you will also 'assume' responsibility over that issue.

Policy Assumption grants the Minister the responsibility to respond to your policy prescription. The Minister could choose to just implement your policy directly, and will choose to do so if Support is high. If Support is low though, the Minister may choose alternative actions. The Minister could choose to implement his preferred policy instead.

Policy assumption was how Oberon was able to exercise much political power within my administration during the second half of the No Cabinet Run. For example, I asked Oberon about Elections, Oberon was able to 'assume' the Elections issue. Even when I said, "Don't hold elections", Oberon was the person responsible for deciding if he wants to listen to me or not. He didn't. He chose to hold elections. Similarly, I asked Oberon about the food subsidies issue, allowing for Oberon to 'assume' the issue. I say to Oberon "We are going to implement rationing", and Oberon says, "I control the issue, so I hereby abolish food subsidies!"

But sometimes, a Minister may feel (for whatever reason) that it is impossible for him to actually implement his preferred policy. That Minister will decide instead on impeachment. Now, having Oberon run around messing stuff up is preferable to getting kicked out of office, but it's still not a desirable outcome.

Now, the way to prevent another Oberon is to ensure that only Ministers that agree with your preferred policy gets to "assume" the policy in question. This prevent rogue Ministers from either hijacking your policy or removing you from office.

Example of Policy Assumption That Actually Occured When I Was Playing The Game:
1) I talk to Calderon about "Aid From Socialist Countries", letting Calderon 'assume' the Issue.
2) I accepted Bernie's advice about rejecting all Socialist aid.
3) Calderon impeaches me. Game over.

Example of Abusing Policy Assumption to Prevent Impeachment:
1) I talk to Bernie about "Aid From Socialist Countries", letting Bernie 'assume' the Issue.
2) I accept Bernie's advice about rejecting all Socialist aid.
3) Calderon is upset, but since he has not 'assumed' the Issue in question, he cannot impeach me.

Yes, this is a rather lame gimmick. But it's a part of the game, and it's something that I don't really have a luxury in ignoring.

Spoiler: PaxAmericana Entry About Impeachment (click to show/hide)