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[Rolan7]

Heh.  Yeah, that's Gloria alright.

You should have done her profile with Jagged Alliance instead of Tropico

[Pacho]

So uh, is tropico basically just a better looking hidden agenda?

Props on the LP, I've enjoyed reading it.

[Zaranthan]

Tropico is more like sim city. While there are governmental concerns, most of the gameplay is placing buildings and managing people. An LP I saw had maybe 200 people in the country at the end.

[Servant Corps]

 Karios' Run, Year 1, Dry Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Independent. Younger brother of Fransico Ferrante Oberon. Got the position due to nepotism. Has made a promise to engage in mostly Chrisitan Reformist politics, in an attempt to keep society stable, prosperous, and centrist.


This is the last Politican in the game. Lanza. Her only major qualification was that she happened to be a wife of a famous Professor who was murdered by the Farsante Guard. The death of that Professor caused this great Insurrection. I'm appointing her to the Agricultural Ministry. I also appointed Larry to the Internal Ministry, and Oberon to the Defense Ministry.

For the External Ministry, I appointed our good friend Alejos. I want good relations with the United States, and that's exactly what we'll do.





Everyone seems to be happy.



So let's get down to business. The Americans suspended military aid to the Chimerican government during the Insurrection. We know the Americans are going to want to reassume military shipments, and ensure that all US military is sent to fund Colonel Ehrlich. This can easily upset the balance between the two armies, and so I knew exactly what we had to do: Tell the Americans that they need to fund both sides.



Uh...



So much for wading. Do we really need American military aid, Oberon? It's not like we have any enemies on our borders (except for those barbarians down in Panama). Eh, whatever. I just want to balance the army; we can deal with Ehrlich later...




Well, that was a waste of time.



All the parties (including National Liberation) want American economic aid, and who can blame them? This aid will help boost our economy...eventually.



Some sun, huh?



Food subsidies are going to be rather expensive, and quite frankly, we don't have a lot of resources to waste. Things won't calm down, Lanza, but a few press releases are cheaper than price controls.




...that went well.[/scarsam]



And now you're flip-flopping, Lanza. For shame.



I'm only doing this because you're telling me to, Lanza.


We really do need aid from any country. Beggars can't be choosers, so we might as well accept money from the USSR. We certainly don't need USSR military aid though...for much the same reason we don't need American military aid.


Shut up Alejos.



What dangers? We haven't even done anything worthwhile yet.



Now we're getting somewhere. The right-wing always want to give more power to Ehrlich, while the left-wing always want to give more power to Correa. Oberon (and the rest of Chrisitan Reform) wants to keep the army balanced. If we let the Americans fund Ehrlich, but give Correa some more powers to 'purge' the army, then we can prevent the civil war from occuring.



We also decided on selling the Farsante Farms to the less-well-off coffee producers. Let just hope this lead to increased coffee production.




We also decided to loan money to the producers of export crops, ending this Season.

[Servant Corps]

Karios' Run, Year 1, Rainy Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We start off this season by implementing a voluntary Marketing Board, to appease coffee producers.


We also finally "balanced" the Army, as it were. Wee.



And so the question of land reform pops up on the Lanza agenda. I will support implementing land reform, if only because I want to implement all CR policies and get nominated by CR.




Ugh. I don't want to crack down on the Farsante Guard, because doing so would cause a civil war. Neither does Chrisitan Reform: for all their talk about bringing them to justice, they are afraid of offending the right-wing military. Yet if this is the case, why are they wanting to go through this pointless show of arresting Padilla and then letting him walk away free once he is acquitted by the Military Courts?


Ehrlich is growing more powerful, thanks to that US military aid. We extend more power to Correa to stop him.



Lanza flip-flops again. It looks like nobody wants the price controls, so it's time to finally terminate  that program.



You're a rather arrogant prick, Lanza. But now price controls are finally over.





We legalize the right of union workers to strike.




And we once again announced land reform. We better do something on that front.


...Placing the farmers into debt isn't going to palacate them any. But it's moderate enough to not harm our export crop production while still preventing uprisings.


It does not, however, prevent against military coups.




...back to appeasement.

Really strange though. The game developer stated that the Junta starts off with high popularlity...did I really mess things up in two seasons?


Let's try more extreme land reform. Maybe that'll appease Gloria.


Uh, no it doesn't. I only realized later on that Gloria and Claudio hate each other dearly. Gloria wanted to decide what land be given to whom, while Claudio wanted the poor to take whatever they want. Considering that Claudio is really the only Influential clamoring for land reform, it's really a terrible move on Gloria's part to promise extermist land reform policies and only deliver center-left land reform policies instead. Eh, whatever. I don't understand how communists work.


Instead, I decide to create cooperatives. While this may not be the smartest of ideas, this appeases Gloria. It also brings into question my original hypothesis that Gloria's Hidden Agenda is land reform. Then again, I went entirely moderate in this round, so maybe I didn't make Gloria as mad as I could have.

There is a problem here though. I appeased Gloria this season, but what about next season? Or the season after that? If I keep on appeasing Gloria, I may end up going left-wing, and upsetting my moderate run. And I can't afford to keep on appeasing Gloria forever.

No, I have only just bought time. Next season, I have to get my Popularity up in order to brace for conflict against the left-wing extermists.

Spoiler: PaxAmericana (click to show/hide)

[EuchreJack]

I suspect your mistake was talking to ministers instead of influentials all during the run.  Certain policies, such as land reform, could have been discussed with the influentials and garnered their appreciation.  I suspect that only ministers look at your decisions, and influentials are more likely to look at how often you explicitly agree with them.

EDIT: Or maybe the moderate run is doomed to failure, lol!

[Servant Corps]

Karios' Run, Year 1, Harvest Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This season, we need to confront and get rid of Gloria once and for all. To do this, I need to arrange meetings with major Influentials, thereby gaining popularity.




It turns out people hates cooperatives. Who knew? We talk to the Coffee Producer to gain some Support from him, and agree to start selling land to the middle class.




And an Interrupt forces me to put the Farsante Guard back into prison.


The Americans are going to whine about Colonel Mendieta, so let just hand him over now so I don't have to worry about the Americans interrupting me.






We're not paying for the damages, by the way.


Er....we didn't really address land reform since I was so busy trying to, uh, stop Gloria from killing me. Yeah, uh, sorry about the peasent rebellions guys.



We're going to have to implement land reform, the question is what type of land reform. We're going to keep with the moderate land reform policy. Claudio himself is pleased with this, altough he prefers extreme land reform instead.





Look, I'm just doing this so that I can defend myself against Gloria, not out of any sort of love for "the people". Judith helped to overthrow Farsante, I don't want to make her my enemy.





Same thing with Leticia. In fact, funding education is even more stupid than funding health care. At least with health care, Judith deliver results (lower Infanty Mortality Rate). Here, I just get to see a smiling face.


Uh...sure...I guess?



We again promise to allocate scarce resources to export crops.

I end this season by doing a photo shoot with Manzon, the owner of the Occidential, and promising not to implement any more price controls. Let see if this works against Gloria.




Well, that's dealt with. However...we have a problem.


A big one.

See, we haven't really strengthened Correa much when I was busy dealing with the Gloria Problem. Meanwhile, Ehrlich just keep on receiving more and more money fron the United States government, making him more and more powerful. We just can't keep up. Pretty soon, this will occur:


And when I said this will occur, I mean this has occured, 4 times, in succession. I tell Ehrlich to restore Correa back to his position, only for Ehrlich to fire him again.

That's it. Ehrlich, I'm taking away your toys.



I then have to spend 4 Encounters trying to strengthen Correa up again.

[Servant Corps]

Karios' Run, Year 2, Dry Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Done and done Buffard. We'll also do an investigation into Correa to appease Alejos. Figure out exactly what happened here.



And we're throwing the Farsante Guard back into prison. How tiring, but it's for the best. As long as we throw the Farsante Guard in prison, they won't be able to kill anybody. And as long as we don't actually punish them, the right-wing army won't rebel. This si a good idea and I don't see how it could fail---


declared a unconditional amnesty for those accused of politically motiviated violence."

Gee thanks, Ehrlich.



At least we get to accept more American aid as a consolidiation prize. Oh well.


...oh dear...I thought the land reform violence has ended.


No.


"Questionable authenticity". How did you even join up with Chrisitan Reform in the first place?

Sure, we'll send a memo to Colonel Ehrlich. The same Colonel Ehrlich who kicked out Correa four times and declared an amnesty without my say-so. Surely he'd listen to us now!


Yes, engage in dehumanization of your opponents. Don't bother to consider that maybe that soldiers don't like having land stolen from them, that maybe Claudio and his mob started the violence by seizing land in the first place, that being poor doesn't entitle you to everything you want, or that the land reform extends only to LAND and not water rights or easements.

Besides, nobody wants clean water here in Chimerica. If they did, they tell me to invest in infrastructre. Nope, they want me to throw money at food producers, price controls, education, health care....it's clear that something has to give here, and that something is clean water. I'm just listening to the people.


Oh, what now?




Bye Calderon.

[Rolan7]

The amount of scripting in this game continues to surprise me.  I never would have expected Ehrlich to grant amnesty like that.  I wonder if the reference to the cycle of freeing and re-arresting the torturers was a reasonable assumption, or if that was actually checked as well.

[EuchreJack]

Unfortunately, the drug smuggler was a part of the reactionary armed forces.  In fact, almost all army-related stuff that Buffard proposes benefits Elrich.

[Servant Corps]

Rolan7: If you try to avoid the Farsante Guard issue (like I was trying to do), Lady Mendoza does an Interrupt, forcing you to choose between arresting the Farsante Guard or giving them amnesty. Still, it would be nice to explore this event chain some more...

EuchreJack: Colonel Mendieta seems to be the only sore point between the Americans and Popular Stability. Popular Stability wants to try the Colonel at home, while the Americans want to try him in the United States. I don't know what National Liberation wants though on this issue: they are highly nationalistic and hate the United States, while at the same time, they also seem to hate the reactionary army and want to knock them down a few notches.

[Servant Corps]

Karios' Run, Year 2, Rainy Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We start off this season by taking out a payday loan from the IMF.


We also begun the process of cracking down on corruption, as well as empowering Correa to keep the balance within the army stable.


Great, a General Strike. Keep Ehrlich on hold, we may need his services...



Hector...uh...Hector...I...uh...


Larry is right. You can't just keep on striking all the time and getting whatever you want. We run the country, not you. You have a minimum wage and some rights, but we are going to stand firm on any future demands, understand?


At least we defused this crisis without bringing in the Army. That got to count for something.


Oh hell no.




It is in fact very possible for land reform to actually be terminated by the Army crackdown. People become so terrified at Army reprisals that they just can't seize the land. That's the real reason why you need to worry about these attacks.

Also, if El Monde is right (and it usually is), it appears that Claudio has assembled his own private Army. Our attempts to pacify the countryside, uh, didn't.


Alejos might be right here. There is so much discussion about seizing land, and not much on if the country could actually afford it or if the people could actually farm it. National Liberation has the idea of forming "service cooperatives" that could 'minimize' the losses...but these cooperative swould only boost food production, which won't actually help the country at all, since nobody can actually afford the food in the first place. The country is important only for its export crops, and by ignoring it, we render ourselves irrevelant.

The worst part about this disaster is that the Chrisitan Reform's plans for land reform is objectively bad: it angers both the rich landowners who had their lands seized in the first place, and the poor people didn't receive any good land at all and are now in debt. About the only thing it does do is "pacify the countryside"...except that the rebellions in the countryside are so easy to suppress that it's not really worth the bother. I do sympathize with Alejos' idea of just cutting and running here.


But Ehrlich needs to be taught a lesson. We had authorized this land reform program, and it's time we implement it!



Uh, Claudio...we just gave Correa control over the countryside. We aren't kicking Ehrlich out. Not by a long shot.



Oberon's advice is so long that it happens to overflows the "list of advice". This is the only time we empower Ehrlich in order to keep the balance within the army. And just right after we empower Ehrlich, we quickly strip that power because Oberon was worried Ehrlich was growing more powerful. Keeping the army together is becoming a bit of a chore.


The death of Lady Mendoza means that LIMIPA has just been formed.



We give Ehrlich control over LIMIPA, in hopes of stopping LIMIPA from killing people randomly. It's not going to work.



Both Chrisitan Reform and Popular Stability agree that it is important to keep coffee production in Chimerica, but disagree as to how. We decide to adopt the CR proposal here, because this is a CR run.


What? But we need that aid! We implemented land reform...isn't that progressive enough to have you guys throw money at us?


Now our country is on the verge of default. Ugh.

[Gantolandon]

I don't know what National Liberation wants though on this issue: they are highly nationalistic and hate the United States, while at the same time, they also seem to hate the reactionary army and want to knock them down a few notches.

As far I remember, Calderon also wants to try Mendieta in Chimerica. It is Correa who usually handles the trial.

[Servant Corps]

Karios' Run, Year 2, Harvest Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ehrlich, this is a Afro-Free Zone. Keep your commandos outside the Palace.



Considering how Oberon now supports American military aid, I don't really think I have much of a choice, Ehrlich. I strengthened Correa two times to compenstate for this.


Thanks for being jerks, Vladimir. We really need that money...



..but if you aren't willing to give us money, I'd be happy to just drift into the American orbit even further.



Claudio seem to be doing all right for himself.



Though he still complains. By the way, if you do happen to implement a land reform policy he likes, he still won't be content: he'll ask you to fund health care. We're keeping land reform as it is though, as this is, again, a CR run.



If we are to keep on receiving IMF loans, we need to undertake austerity measures. Alejos is a jerk, but even jerks have valid points.


We receive some hatred in the local media...


...but retain the confidence of the investors. We won't declare default. And a default is far, FAR worse than austerity. Everyone will beg for what little you have left, while blaming you for going into default in the first place.




We undertake measures designed to crack down on corruption, lacking anything better to do.



I like how both Alejos and Lazna subtly blame each other for formenting corruption. This is likely the main reason why I can't actually do much on the corruption front: all the parties engage in it in some form.


You're really driving me insane, Padilla.

[Zaranthan]

Yay! Murdering!