El Mensajero
César de Pitango's Guardia Azul marches on Santa Fe
For months now, the frail government in Santa Fe has been complaining of the Guardia Azul, the paramilitary force gathered by César de Pitango, a senior police chief, who was waiting for an opportune moment to, as they claimed, storm the capital and take control of the democratic institutions. César de Pitango, in this period, became a billionaire by operating his 'Mafia de Licencia', License Mafia, demanding payment for the usage of 'licenses', not state-issued but issued by his own service, mainly for the extraction of minerals, the usage of public land for agriculture and grazing and every construction permit issued in the rural areas. César used his subordinate policemen to enforce this system of licenses and sat in the middle of his rural power base, in the small hilly hometown of Alta Vista, gathering money and consolidating his power base.
César grew up in a small town in the rural areas, the so-called Periphery, and as a charismatic and political young lad he quickly enrolled within the small political machines that characterise the Periphery. He rose in the ranks quickly, and around the age of thirty became prominent enough that his status in the Peripheral political machine enabled him to get a lucrative position in the Policía Rural, in which ranks' he rose until he became its chief. Holding the dual role of the chief law enforcement officer and the head of the Peripheral political machine, César established his 'Mafia de Licencia'. For two years now the democratic institutions in the capital of Santa Fe have complained of the power César has been amassing in the Periphery, but have been unable to do anything about it; the police service, although formally subordinate to the government sitting in Santa Fe, were loyal to César, and his wealth was unmatched anywhere in Nevada, rendering any attempt to impede his growth futile.
City journalists, elected officials and professors have complained for a long time of the danger to the elected regime in Santa Fe, and finally their suspicions have been realised. César's paramilitary force, the Guardia Azul, took control yesterday of the city of Santa Fe in a swift military-style operation. The elected officials, amongst them the former President Tucumán, were gathered in the building of the Teatro Nacional and elected César, unanimously, as the Caudillo of Nevada. Although no overt physical coercion, it was clear to everyone that César's soldiers were waiting outside, and so none wished to risk their lives.
The actual policy steps of the new regime are unclear as of yet, but César's steps to consolidate power in the capital so far have been extensive; While his rural power base is staunchly loyal to him, Santa Fe is hostile to him, and reportedly he was already convening with the leaders of local strongmen and influential figure in order to pacify the capital, amongst them friendly clerks of the local bureaucracy, business magnates, the chiefs of the local police and Catholic clerics, the most important of all of these figures being the Archbishop of Santa Fe, Isidre Ferraz. César has been rumoured to already give up on the academia, which is staunchly opposed to his regime, and former elected officials.
Reportedly, President Tucumán and the more fierce critics of César while he was 'ruling the Periphery' were sent to some distant rural town to prevent them from inciting dissent to his regime. César has also declared he will be planning to remain as the chief of the Policía Rural and the chief of the Periphery political machine; his main interests concern remaining in power, and because of that he is less interested in managing the 'City', Santa Fe, and foreign affairs, and because of that he is reportedly planning to leave the actual management of the capital's affairs to professional bureaucrats, limiting his involvement to consolidating his own regime. To manage foreign affairs, which he reportedly has not much interest in, he has appointed his close friend José Antillón as external relations czar, delegating to him all the management of foreign affairs; Antillón has replaced all the foreign ministry's personnel at the capital with his own men, and will now answer all foreign inquiries to the government. The few diplomatic personnel stationed abroad have been instructed to seek the recognition of the new regime by their host states.
Beyond these quite elementary post-coup d'etat actions, it is not yet clear what the actions of the new regime will be.
César de Pitango's Guardia Azul marches on Santa Fe
For months now, the frail government in Santa Fe has been complaining of the Guardia Azul, the paramilitary force gathered by César de Pitango, a senior police chief, who was waiting for an opportune moment to, as they claimed, storm the capital and take control of the democratic institutions. César de Pitango, in this period, became a billionaire by operating his 'Mafia de Licencia', License Mafia, demanding payment for the usage of 'licenses', not state-issued but issued by his own service, mainly for the extraction of minerals, the usage of public land for agriculture and grazing and every construction permit issued in the rural areas. César used his subordinate policemen to enforce this system of licenses and sat in the middle of his rural power base, in the small hilly hometown of Alta Vista, gathering money and consolidating his power base.
César grew up in a small town in the rural areas, the so-called Periphery, and as a charismatic and political young lad he quickly enrolled within the small political machines that characterise the Periphery. He rose in the ranks quickly, and around the age of thirty became prominent enough that his status in the Peripheral political machine enabled him to get a lucrative position in the Policía Rural, in which ranks' he rose until he became its chief. Holding the dual role of the chief law enforcement officer and the head of the Peripheral political machine, César established his 'Mafia de Licencia'. For two years now the democratic institutions in the capital of Santa Fe have complained of the power César has been amassing in the Periphery, but have been unable to do anything about it; the police service, although formally subordinate to the government sitting in Santa Fe, were loyal to César, and his wealth was unmatched anywhere in Nevada, rendering any attempt to impede his growth futile.
City journalists, elected officials and professors have complained for a long time of the danger to the elected regime in Santa Fe, and finally their suspicions have been realised. César's paramilitary force, the Guardia Azul, took control yesterday of the city of Santa Fe in a swift military-style operation. The elected officials, amongst them the former President Tucumán, were gathered in the building of the Teatro Nacional and elected César, unanimously, as the Caudillo of Nevada. Although no overt physical coercion, it was clear to everyone that César's soldiers were waiting outside, and so none wished to risk their lives.
The actual policy steps of the new regime are unclear as of yet, but César's steps to consolidate power in the capital so far have been extensive; While his rural power base is staunchly loyal to him, Santa Fe is hostile to him, and reportedly he was already convening with the leaders of local strongmen and influential figure in order to pacify the capital, amongst them friendly clerks of the local bureaucracy, business magnates, the chiefs of the local police and Catholic clerics, the most important of all of these figures being the Archbishop of Santa Fe, Isidre Ferraz. César has been rumoured to already give up on the academia, which is staunchly opposed to his regime, and former elected officials.
Reportedly, President Tucumán and the more fierce critics of César while he was 'ruling the Periphery' were sent to some distant rural town to prevent them from inciting dissent to his regime. César has also declared he will be planning to remain as the chief of the Policía Rural and the chief of the Periphery political machine; his main interests concern remaining in power, and because of that he is less interested in managing the 'City', Santa Fe, and foreign affairs, and because of that he is reportedly planning to leave the actual management of the capital's affairs to professional bureaucrats, limiting his involvement to consolidating his own regime. To manage foreign affairs, which he reportedly has not much interest in, he has appointed his close friend José Antillón as external relations czar, delegating to him all the management of foreign affairs; Antillón has replaced all the foreign ministry's personnel at the capital with his own men, and will now answer all foreign inquiries to the government. The few diplomatic personnel stationed abroad have been instructed to seek the recognition of the new regime by their host states.
Beyond these quite elementary post-coup d'etat actions, it is not yet clear what the actions of the new regime will be.