Shadow of the Andes - An Interactive Chilean AAR

I find it despicable that no compromise could be made at all, and that members of the Congresso continue to spell my name wrong. It is Ferarri (arrrrri) not Ferrari (errrrrra). But still, was it impossible for either side to compromise? Both myself and de Porto are experienced military men, with myself having led soldiers during our last war with Argentina. And I must add that I am neither a reactionary nor a member of the right, I am a proud independent, and have always been so.

-Christiano Ferarri

zagoroth said:

Unfortunately I have no say in the matter. It is the job of the Presidente and the COS to agree concurrently, and thus I find this whole affair distasteful. They should not be able to win armies for their support, and then trade the abstentions. I firmly hope the COS and Presidente can work out their differences, to prevent any harsh feelings in the government in this term.

-Colonel De Porto

Click to expand...

Not to mention harsh feelings or confusion in the military in the case of war. The last time we had that happen... things went sort of poorly.

I agree with Mr. Ferarri on this. I can understand that the current political climate leaves people wrought with suspicion, an unfortunate occurrence. But we must compromise, or there will exist no unity in government.

Interesting event... and yet still a travesty for the Republic. The COS was not made in order to fill half the armies with generals, the position is there to force negotiations to come to an acceptable agreement. Now instead of compromise, there is opportunity for filling seats with supporters...

Oye vey,

-Colonel de Porto

An unfortunate turn of events, but hopeless for CoS Rios. Hou might have seized more than half of the army, but the people stands with the president. If you attempt to seize the government or boycot the war, you will eventually face trials.

Other than that, I urge the people to calm down. We have seen way too many coup attempts these last years and that tends to create an incomfortable ambient filled with distrust. The crackdown of the Red Guard and Renins death has made the right afraid and the left paranoid

This is intolerable.

On the eve of invasion, the Chilean Army is to be divided up between Rios' political allies. The Chief of Staff elected to lead us into war shall instead undermine the war effort by selling out command posts to his friends. Our armies are to be arbitrarily partitioned and parcelled off.

I have been denounced as a reactionary. Yet it was not I who precipitated this unprecedented crisis. It was not I who was unyielding in my army appointments. Five times did I submit my appointments for approval, amended at each stage in accordance with Rios' demands. Five times were they spat back in my face. I offered compromise and consensus; I received conflict and betrayal.

Moreover, betrayal of myself and the Chilean Army is far from the worst of Rios' intentions. I have the rumblings of sedition. I have heard of overtures to the political parties to destabilise and subvert the government. There is a conspiracy at foot, and it aims its sights on La Moneda. If I am the reactionary, then why do you skulk in the shadows? If you are truly in the right, why do you have to conspire against me from the back rooms and the back alleys? And if all you are concerned with is an impartial distribution of the army, why do you dabble in politics?

Now that the army has been undemocratically delivered into his hands, we shall see General Rios' intentions. But I will not allow these intentions to undermine the Army I have so long fought for. I will not allow the greatest armies in the country to be allocated to political incompetents. The people will not allow it. The Chief of Staff has overstepped his bounds and trampled on the constitutional order. He has sought to render the Army subservient to his own political interests. This was precisely what he was not supposed to do. Therefore, I am left with no alternative but to appeal to the people directly:

I hereby announce an emergency session of Congreso to properly resolve this crisis in a democratic manner appropriate to the national interests involved.

Emergency Resolution Initiative

1. The appointments currently proposed by the President shall be placed into effect,
2. This will be a single-instance act, authorising the appointments in this term only,
3. The following term, appointments shall be carried out in conjunction with the Chief of Staff as typical.

Members of Congreso, do not stand by and see our Army violated by special interests. Do not jeopardise the Argentinian war before it is even in motion. Stand up against this injustice, and right the wrongs that have been committed against the President, the people and the Republic.

- President Charles Maximilien de Conti

Writings From Prison

From the death of Comrade Renin to the Constitutional Crisis, the evidence is piling up before my eyes that separation is the only answer. It is evil to keep together camps of people whose fundamental material interests and world views are entirely irreconcilable. The Right will never be happy with anything other than paternal authority over the merchants and the workers, and the workers will always be starving and desperate as long as there is any authority over them but their own. It is the duty and the right of a free people to separate themselves from an alien power, and the power of the statists and plutocrats could not be any more alien to the revolutionary populace.

Chile must be partitioned into at least two countries, maybe three. We are approaching the point of having the largest military in the world, we have nothing to fear from separation; five separate Chile could each defend themselves against each and every foe they are likely to face.

I find it likely that the current reactionary regime yet the continued ability of leftists such as myself and Rios to be elected Chief of Staff, the polarization of the country and the mistrust of the overall majority for having any one side in total control, will lead to the formation of separatist political parties in electoral politics and armed separatist movements fighting for autonomy and liberation; sometime in the near future.

- Guerrero, Former Chief of Staff

As a reminder, here are the appointments I wish to implement:

Army of Arica ((18 brigades (10inf 6art 2cav))) - General Ferrari ((King5000))
Army of Patagonia ((18 brigades (10inf 6art 2cav))) – General Hidalgo ((MastahCheef))
Army of the Republic ((20 brigades (12inf 6art 2cav)) – Colonel de Porto ((Zagoroth))
Metropolitan Army ((18 brigades (10inf 2art 2cav)) – Colonel Rivera ((AtomicSoda))
Panama Canal Garrison ((8 brigades (5inf 3art)) - General Adrian ((Lyonessian))
Navy and Marine Force ((6 brigades (5inf 1art)) - Admiral Alvarez ((Gloa))
Capital Guard ((12 brigades (9inf 3art))

Under my current powers due to the compromise, I immediately make the following appointments:

Army of Patagonia ((18 brigades (10inf 6art 2cav))) – General Hidalgo ((MastahCheef))
1st Army of the Republic ((8 brigades (5inf 2art 1cav)) – Colonel de Porto ((Zagoroth))
Panama Canal Garrison ((8 brigades (5inf 3art)) - Colonel Rivera ((AtomicSoda))

I believe we can all agree that a conclusion that gives the elected President of the Republic influence over the appointment of only one and a half armies and a remote garrison is irredeemably flawed.

- President Charles Maximilien de Conti

Rios you fool! You would stand in the way of our democratically elected President in order to propound your own misguided ideology within our military? Your past statements condemning the rightists and openly advocating for the FNT show your partisanship. How on earth could Ferrari be beaten in the polls by you in the first place? Your partisanship goes against everything that has kept Chile stable over these past few years.

I hereby propose the Military Non-partisan Act. Hopefully this measure will effectively keep the CoS out of the political world for the duration of his time of service.

1. During CoS elections, candidates
I. Are not allowed to formally attach themselves politically to any presidential candidates
II. Are not allowed to voice their support for any political group in the Congreso
III. Are not allowed to accept campaign donations from any political group

2. During his time of service, the CoS
I. Must not be publicly affiliated with any political group ( registered independent)
II. Must not voice public opposition or endorsement of any political issue or creed

I ask the Congreso to consider the proposed bill and give insight as to how we can further expand it.

We already had an emergency session Presidente, followed through by THe Judicial branch of Chile. I do not believe requesting another session will solve the problem, besides which it was the failure of both you and the COS to come to a negotiation which created the initial Crisis to begin with.

Seriously, both of you brought this before Congress and started this mess, there is no use bickering about it or accusing anyone of anything anymore. The problem is solved. Rios did not "win" military troops, he is not someone to be held accountable to the government as subverting anything, it was not in his wish for this crisis to occur. The same with the Presidente.

As a side not, currently General Rios is at home, and probably will not be available until this session reconvenes on the nonce.

I have consulted with the courts, Colonel de Porto, and they have stated that an emergency resolution of Congreso is still possible and allowed. Since the current compromise is an unacceptable blow to military integrity and independence, which radically bolsters Chief of Staff power beyond the bounds of the Chief of Staff Act, I cannot allow this crisis to continue. Only an emergency initiative to enact the appointments in Congreso will save the Chilean Army from being partitioned on the eve of invasion.

I did not start this debacle. I did not choose to bring these affairs into the public domain. I chose to speak privately with General Rios, present my case and push for a compromise. It was General Rios who then broke off negotiations and - without informing me of his intentions - denounced me in the halls of Congreso. It was General Rios who originated this whole crisis, both by his ardent refusal to accept compromise and his willingness to subvert the system. It is General Rios who may now appoint half our armies, without consultation and without the consensus of the President or Congreso. In short, he has violated his mandate of Chief of Staff. When the Chief of Staff will not adhere to his duties, then Congreso must provide a democratic resolution.

- President Charles Maximilien de Conti

Friends and compatriots of the Congreso, I now must urge reason.

The Chief of Staff election was a mistake in an of itself, as Rios is proving intolerably incompetent and combative on the eve of an invasion. A less qualified military man, there will never be found. He has in his history done nothing of note, and he misrepresented himself as a candidate. Now, he babbles Communist rhetoric in desperate attempts to secure for himself some menial amount of power that he most certainly does not deserve. He is a shameful disgrace to Chile, and a sham of a candidate who should and shall be black-balled by the entire political community.

That being said, we must not flood the Congreso floor with bills and acts to limit his power. Unfortunately, President de Conti made a grave mistake when he appointed left-wing Generals even though the public clearly demanded a right-wing Government. Taking this into account, the matter is decided. God willing, Rios will have the small amount of sense to replace Generals following our war in Argentina.

However, what we must deal with now is the invasion of Argentina. This act has passed, and is far more important than the internal upheaval of Chile due to one incompetent man.

As a final warning, I must demand that these bills to remove the power of Rios be retracted. Rios is an unstable man, and he has several times contacted members of the Patriotas party including myself, General Sebastian Hidalgo and Minister Caitan Crazzio regarding secret plans of a coup. Obviously, he was following false intelligence, as we were all acquitted of any wrongdoing. However, we must be cautious not to bring about yet another Civil War.

First, the war with Argentina. Then, we deal with Rios.

Senator Alejandro Ruiz de Escovedo

General Rios brought your private negotiations before Congress, a mistake. You helped accelerate the problem as well, in the aftermath. The events afterwords, were dictated by the courts. If there is a crime, it is certainly not anyone obtaining too much power. Everything occurred at the wish of the courts, not of the parties involved, and it just so happened your COS gained slightly more support than you yourself.

No one exerted power not afforded to them.

The best solution is to move on, and in the next general election hopefully the presidente and COS will be able to negotiate. Continuing to attempt to subvert the importance of the COS does a bit to undermine your own presidency. As a man who respects the honorable presidente, I would not wish to see him go against the law by going against the COS. Before you say the COS subverted the law, his crime was bringing his qualms to Congress, everything after that was orchestrated by the ruling of the courts.

I do not propose to limit the Chief of Staff's power, Senor de Escovedo. Rather, I propose to have my current appointments implemented by a vote of Congreso. This is as much a legal resolution as the current compromise we have now. It will not affect the future, or undermine the Chief of Staff; it will merely accept my appointments for this term. The Chief of Staff is not being enfeebled. Currently, he is exercising power far beyond his mandate and the stipulations of the Chief of Staff Act. It was always the role of the Chief of Staff to verify and second-guess the President's appointments, not bypass him completely and install his favoured candidates in command.

You say that we must resolve this crisis after we have dealt with Argentina. But the two are one in the same. We cannot go to war with the Army of the Republic sawed in half and our armed forces divided up between Rios' political supporters. In order to ensure victory in Argentina, we must first solve the crisis in Chile. A single vote in Congreso is all that is necessary to ensure a fair, democratic resolution to this laughable crisis, which should have never arisen in the first place.

Colonel de Porto, the Chief of Staff has been afforded the power to directly make army appointments - a power never enshrined in the Chief of Staff Act or exercised by any previous Chief of Staff. It is unconstitutional and undemocratic, and cannot be tolerated.

- President Charles Maximilien de Conti

It is not like Rios was given a choice after the crisis started on whether or not to craft appointments. Besides which, he has not even appointed any generals yet. I believe this session should conclude until The honorable Presidente can get back in touch with Rios.

General Rios chose to begin this crisis, Colonel de Porto. It is one thing to reject my army appointments; it is another to then attack me in Congreso and foster dissent against me. Everything could have been solved quietly and swiftly in our private correspondence. Instead, he chose to burn his bridges and assault my honour, my reputation and my government. You cannot exempt this man of blame.

As per the text of the Chief of Staff Act:

Generals would have to be appointed with the consent of both the President and the Army Chief of Staff in the future.

Click to expand...

It is on these grounds that I find that the current powers afforded to the Chief of Staff by this constitutional compromise go above and beyond the powers stipulated by the Act.

I am, of course, amenable to reopening negotiations with General Rios. But what gives Colonel de Porto the idea that General Rios will be inclined to discuss his appointments with me after he has already conspired to remove me from office?

- President Charles Maximilien de Conti

I would not listen to rumors of knives in the dark, and potential coup's. The current ruling by the court does indeed go beyond the original Act's mandate, so perhaps let us wait for General Rios to arrive back so he can get the details of all this?

-Colonel de Porto

"I must voice my continued support for President de Conti and his administration, he has Chile on the right path to glory, while the left seeks to subjugate us to the will of their politicians. Viva La Chile!"

-Crown Prince Daniel Jesus Roseno

I am open to this new bill proposed by our Presidente. For now the Patriotas shall hold off on judgement in order to fully assess what is to be done about this debacle we currently find ourselves in.