Nation in Turmoil - A LatAm Political RPm (IC - Open!)

[Fidimouni]

January 4th, 2022
Approximately 2:21 PM
Communist Refoundation Rally, Tres Rios — Puerto Plata

The early hours of the day were marked by a silent bus ride: practicing his speech, keeping notes, and the occasional sip or ten of coffee. But when he started speaking, Pablo Miledo didn't feel any shame on any of that.

"My friends, today, shall the masses finally arise from atop the dying corpse of liberal capitalism, the dying corpse of a bastardized nation! Today, we stand atop the world!", giving a pause for the cheers that were slowly drowning him out. "The battle of past is certainly not over. We still have our nation's door knocked in by the ghastly Washington Accord, as it's march throughout the world threatens peace. We still have the presence of a class of people who have modeled themselves as a little nation within a nation, that of the capitalist and bureaucrat! And with the absolute power of the masses, I am not in a second hesitant that we can overcome the little nations within us. That we can overcome the capitalist, the landlord, the bureaucrat, the spineless, and, most importantly, the bastard, so help me god!"

The university, once a home of the strongest intellectual tradition, was now home to a crowd of thousands of young activist, both from the working and middle class, listening to a madman squeal. Or, so may the reactionary press say, at least according to Pedro Miledo, as he stood atop his stage. It was a diverse crowd down there, but it was certainly predominantly young. The Peoples Park, as local university activist have come to call it after the fall of the dictatorship, has traditionally been home to dozens of different rallies and speaking events. But the crowd today crushed into the park and the surrounding streets, as one of the more famous human rights and socialist activist in the nation took up upon it's steps and declared his candidacy for parliament, and ontop of that, to take one of the more urgent tasks of the Refoundation Movement: gaining any sort of semblance of power in the parliament.

The heat hit his face like a firewall. Latin American "winter's" were summer's as North American "summer's" were winters. It certainly didn't help that the young jovial energy of it all reflected in the somewhat chaotic nature of the Peoples Park. But these were minor issues. They didn't matter. What mattered was what was right in front of him: the people, in there purest form. And his fighting words reflected that. His armed waved around in a circle, as if he was trying to slap someone almost. Without the sound, it would be almost maybe a little comedic. But the words of revolutionary power in the masses certainly distracted from that. It was nothing short of a spectacle today. But these still, like the heat and the chaos, minor issues.

He continued: "Look around at the spineless in our parties! The "Labourist" do not fight alongside that of the laborer, no, they fight alongside those who control them: the capitalist's! The PLP? A yankee in national colours! And the PDCP have there hands colored red with the blood of the working class, as they fight for the pillagers of our nation! The answer lies forward: that of Communist Refoundation! It is today that I, alongside every person here in the masses, run for a peoples platform, a communist and socialist platform! It is your duty, to our nation, to the world, and for yourself, to vote for the CRM! The morning shall come!"

And with rabid applause and cheering, as he steps off the stage, rushed back to his bus. And, immediately, passes out.

Being a champion of the working class is hard, y'know.

[Sao Nova Europa]

TV 7 News

Interview with Alan Castañeda

Reporter: "Thank you, Mr. Castañeda, for being with us here today. Let's start with an obvious question. What do you intend to do as President, if you win the election?"

Castañeda: "Thank you for having me in your show. As President, I aim to pursue a broad reformist agenda. I aim to restructure public administration, by completely digitizing all public services and instituting an evaluation process for civil servants. I aim to simplify our tax code by eliminating unnecessary taxes and reducing taxation to a flat personal income tax of 15%, a flat corporate tax of 10% and a 12% value-added tax. I am to legislate a Minimum Guaranteed Income for families below the poverty line, to ensure that economic growth is inclusive. I also aim to bolster security by hiring more police officers and forming motorized police squads that will regularly patrol the streets of our cities. At the end of the day, my vision of Carbania is that of an innovative, start-up nation."

Reporter: "How will you pay for all these tax cuts and increases to spending?"

Castañeda: "For a start, I aim to balance any increases in spending with targeted spending cuts. I've promised that as President I shall establish a 'Public Spending Review' to identify, and cut, government waste and extravagance. The digitization of the public sector is also going to save a lot of money, since we will have less red tape and bureaucracy, and we will need less civil servants as many transactions will take place online. Thirdly, we aim to better reallocate already existing spending. For example, the Minimum Guaranteed Income will be funded by merging various existing government programs into a single, easily-manageable program that requires far fewer civil servants to run it. Fourthly, tax cuts will bring higher revenue: the known Laffer Curve shows that a lower rate of taxation does not necessary equal lower revenues. Fifth, by expanding our GDP. Tax cuts, deregulation and a pro-business reformist agenda will bolster our economic growth, and this will of course affect state revenues."

Reporter: "What do you say to people who point to the data showing that tax cuts or social spending on the poorest actually grow the economy more than tax cuts on the rich?"

Castañeda: "That's why our agenda aims to cut taxes for everyone, both rich and poor. Carbanians who earn an income of less than $3,000 will pay zero income tax, while small businesses with ten or less employees shall pay a reduced 8% corporate tax. At the same time, our Minimum Guaranteed Income will provide $100 per month for individuals below the poverty line. The idea that our tax cuts are only for the rich is an absurd accusation. These tax cuts and targeted social spending will allow consumers to spend more and small businesses to survive and thrive. Meanwhile big corporations that also get tax cuts will be able to invest in new jobs and increase wages, thus creating prosperity. It is populistic to vilify businesses that provide for thousands of jobs. Instead of empty slogans, we prefer policies that actively create jobs and increase wages. Our goal is to create prosperity rather than to redistribute misery."

Reporter: "But isn't it true that your income tax reform will actually raise taxes on the poor, for some even tripling their tax burden?"

Castañeda: "Not really. Those who make less than $3,000 will pay zero in income tax while our Minimum Guaranteed Income will provide substantial support for those below the poverty line. Taxation will be lower for everyone. This combination of lower taxation, a digitized public administration, the simplification of our regulations and strong protection for property rights will lead to increased economic growth and prosperity. If you look at which societies are the richest, you will see that liberal, capitalist states are doing better than socialist ones. Compare South Korea to Venezuela. That is the model we want to bring to Carbania. We aim to make this a start-up nation. We aim to promote innovation and creativity, and to attract foreign direct investment that shall create new, well-paying jobs."

Reporter: "What are your party's views, then, on the abortion issue?"

Castañeda: "Personally I am pro-choice. I believe that reproductive rights are human rights. I know this is a rather unpopular stance and that I will probably lose votes because of it, but that's OK. I prefer to be honest with voters. However I pledge that any changes in abortion laws will have to be approved by a nation-wide referendum if I am President, so no change will take place unless the Carbanian society supports such change."

Reporter: "What are your views, then, on access to contraception and sexual education in schools?"

Castañeda: "With regards to access to contraception, I believe it should be provided at low cost for those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. An unwanted pregnancy by a poor single mother or a household below the poverty line that is already struggling to make ends meet leads to social exclusion and desperation. With regards to sexual education, I believe it should be taught at the final class of high school in order to ensure that children avoid unsafe sex. That way we can both prevent sexually transmittable diseases and teenage pregnancies."

Reporter: "So do you consider it morally acceptable for people to have sex outside of marriage, as some might say you're condoning it through handing out contraception?"

Castañeda: "Personally I do not find it moral and believe people should wait for marriage before having sex, but this is a free country and people should have the liberty to make choices on their own rather than be controlled by a nanny state. This is the same reason I don't want to see cigars banned or alcohol banned despite disapproving both. This is especially important for young people. It should be noted that teenagers are going to be teenagers: it's better to ensure that there won't be teenage pregnancies than to moralize and then gasp in shock at teenage pregnancies. Lastly, it should be noted that most advanced Western countries have access to contraception and they are actually doing better than us economically and socially. So I think we should become a little more like those advanced liberal countries we admire and where our young people hope to emigrate to."

Reporter: "Back to education for a second. What do you think of the recent concerns raised by social conservative groups that 'Cultural Marxism' is being taught in our schools and promoted in universities?"

Castañeda: "I believe that universities should be open to all ideologies, whether conservative or left-wing. I do not believe, however, that teachers should be pushing their own political views on their students. If this is happening, then I believe such professors should be reprimanded. But I do not think this is a big problem; there might be a few such professors and some activist students, but the majority of our youth simply want to be educated and the majority of our professors are good, hard-working intelligent folk. I believe we should focus on real issues: security in our streets, our economy, our public administration. Bringing foreign direct investments, combating crime and making the public sector friendlier to the average citizen are all more important issues than fighting against ghosts."

Reporter: "So do you think the threat of 'Cultural Marxism' is being overblown?"

Castañeda: "To a certain extend, yes. I believe that we should focus on real, kitchen table issues if we want to stave off the radical left. We need to focus on bringing taxes down, on attracting investments, on ensuring that economic growth is inclusive, on protecting our environment, on combating crime, on embracing the fourth industrial revolution. We must move forward."

Reporter: "What do you mean by 'kitchen table issues'?"

Castañeda: "Everyday concerns that confront ordinary folks on a daily basis. The ordinary person who struggles to make ends meet does not care about cultural Marxism: he cares about how much he pays in taxes, he cares if his son will be able to find a job, he cares if his daughter can walk in the streets without being harassed by some criminal, he cases if his other son can have a decent education that will allow him to be competitive in the job market. Those are real issues."

Reporter: "To close off, why do you think you should be President?"

Castañeda: "I am an economist by training, having taught at the New York University Business School and the Intichiquan Business School. I believe this background gives me an unique understanding on how to fix the problems Carbania faces. Secondly, I am honest. I know some may chuckle at this since we politicians have a bad reputation but I've never shied away from the truth. In this very interview I expressed views on social and economic issues that I know may cost me votes because I believe in telling what is right, even if that is unpopular. As President you can be sure that I will never lie to the people. Thirdly, I represent a reformist front that aims to change the way things work. Carbania is not working right now, and people are being pushed to embrace the far right or the extreme left. I offer a sensible, common-sense, technocratic liberal alternative. I offer to change Carbania and make it more like Canada, South Korea, Germany and other advanced countries we admire and want to emulate. I aim to make Carbania a prosperous, start-up nation. Together, we can bring the change we so dearly want."

Interview with Alca Mallama Huaman

Reporter: "Welcome, Mr. Mallama to our show. I'm glad to have you here with me. My first question concerns your party's reputation as a left-wing populist force. Some fear that if MPL succeeds in the upcoming elections, private corporations will be scared off and so will be investors. How do you address those fears?

Mallama: "I think there are certain people who are concerned about that, but I think when we declare our economic sovereignty from the United States and bring about a new, sovereign Carbanian currency, the government will have free-floating currency which we can use to raise seed money for state-owned enterprises and cooperatives, along with our redistributive economic policies - which even neoliberal organisations such as the IMF agree - would increase economic growth by quite a lot. In addition, whoever produces it - whether or not it is private corporations, the state or cooperatives - there will always be a market for goods, and if they don't take it, they're suffering a loss too. That's the thing about the free market, it doesn't care about ideology - if one free market nation doesn't want our goods, then another one will gladly take it to give themselves an advantage over the other."

Reporter: "Before moving on to policy specifics, I would like to ask your opinion about Venezuela and Cuba. People have fears not only about possible economic mismanagement, but also about whether an MPL administration shall safeguard our newly acquired liberal democratic institutions or plunge us back to authoritarian rule. Would an MPL administration uphold liberal democratic norms?"

Mallama: "We are the most democratic party in this entire country. I took bullets for democracy. I was tortured for democracy. I was beaten for democracy. Anyone who doubts my commitment to democracy is either a liar or a fool. We absolutely pledge to uphold democracy, 100%."

Reporter: "I am glad to hear that, though I would still like to hear your opinion about Venezuela and Cuba before we can move on to discuss your tax plans."

Mallama: "My view is that we work with people where we agree, and we take a level-headed approach where we disagree. That's true of any country you'll ask me - whether America, Russia, China, Brazil or Cuba. We must have a policy that is pragmatic and that is reasonable, while at the same time ensuring that our democratic values are protected."

Reporter: "What changes to our tax system will an MPL administration bring? I know that rhetorically your party wants a more progressive system of taxation, but with elections nearby both me and - I assume - voters will want to hear specifics."

Mallama: "We'll be making the rich pay their fair share through raising corporate taxes, adding new tax brackets, increasing taxes on capital gains, maybe even a wealth tax. It doesn't make sense that in this country that our top tax bracket is lower than it is in the United States. However, as a counterpoint, I'd like to say that we'll be proud to seek a cut in VAT taxes if possible, and especially we're going to be exempting essentials from the tax. Families shouldn't be having to pay taxes on their sanitary products, on their children's food and on their water and electricity."

Reporter: "Wouldn't an increase in corporate taxation scare off foreign direct investments while forcing corporations already in the country to pass the cost to the consumers by increasing the prices of their products? How would an MPL administration prevent those two issues?"

Mallama: "There are certainly concerns about that, but what that corporate tax money ultimately goes back into is upskilling the workforce, improving productivity and ensuring that workers are healthy and safe. That improves the economy, but, to answer your question, it also makes this country better to invest in. A happy, productive, educated workforce is one that maes far more output than a deprived, unproductive, uneducated workforce, and is ultimately a more enticing investment prospect even if you do have to pay them more."

Reporter: "With regards to the wealth tax you mentioned, back in 1990 twelve of the 36 OECD countries had such a tax. Now only five have. The wealth tax has been abolished in many countries because of concerns it causes capital flight. Would it be wise to institute such a tax when many countries that had implemented this wealth tax actually had it abolished?"

Mallama: "Well, I think you just have to realise that it's clear that the world has moved very much to the right, economically speaking, since 1990. That's the natural consequence of neoliberal globalisation. Yes, it would be, the research is clear on that. It helps us make sure that children are fed, that mothers are healthy and that the elderly are able to live a decent life. A lot of the discourse regarding these taxes forgets what they pay for, and these things are worth far, far more than what any paid-off academic or so-called corporate puppet expert has to say about what it does or doesn't do."

Reporter: "Now, before moving on to social issues, I've got to ask a last question about the economy: do you have any plans to deal with environmental pollution and climate change, and will those plans interfere with economic growth and job creation?"

Mallama: "Absolutely we do. We will be building big, big solar and wind power developments which will provide well-paid, unionised, clean jobs to the youth and help us win the war on unemployment. I do not believe that growth and the environment are incompatible - it has only been through the refusal of oil-backed politicians to implement the correct solutions in order to prevent total social, economic and environmental disaster - a disaster which was warned about over a hundred years ago and by which inaction has been justified through the profiteering of oil billionaires at the expense of indigenous peoples and the future of the world itself."

Reporter: "Do you believe in equal rights for the LGBT community? Should same-sex couples have the right to marry? Should there be legal protections to protect them from discrimination and bigotry?"

Mallama: "Yes, yes, and yes. I respect the rights of our people to their traditional ways, but I say, if they're not harming you, then what do you have to fear? After all, nobody's forcing anyone to be gay. It's freedom, and even if you personally disagree with homosexuality or transgenderism, then I ask you to stand behind the principle of freedom that we have struggled so long for."

Reporter: "What about access to abortion and contraception?"

Mallama: "Sure. We'll cover abortion if the doctors consent - as they're the experts - and we'll cover contraception too. It's just healthcare, really. And I realise that there are deep emotions over this, but the fact is that banning abortions doesn't stop abortion - it just makes them unsafe. This is not about the government telling women to get 100 abortions on taxpayer money. This is just about making sure women don't die to coat hangers, toxic chemicals, or whatever it is people try to abort themselves with these days. I realise the sanctity of life, from losing my wife...from losing my son...from the great emotional hurt that I have felt ever since they were gone...but I also realise that a country must do what helps its people, not just our knee-jerk impulsive reactions. I love life, and it is beautiful, but the way you protect lives is not by locking up women for wanting medical procedures. It is through universal healthcare, fighting diseases like Chagas, and through waging a full scale war on want to ensure that we do not lose any more lives to the throes of poverty that many in this nation seem so content to accept as a fact of life. It is not a fact of life. It is something that was brought about by choices. And we can choose to do the right thing here."

Reporter: "With which parties is the MPL willing to cooperate with in parliament? If there is no left-wing majority in parliament, will you be willing to cooperate with center-left or even centrist parties and form a government? Or shall you rather remain in opposition?"

Mallama: "I'm not entirely sure, honestly. It'd depend on what they're willing to give us and the exact terms of the deal. As I said earlier, I'm a pragmatist, and I'll accept a deal which I think is good for the nation and reject one that I think is bad for the nation."

Reporter: "To finish this interview, I would like to ask you why someone should vote the MPL? Thank you."

Mallama: "Well, I think it's pretty simple. All those right-wing parties will give long rants about this and that, about some economic dance with charts and graphs and endless studies from paid-off crooks telling you lies about why they should hand more money to the rich, but our pitch is simple.

We'll give you healthcare, we'll give you education, we'll give you clean water, we'll give you a job and we'll give you a house. That's a simple, honest pitch. And we have the plans to make it work. We have the experience to make it work. We have the integrity and the guts to fight for the people of this country, come hell or high water, and we'll fight until our last breaths - and trust me, we have a record of proving that we will - so let's step forward, and make a new, better, stronger Carbania! For the people, we fight!"

[The Sarangtus Lands]

The Union Man

Mallama woke up. It was a pretty decent day, as he felt the sun rise on his face. He muttered a bit, slowly gathering his strength before he could get out of bed. He thought of what he needed to do in the day ahead, realising the first thing he needed to do was read his notes. He shifted his hand, careful to not fall over, and began to read them.

He spent a few minutes flicking through, reading what he needed to do. He needed to go to that rally later, of course, and help the union drive down in Valenzuela for the textile workers' union, who were a growing section of the Confederation, and then attend a bunch of meetings later today. He got himself out of bed with some difficulty, then took the lift down to his living room, where he saw his niece.

He embraced her, as she and her mother were the only family Mallama really had left, with his parents passing away due to old age and the unfortunate death of his wife and son at the hands of the dictatorship.

"It's good to see you again, my little flower."

"It's good to see you again too, uncle."

"Great morning, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"So, what have you got cooking over there?"

"I've got some ceviche and sanguche de chicharron."

"Awww...that's lovely."

Mallama went over to the fridge to take some iced tea, and then sat still in front of the TV to drink it as he watched the announcement. He was shocked. Wow. This actually happened. The fight...was over. He smiled, even crying slightly though not visibly, as he knew that the fight of his life was finally at the cusp of being won. All he needed to do now was seize it. After a few minutes, his niece gave his food, and he hugged her once again.

"Bye now. Make sure to speak to Otero later." She said, referring to a conversation they had last night.

"Bye, and of course I will." He replied, smiling.

After finishing his breakfast, Mallama decided to call up an old friend of his on the telephone.

OOC: (this section was done with Jovui)

Otero was quick to pick up his phone and answer, "Alca, good morning. How's your new year been?"

"Good, good, Manuel, I've been speaking more with my sister and niece recently. My niece actually made me breakfast today, which was great. How was your New Years'?"

"Lots of organizing. I'm sure I don't need to remind you about the news. We've only got a couple months to prepare and campaign. We'll have to get our discussions going with the PNLP to work out a coalition. I expect I should announce my run for President by next week." Otero replied.

"I was actually going to speak to you about the PNLP situation, but it seems you're ahead of that. You're running for President, though? I thought you might've wanted Prime Minister..."

"Either is fine by me. As long as we can win the people over and make some good changes, I don't care whether I'm President or Prime Minister. President, of course, would be preferable. I think I'll be proposing a coalition primary so ourselves and the PNLP can get behind a common candidate and not split our votes."

"That's good. Very good. What are we actually planning to do, in terms of strategy for the parliamentary elections? I've actually got some ideas, since I was thinking about this last night..." Mallama picked up his notepad, looking through it for his notes on that specifically.

"At the moment, we're going to be targeting the working class first and foremost. Make the case that the MPL will turn the page on corrupt government and usher in people-first democracy. Our organization is going to be critical, I think. We need to have people on the ground talking to voters directly and getting our turnout up, especially in the urban centers. An effective social media campaign can help with youth turnout. What have you been thinking?"

"That's good. Very good. I've been thinking that we release some key pledges. We say universal healthcare now, universal education now, universal employment now. That's what we should run on. We should say that every Carbanian will be able to get free education, free healthcare, and a well-paynig job. Raise the minimum wage. We run on the bread-and-butter, I'll mobilise my people so we have a lot of activists on the street, reach out to rural areas both through social media and through our local branches there, and we just hammer our case on these issues to unite the working class before anyone else can. With my men, we've got an advantage, let's keep it that way. We should also have a strong platform on women's rights to win the vote, maybe through calling for a child benefit and free childcare, and these five issues will help us knock the park out in terms of, well, winning the election. We just need to release a big manifesto and then sell it to the people. The left's policies are very, very popular, as long as we remain credible in being able to carry them out and them working, we should be good."

Otero nodded, "That sounds right. This is going to be all about organization and messaging. I trust you to get your guys together to help us out. Hopefully our opponent in the second round is easily beatable. I think the regional pink tide puts things in our favor as well."

"Yep, absolutely. We've got good news on all sides, let's hope we can pull a win there. Who do you think would be the best opponent in the second round?"

"There are probably around 100 or so people wanting to be the first democratic President of the new Carbania." Otero laughed, "Out of those, I think perhaps Morterero. He's a junta kisser, and most of the country is sick of the junta. I don't think any other candidate would better help prop up our message."

"I agree. Maybe we contrast ourselves against him, and that will allow him to contrast himself against us while signal-boosting him, which will allow him to win enough of the anti-us vote in order to make it to the runoff then we mop the floor with him."

"That can be arranged. The far-right seems to have a weird tendency nowadays to support whoever they think would make us mad. Hopefully we can work out a coalition in parliament, though. I think an outright majority is a tall order."

"In any case, I think if we get the PNLP on side, maybe work with the Laboristas where needed...I think we might be able to just pull it off. I do have a question for you though, and I've been thinking about this for a while..."

"What is it?"

"What if I ran for the local party list to get a seat in the Assembly? I was thinking about it in 1974 but, well, you know how things went down..."

"For the Camparroz Assembly or the National Assembly? I think either way your voice would be fantastic to have in our politics."

"For the National Assembly. I think I could pull off getting on the list, though I'd have to step down from the CWC, so I may be better served by remaining in the union confederation. There is something, though..."

"Whatever you think would give you the best voice. What's the something?"

"My niece apparently wants to run for Assembly."

"If she wants to run, I say go for it. We'll see how she fairs and see if she's a good spot high in the list."

"Excellent. Thank you. Was there anything you wanted to ask me- Oh, and, one last thing. We're holding a union drive in Alturas Carbania to help the mining unions, would you mind joining?"

"Oh, definitely. I'll put that on my schedule. Ah, I do have a question, actually. Would you potentially be interested in a cabinet position if we win the elections?"

"Yes, I think I'd, obviously due to my history, I'd like Minister of Economic Affairs, though I wouldn't mind the Ministry of Public Services and Labour either."

"We'll see the options when we get there. Anything else?"

"Not really, no, but I would like to say that the unions this time around will be making endorsements for who to run on the party list so don't be shocked when we roll our recommended ballot out."

"I'll make sure to look over it."

"Excellent. Thank you, that'll be all then. Goodbye, Manuel."

"Talk to you later, Alca."

Mallama hung up the phone, satisfied, then rolled down to meet his driver who had arrived just in time. His driver helped him get into the car, where he had two major engagements today. First was a summit of all the various union leaders, so that he can both keep them all happy and prepare to mobilise them and their memberships for the time ahead - that's where he was driving to at first. Next was a union drive for the textile workers, which he wanted to do in order to further boost union numbers and send a signal to the workers that there was a strong union movement in the country.

He prepared his notes while in the car, scribbling and thinking. He then was helped out of the car after some time, as he rolled over to the lift and got into the meeting room. The room clapped as he came in. All the various union heads were there, ranging from the leader of the tourist workers' union to education and, of course, the agricultural workers' union, who was a close friend of Mallama's and who he had an iron grip on.

Mallama sat next to two closest friends in the room, the leader of the agricultural workers' union and the leader of the mining workers' union, and the meeting began. They discussed a number of things, some procedural and boring such as how to streamline the bureaucracy, but then the matter of the election came up. Mallama and his allies fully advocated for backing the MPL as much as possible, and the room mostly nodded in agreement.

They talked about GOTV initiatives and strategies to energise the grassroots, both to increase union membership - as they have been doing for the past few years - but also to increase the MPL's total. They talked about speaking with local activists, and drew up plans on how to ensure that Otero would win but also on getting candidates for the new union list, and getting union activists and staffers out there helping the MPL to create a political machine that would counter the right, along with expanding their charity efforts and seeking to get more donations, continuing their work on mutual aid networks, and a new media effort which will launch soon with radio, online and newspaper publications designed to compete with the right-wing press, and of course to earn a bit of extra money for the union in the long term.

They talked about the financing of it all, and spoke of reaching out to donors in foreign media markets for the network, along with international leftist organisations who were willing to give capital for the media effort. One of the moderates raised concerns about financing, and Mallama agreed that financing would be a bit of a problem in the short-term, but thanks to the massively increasing union membership as a result of their legalisation, they would have lots of new money. The meeting agreed to all these initiatives unanimously, after a discussion was held between Mallama's radical faction and a moderate holdout, agreeing to reduce the sum dedicated to it in the name of prudence.

As the votes concluded, the meeting was adjourned, and Mallaman took the time to eat lunch with them to catch up on social matters and build formidable relationships, along with keeping their trust and support. He ate some fairly inoffensive sandwiches, but was reasonably ascestic with them, along with eating a salad. After his meal with the boys, he once again got into car, spending his time preparing his remarks and then giving out calls to local union branch leaders and speaking via video call to local branches and cheering them on, along with making virtual appearances at MPL events while in the car, giving short speeches promoting the platform and waving hello to audiences across the nation.

After doing this for two hours, he arrived at his destination. He spoke to the textile workers, shaking hands and joining in their picket for a bit, being a clear presence in the crowd, and rallying people together, along with speaking to the local organisers and promoting them on social media. He talked about the power of the ordinary to them, and rallied them on, while signing up workers personally and calling on them to back the vote.

He then decided to make a speech, coming onto the workers chanting to him. He had a song that many in Carbania called his own, a song which was written by a musician in tribute to the struggle of the people of Carbania during the fight for freedom under the dictatorship. The crowd began to unite with one voice as he came on, raising his fist.

"The people, united, will never be defeated!" The crowd sang, clapping in tune for Mallama as he came on.

"My fellow workers!" He punctuated, to much applause, "The fight is starting. The fight for a better world. The fight for higher wages, the fight for peace and for justice, the fight to defend all we hold dear. The struggle is here, and we are in its microcosm. Who will you pick, my fellow workers? Will you pick the employer who has exploited you for so long - who has said to you that you have to work 12 hour days, that you can't have paid sick leave and that you can't even have enough of a wage to feed your family without going into debt on a regular basis?

Or will you pick those great men over there," He pointed at the union organisers standing alongside him. "Who are one of you, and who have been fighting to make sure that you can get compensated properly, to make sure that you can take time off when you're pregnant or when you're sick? The choice is clear, my brothers, my sisters, get out there and vote for the union when it comes, because they'll be out there, fighting for you, fighting for your families, and you'll finally be able to have a decent wage - the facts are clear. Union workers earn more, work less hours and are happier. Why wait? Come on, put your name on the list and let's get the fight going!"

The workers cheered him, and he went down to shake their hands and meet some of the more reluctant workers, attempting to charm them over with a smile and ssome words of motivation. After many minutes of this, he was approached by a journalist as he left.

"Are the rumours true that you're going to run for Assembly?"

"You know, I'm going to be honest - I've genuinely been considering it."

"What do you think about the other parties?"

"Lots of them are good people. But I will say this. Nobody can save the working class except itself, and any businessman, consulting firm person...whoever, who think sthey can just ride in on a horse, dress themselves up in the language of the people then claim to be the man of the unions...Well, that's just a whole load of nonsense, isn't it?"

"Is that referring to Alejandro Vega?"

"It refers to any rich man who thinks he's the saviour of the poor just because he handed out a bunch of crumbs after taking some by beating up an innocent man."

"So is that a yes, or..."

"Look, all I'm saying is that we are the working class party, and we are the party who has the interests of the working class in mind, and I know that because me and Otero, who both come from that sort of background, have been fighting for the working class our entire lives, and we will continue to do so."

After brushing the reporter off, he went back home, spending his time in the car drafting plans for Otero's campaign for President and for the MPL, along with more phone calls to activists and community leaders to push them ahead.

"All in a day's work." Mallama thought, as he ate his dinner, which consisted nothing more than vegetable and chicken soup, along with some crackers, and then went to bed, ready for the next day...

[Sao Nova Europa]

Alan Castañeda's Campaign Trail:

January 6, 2022
17:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Alan Castañeda visited headquarters of a start-up company.
Excerpt: "Our vision for Carbania is that of a start-up nation. That's why we aim to bring big changes that will support Carbanian start-up and businesses. We shall simplify our tax code and reduce the overall tax burden of individuals and businesses. We shall completely digitize public administration in order to reduce rate tape and eliminate needless paperwork and waste of time. We shall put an end to needless regulations that strangle businesses and add-up costs which business-owners then have to pass up to consumers. A PLP administration shall be a business-friendly administration."

January 8, 2022
18:00 AM
Location: Puerto Plata, Tres Rios
Summary: Alan Castañeda visited a hotel resort.
Excerpt: "I believe we can do more to promote tourism in Carbania. We've got a beautiful country, we've just got to market it right. As President, I will be forming an 'Office for Investments' which - among other things - shall promote with well-crafted ads Carbania abroad in order to attract tourists. By cutting taxes, we shall also bring down business costs and allow our tourist resorts to be competitive in this globalized market. "

January 9, 2022
11:00 AM
Location: Small town, Tres Rios
Summary: Alan Castañeda attended a Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: "We aim to create jobs, jobs, jobs! We shall do this by cutting taxes and eliminating red tape, thus making our country attractive to foreign investors. Only through massive private direct investment can we see thousands of new, well-paying jobs be created. This will also help people who already have jobs. More competition in the market means that corporations will offer better wages in order to maintain their employees. But this won't happen if we drive away investors with populistic far-left policies that will make everyone poorer."

January 10, 2022
12:00 AM
Location: Coastal town, Tres Rios
Summary: Alan Castañeda attended a Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: "Carbania is a beautiful country. How can you see the beaches here and not be moved by their beauty? We need to advertise our country abroad and attract digital nomads. We aim to undertake an ambitious program of updating our cyber infrastructure to 5G and ensuring broadband connection to all parts of the country, thus ensuring remote working. We also aim to introduce tax benefits for digital nomads. We will tax the income earned by those who are self-employed, individuals, or newly employed in positions created in Carbania at half the normal rate. This new incentive will apply for a maximum of seven years for any worker who wants to move their tax base to Carbania, regardless of their nationality or job type. Attracting digital nomads will benefit the local communities as those people will spend their money here - in your businesses - while the increased revenue in state coffers will allow us to increase funding for social services without raising taxes for you."

January 13, 2022
10:00 AM
Location: Cayañar, Valenzuela
Summary: Alan Castañeda visited a local industrial factory.
Excerpt: "We must support Carbania's industrial sector. We will cut taxes and put an end to red tape and needless paperwork, thus bringing down the cost of doing business. This will translate to lower prices for consumers and increased wages for workers. You know, many businesses are forced to pay less than they would otherwise do because exorbitant taxation and overregulation adds up too much cost and makes them unprofitable. By cutting down taxes and regulations, we will put an end to this and wealth shall trickle down."

January 14, 2022
12:00 AM
Location: Small town, Valenzuela
Summary: Alan Castañeda attended a Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: "The PLP will support small businesses. Businesses with less than ten employees shall pay a reduced corporate tax of only 8%. This will substantially bring down the cost of doing business for the small mom-and-pop stores. By digitizing public administration, we will eliminate needless red tape and allow for all transactions with the state to take place in a single mobile app. This will help small businesses the most. Big corporations have plenty of lawyers and other employees to deal with any dealings they have with the government, but small business owners have to do it all by themselves. By digitizing the public sector we shall end the long waiting lines for paperwork in public offices. Small businesses in the first year of their existence will pay zero taxes. This will incentive people who are on the edge to take the risk and start a business, while not ruining them financially if they are unable to have success at the very beginnings of their business. Small businesses’ assets will be exempt in cases of bankruptcy, allowing them to continue to operate during and after personal bankruptcy. This will be a great aid to struggling businesses."

Sebastian Carnicero's Campaign Trail:

January 6, 2022
13:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero visited a police department and then made a statement to the press
Excerpt: "Our cops are real life heroes. They are the real-life Superman and Batman, the ones who put their lives in danger to keep us safe from dangerous - and often deadly - criminals. We need to do more to support our boys and girls in blue. For a start, we can raise their wages. PLP will see that their salary shall be increased by a 10%. We shall also hire 2000 additional policemen and procure modern equipment, so that our officers are not outnumbered and outgunned by criminal gangs. We shall also create 'Rapid Response Teams', motorized and heavily armed police units that will patrol regularly the streets of major cities. Without security, there can be no democracy. We pledge that under a PLP administration every citizen shall feel safe."

January 7, 2022
10:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero visited a humanitarian NGO aiding underprivileged children.
Excerpt: "We've pledged to abolish taxation for humanitarian NGOs. We aim for inclusive growth. Everyone should feel the benefits of economic growth. We shall institute a Minimum Guaranteed Income of $100 a month for families below the poverty line. This MGI will be funded by merging various inefficient and bloated government programs, and will be far easier to manage than those programs. It will give cash directly to those in need without needless paperwork and without needing a vast bureaucracy just to administer the program. It will help those in need and give them the choice how to spend that money instead of having a nanny state make the decision for them. We believe each man and woman knows best how to handle themselves - and what their dreams and desires are - than government bureaucrats do."

January 9, 2022
10:00 AM
Location: Bolívar y Carbán, Santa Carmen
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero attended Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: "We understand how important agriculture is for this province. We shall fight to increase agricultural exports! We shall create the 'Office for Agricultural Exports', which shall provide technical assistance, free advertisement and low-interest loans to farmers who export their products abroad. This will allow us to dramatically increase our exports and increase the profit-making of farmers, which in turn can be used to modernize farming equipment."

January 10, 2022
18:00 AM
Location: Bolívar y Carbán, Santa Carmen
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero visited several small stores and then spoke to the local press.
Excerpt: "PLP is the party that backs the small stores of this country! Small businesses under PLP administration will pay a reduced 8% corporate tax and their assets will be exempt in cases of bankruptcy, allowing them to continue to operate during and after personal bankruptcy. Importantly, small businesses will pay zero tax in their first year. We shall also reduce harmful regulations that bring up the cost of doing business. You know, big corporations can afford just fine the cost placed upon them by overt regulations. Rather, it is the mom and pop of the neighborhood shop that bear the burden of red tape, which drives up costs and forces them to raise the price of goods in order to stay in business. This burdens unduly the Carbanian worker, who has to pay more for basic products. It also puts the mom and pop store at disadvantage compared to big corporations. Politicians on the left who want more regulations and more red tape in reality want to eradicate small stores and to drive up the prices of goods."

January 11, 2022
12:00 AM
Location: Farm town, Santa Carmen
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero visited several farms and then attended a Q&A session at the local city hall.
Excerpt: "This 'Office for Agricultural Exports' we aim to establish shall provide Carbanian farmers with free international advertisement. Imagine if instead of having to worry about how to market your goods abroad, experts did this. It will allow you to appeal to a greater international audience and increase your exports. The office will also provide technical assistance - especially to new, young farmers - and offer low-interest loans that can be used to modernize your farming equipment. Agriculture is important to us and a PLP administration will support it."

January 13, 2022
18:00 AM
Location: Carnicería, Mugre Oro
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero spoke with environmental NGOs that work towards the preservation of the local jungle and then spoke to the local press.
Excerpt: "At PLP we take the challenge of climate change very seriously. We believe it is perhaps one of the greatest menaces mankind has ever faced. That's why we pledge to implement strict environmental regulations to protect our climate and natural wildlife, ban the use of plastic by government agencies, decarbonize by 2040 and institute a corporate carbon tax of $12 per tonne of CO2 emissions. We shall also lower the Valued-Added Tax on electric cars and environmentally-conscious products to 10%. But this crisis also offers Carbania an opportunity: green growth. We aim to use the funds from the carbon tax to support corporations that invest in renewable resources and those that produce electric cars. Those corporations will pay a reduced corporate tax of 6%, thus creating thousands of new, well-paying green jobs in the process. Environmentalism and economic growth can go hand in hand."

January 15, 2022
15:00 AM
Location: Jungle, Mugre Oro
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero uploaded (in YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok) a video of himself in the jungle, accompanied by three local guides.
Excerpt: "Isn't this beautiful? We should ensure that those jungles remain here for our children and grandchildren to enjoy. As government, we aim to pass strict legislation to protect the natural wildlife and climate. But at the same time we aim to promote tourism. No, I ain't talking about the mass tourism that will cause environmental harm. Rather, we shall advertise this jungle to rich, environmentally-conscious tourists from abroad who will bring hard cash in order to live an authentic jungle experience while at the same time respecting the natural wildlife. It is the concept known as 'green tourism', and Carbania can be at the forefront of it. But in order for this to become a reality we need a forward-looking, innovative government and not populists who look backwards to ideas that belong to the 19th and 20th centuries. We live in the 21st century!"

[Guagolandum]

Pedro Quispe - Itinerary

Date: January 17, 2022
Location: Carbanian Workers' Union headquarters, Intichiquan
Summary: Quispe visited syndical leaders to inform them of the role syndicates would have in case he became president, and to consult their current needs.
Excerpt: "A pillar of the Carbanian market are workers. Workers are agrouped in syndicates. Syndicates are fundamental, it's simple. But they need to be even more fundamental, because they prevent workers from engaging in some sort of modern slavery exercised by their bosses. It'd be horrible and something we wouldn't be proud of."

Date: January 18, 2022
Location: National Stadium, suburbs of Intichiquan
Summary: Quispe visited the National Stadium of Carbania, to see the national team play a match.
Excerpt: "Sports are important for the international recognition of Carbania and will always be so. That's why we need to power it, to sponsor it. If I become president, I'll make sure sports grow as they've never grown."

Date: January 19, 2022
Location: Carnicerías, Mugre Oro
Summary: Quispe visited Carnicerías to meet the people and get to know the city.
Excerpt: "Many of our candidates just tour around Intichiquan, would you imagine I became president and didn't know a provincial capital? That's an absolute no. I want to extend a greeting to all the people of Carnicerías, whose amiability and cheerfulness have absolutely got me in love with this place. Looking forward to another visit."

Date: January 20, 2022
Location: Dictatorship Memorial, Santiago de Carbania
Excerpt: "No words. Just do not forget."

He's planning an itinerary in February, along with García and Torres, a MP candidate.

[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

January 8th

"¿¡La plena?!”

Yesenia sat in her off Mayoral office, reading the news about the PLP manifesto and then the manifesto its self, of her tablet, with disbelief and humor. She soon put it down in front of her, before addressing her secretary. She had spent her week since new years crisscrossing the country and helping finalize the candidate lists in every state of the country. Tomorrow was the UNE's pre-election convention.

"Do those old fossils over in the PLP know where they are? A Carbon Tax, boutique business tax cuts and subsidies, banning plastic use by the government, whatever thats supposed to mean. It'd all be sophomoric rubbish in the context of a developed country, but here? This manifesto is a complete joke. To think the moron had it in him to talk about the benefits of direct cash transfers was that they cut down on bureaucracy, only to go on purpose this rat nest."

Yesenia could hold her tongue in public when she saw it heard something she considered unreasonable, but that wasn't the case in private, at least when it didn't need to be and it certainly didn't here. Her secretary was a fellow alum of her university, a member if the sorority she was in, meaning that they both shared secrets of experiences that would best not be publicized.

"We can barely enforce the rules, regulations and taxes that exist on the books, thanks to how much of our economy exists in that darkness of the informal sector, that's before you worry about all the bribery and corruption in the formal sector." She continued now getting up from her seat and walking toward the office's window, gesturing as she went.

"We have little state capacity once you get a good distance outside of our cities..." she said with frustration as she looked out the window, making out a shantytowns in the distance.

"Frankly even sometimes on the outskirts of our cities." She said, as she turned back to her secretary and made her way back to her desk

"Our people understand that instinctively though, we want our whatsapp messages and Facebook to vaugely call these plans detached from the reality of the average carbanian, sure, but there is far better stuff in there." Yesenia said, with a somewhat sinister smile, before she'd continue with what she'd have to say next.

"Recreational drug legalization, giving druggies needles, preventing people from curing their sexually degenerated children, taking in the perverted dreck from nearby countries, that's red meat for the boomers." Yesenia said in reference to a variety of socially liberal elements to the PLP platform. Some of the stuff would be perfectly normal in a north American, or western/central European country, other parts were firmly left leaning. But in the context of a Latin American nation that only say the end to a decades long right wing dictatorship because the dictator croaked, it was an insanely fringe agenda, at the very least for anyone who was above the age of 35.

At this sort of talk, her secretary's mood went from dutiful note taking to smirk and then a smile before she spoke up.

"Oh, am I hearing the voice of that the curb stomping, knee breaking, Franco defending fascist I remember from university?" She said, in reference to Yesenia's altogether not to distant political pass. It was known that she was once on the political right, as a student, certainly, but the extent wasn't widespread knowledge. What was known was her story of coming grow out of it due to time spent in America and marrying her husband. The truth was more accurately that she never believed in any of the stuff in the first place.

"No, it's the political realist that you're hearing. Even if the type of people that hold reactionary views don't vote for us, we prefer them voting for the right over the center." Yesenia explained. Her party was, perhaps most easily described as a center-left party, but that was a bit of a simplification. Regardless, the narrower the centre was, the greater role in party could play.

"I also don't have to tell you that I don't want our whatsapp army using any of the, crude, language I used, when they forward this stuff to their centrist and conservative contacts, don't want to bleeding hearts to whine. We'll let the boomers generate that trash on their own, we just want to inform people that if they think they're escaping from 'gender ideology' or whatever by voting for the PLP, they aren't." Yesenia said as her secretary plugged her notes into the tablet she held.

"Understood." She replied quickly

"And for your information, l've never curbstomped anyone. If you're in the position to do that to someone, you've already won, its unsporting." Yesenia replied. As the privileged daughter of a government minister she had had an inclination in her childhood towards proving that she wasn't some hapless princess. Which meant she got she got involved in more than her fair share of scuffles, usually with the poor or non-mestizo children.

"Oh yes, the sport of terrorizing poor kids." The secretary smiled. The cruel reality was that Yesenia had been well fed her whole life while those she picked on her not infrequently malnourished, at least in early childhood, a crucial physical advantage in pre-teen and early teen years l.

"Look, we all did things in childhood that we regret." Yesenia said in mock defense. The stuff she had done to the marginalized as a kid paled to what she was doing now, if only only counted the harm side if the ledger. The only defense of it was that now she also had the political power to meaningfully add to the help side. In her opinion, everything that lead her to be where she was right now a worth it, warts and all.

"I seem to remember similar behavior in your senior university year, seeing that I was there." The secretary replied, in reference to Yesenia's role in breaking up an indigenous feminist protest with a bunch of her peers while they concealed their identity.

"I don't regret that, if it didn't happen I probably don't end up marrying my husband and being here. All's fair in love and war." Yesenia answered, crossing her arms across her chest. She had back then, over 19 years ago, that the woman who led the indigenous protest, her husband's then girlfriend, would be heading to america with him soon. She deliberately wanted to make sure she'd be in no condition to fly and she succeeded at that goal. She wondered why would have happened had she not, probably she'd not have such a career beneficial path out of the political right and she might have ended up doubling down on the radical fringe. Ironically her most vicious act of fascist brutality led directly to its own end. Perhaps, though, it wasn't that ironic.

"And war is just an extension of politics." Her secretary replied somewhat robotically.

"Correct."

"So are we going to release a manifesto or anything?" The secretary already knew the answer to this question, it was a rhetorical device to put the conversation back on track.

"Fuck no, we commit to anything specific publicly and it can be held against us if we don't do it, whether or not we have the ability to do. With all these parties I don't know what we'll have the ability to do. Let's keep things vague and aspirational." Yesenia answered.

"Anyone you want to meet with later this month?" The secretary began, schedule open.

"The Archbishop. I want an endorsement, doubt I'll get it, but I have a plan." Yesenia suspected that the Archbishop would demand she repent for something or another, but following through with that alone wasn't the plan.

"Beyond outsourcing our social policy to him?" The secretary inquired.

"Beyond that." Yesenia answered vaguely. There was only so much she could say until she what the Archbishop would want.

"Right. Meeting with any party leaders?"

"Pretty much any of them really, except the obvious and PLP, we need a foil and they are atarger rich environment."

"Business leaders? Unions?"

"I feel that going directly to old union leadership might be a waste until I, uh, prove myself. Given who my dad was and the fact that a lot of these union guys aren't exactly full of christian forgiveness, I'd you know what I'm saying." It was no secret that much of organized labor was both deeply in opposition to the old regime and lead by men with less than fully christian beliefs. There was also the fact they were lead by old men, who could very well object to working with her on the basis of sex, even if they only did so subconsciously.

"Businesses?"

"Oh yeah, certainly. We're going to tell them that we want to phase out pretty much all sales taxes. Half of these people aren't paying this shit anyway because they're buying stuff from unregistered retailers, quite frankly I'd kill the corporate and business taxes too..." Here lay perhaps the most right wing economic views that Yesenia held on to, but she considered it a matter of pragmatism. To her, there was no point in enforcing a class of taxation that missed the activity in the informal sector entirely, in practice you were only punishing those who followed the rules. She wanted any such regulations and taxes to be phased out until such a point they could be widely enforced. Of course the feasibility of such an agenda was difficult,m to imagine from a political perspective even if it was administratively sound.

"How are we going to explain paying for that and what happened to no commitments." Asked the secretary. She was aware both of Yesenia's thoughts on the matter and her actions as Mayor of Pumallaqta to know her position on this, but it didn't hurt getting her to reiterate.

"One, land taxes are a good start. Can't hide land, it's right there. Also we're going to need to find a way to soft peddle taking over natural monopolies. Might want to leave that stuff for discussions with the MPL and other lefties. As for commitments I meant public commitments, not private ones. Not that we'll say anything that'll get us in trouble with the public if it gets out." Now here lay her furthest left economic beliefs. She was of the mind that the most responsible source of revenue for the government were those that it could ensure full compliance with. Yes, that meant land or property taxes, but it could also mean taxes on large items of the rich, like yachts for instance. It could also mean fees from using public utilities, roads, transit, sewers, electricity, the sort of stuff that it would be more difficult to shirk payment of. Some of those were, by themselves, regressive forms of revenue generation, but social programs could make up for it.

"So, you think the party will be on board with this?" The secretary asked. Yesenia was the leader of a party, which did have to agree with her agenda for it to move forward. Seeing as the party largely existed as an extension of her brand, though there were some UNE councillors and mayors dotted around the country and enough party members for a full slate, the party was more or less willing to go where she wanted to go, especially since where she wanted to go at the moment was basically what was already agreed upon .

"Oh, certainly, I mean we don't have to mention the attack strategies and all, you know the drill." Yesenia said.

"How about export promotion, zoning, centralization and security." The secretary asked?

"Yeah those last two can just be addressed in Facebook posts, I have some ideas for that. Export promotion, we'll think of something later, almost worth saying that after the parliamentary race but we'll think about it on zoning we'll tell the party that we'll tell businesses that we want the presidency to be able to override shitty zoning regulations." Yesenia answered.

"We can probably talk to some construction union workers about that, they all had to learn to work with regime power brokers to get jobs so they're less likely to flip out about working with Carbanian Himmler's daughter." The secretary said with a smile as the session drew to a close.

"Say something like that again and you better be ready to bring your gloves to the gym the next day." Yesenia, half joking and half sincere.

---

January 10th

[Sao Nova Europa]

Alan Castañeda's Campaign Trail:

January 16, 2022
12:00 AM
Location: Small town, Valenzuela
Summary: Alan Castañeda attended a Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: "We need radical reforms if we are to kickstart the economy. For an economy to develop, it must have rule of law, strong protection of property rights, a simplified and low tax system and an efficient public administration. That's why we pledge to increase the number of police officers and patrols in the streets, to protect property rights, to simplify our tax code and reduce the the overall tax burden, and to digitize public administration and evaluate civil servants. We aim to bring a revolution of common-sense in this country."

January 17, 2022
17:00 AM
Location: Cayañar, Valenzuela
Summary: Alan Castañeda visited small businesses and then spoke to the local press.
Excerpt: "Some would accuse us of being detached because we want Carbania to follow the example of advanced Western countries. I would argue that those people who want to hold us back are the ones who are detached. Our children and grandchildren hope to immigrate to Western countries. Why? Because of their liberal institutions that have ensured a decent way of life and strong economic growth. I aim to emulate this model and make Carbania a country that looks more like Canada or Germany than Venezuela or Cuba. Together we can change this country!"

January 18, 2022
11:00 AM
Location: Santiago de Carbania, Camparroz
Summary: Alan Castañeda visited a company that exports local rice abroad.
Excerpt: "We at PLP understand how important it is to increase our exports abroad, hence we have developed a strategy to promote export-oriented economic growth. The 'Office for Agricultural Exports' will be providing technical assistance and shall advertise Carbanian products abroad, thus increasing demand for Carbanian rice and other agricultural exports. It shall also be providing low-interest loans that can be used to modernize production, hire new staff or expand operations. By cutting taxes and regulation, and digitizing the public sector, we will also dramatically reduce the cost of doing business. This will make our companies more competitive in the global market."

January 19, 2022
10:00 AM
Location: Small town, Camparroz
Summary: Alan Castañeda attended a Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: "We need a revolution of common-sense, as I've called it. Why should we simply accept that our public administration is corrupt and inefficient, and shrug off any suggestions to change this? A PLP administration shall completely digitize public administration, allowing all citizens to access all government services through a single web portal. Aside from the obvious advantages of reducing waste of time, red tape and public expenses, this reform shall also deal a blow to corruption. By removing physical interactions, citizens will be able to interact with the state without worrying that some corrupt official will ask them for bribes. We also aim to legislate an annual evaluation for civil servants. What this means in practice is that each public servant will have their performance evaluated and if they are deemed hard-working and helpful they shall get a raise: on the other hand, if they are deemed incompetent, they shall see their wage slashed or they may eventually even be fired. Public officials should serve the public, not the other way around!"

January 20, 2022
11:00 AM
Location: Small town, Camparroz
Summary: Alan Castañeda attended a Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: "We live in the information age. We live in the age of the fourth industrial revolution and globalization. We cannot lag behind other countries when it comes to access to internet. Especially if we want to attract foreign direct investments and digital nomads to our country, we need to modernize. As President I pledge to undertake an ambitious program of updating our cyber infrastructure to 5G and ensuring broadband connection to all parts of the country. We cannot afford to be left behind and become the losers of the fourth industrial revolution."

January 23, 2022
12:00 AM
Location: Coastal town, Tres Rios.
Summary: Alan Castañeda attended a Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: "Tourism can become an important sector of our economy. At PLP we have developed a multipronged strategy to attract tourists. For a start, we aim to create an 'Office for Investments' to advertise our country abroad. A good advertising campaign can substantially increase the number of people who will visit the country. Secondly, we do not want to simply attract mass tourism, though that is certainly one of our goals. We also want to develop 'green tourism', that is environmentally-conscious tourism targeted at upper middle class or rich individuals from abroad who wish for an authentic experience untouched by modernity and who are willing to spend lots of money. Thirdly, we aim to bring down the cost of doing business by cutting taxes and regulations. Fourth, we aim to ensure that all parts of the country have decent internet connection. This is especially important to attract mass tourism."

Sebastian Carnicero's Campaign Trail:

January 17, 2022
16:00 AM
Location: Paz de Luna, Alturas
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero visited small business stores and then spoke to the local press.
Excerpt: "At PLP we take the issue of security in our streets very highly. We want to hire an additional 2000 police officers who will patrol our streets and form a motorized rapid intervention force that will clear out our streets from criminal elements. A PLP administration will be a law and order administration. No longer shall gangs and violence be tolerated in our great nation! A vote for PLP is a vote for security!"

January 18, 2022
09:00 AM
Location: Paz de Luna, Alturas
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero visited a local school.
Excerpt: "At PLP we take education very seriously. It is an investment for our future. You know, we need a well-educated workforce if we are to compete in this new, globalized economy. A PLP administration shall introduce to our schools lessons on both economic and digital literacy. Economic literary will teach the children the basics about how to run a business or launch a start-up. We need to cultivate innovation and risk taking, and develop a new generation of business leaders. Digital literacy will ensure that our children are not left behind in this era of the fourth industrial revolution. Being able to handle computers, access the internet and know about software is as important now as knowing English was in the 1990s. We also aim to hire 1000 more teachers and renovate classrooms. This will allow for smaller classrooms: fewer children per teacher means that children will be able to learn better. Last but not least, we aim to hire mental health counselors. The mental welfare of our children is vital for a healthy society."

January 19, 2022
11:00 AM
Location: Paz de Luna, Alturas
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero met with business leaders and then spoke to the local press.
Excerpt: "At PLP we have a concrete agenda to expedite housing construction, streamline approval processes for projects in municipalities and reduce the stringency of zoning regulations to allow denser housing to be produced and the repurposing of obsolete buildings into housing. We aim to make housing affordable and our cities livable. A vote for PLP is a vote for affordable housing!"

January 20, 2022
15:00 AM
Location: Paz de Luna, Alturas
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero talked with citizens in the streets of the city and then addressed local journalists outside of a pharmacy.
Excerpt: "PLP is the only party that has an agenda to aid our retirees. We've pledged that prescription drugs for retirees will be covered by the public healthcare system. In cooperation with private pharmacies, we shall ensure delivery at home of such prescription drugs, sparing seniors of trouble. This is especially important for those older people who have mobility problems. We shall also institute a hotline staffed by mental health experts to talk with lone seniors who may wish to call someone."

January 22, 2022
12:00 AM
Location: Small town, Alturas
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero attended a Q&A session at the local city hall.
Excerpt: "We want to change the way things work here. We should no longer be content with substandard services and corruption. We shall establish a new body of technocrats and police and financial agents, the 'Anti-Corruption Investigative Body', to monitor the public sector for any signs of corruption and to be an advocate of public interest. We shall digitize the public sector and evaluate civil servants, so that public administration actually serves the citizens instead of being hindrance and a waste of money. We shall deploy more cops in rural areas, to ensure public security and enforcement of law and order. Some politicians have given up on Carbania. We haven't! We are ambitious and willing to radically change this country for the better!"

January 23, 2022
15:00 AM
Location: Small town, Alturas
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero attended a Q&A session at the local city hall.
Excerpt: "We believe that local citizens know better what their town needs than some bureaucrat at the faraway capital. Hence we desire for greater decentralization. This means that local officials will actually be accountable to you and that decisions that affect your life will need your consent. It will also ensure that economic growth is geographically equitable, and that regions are not neglected by the central government. At PLP we want inclusive economic growth."

January 25, 2022
09:00 AM
Location: Mountain, Alturas
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero uploaded (in YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok) a video of himself hiking a mountain, accompanied by local guides.
Excerpt: "Hiking is not only good for the body, but also an amazing experience that allows one to witness the beauty of our landscape. I am fairly certain that many people from abroad will pay good money to come to our mountains for an authentic hiking experience. We just need to market our country right. A PLP administration will establish an 'Office for Investments' that will market our beautiful mountains abroad and attract tourists who will spend their cash here. It will be substantial boon for the region and the local inhabitants. We have one of the most beautiful countries in the world: we just need innovative, forward-thinking people to market it right."

Sebastian smiles charmingly at the camera and waves at the viewers.

[Reorganized Portugal]

Jose Antonio Rabellino
Campaign Schedule, January 2022 (Part 2)

January 12, 2022
12:00 PM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: First organized campaign rally. Medium-sized turnout, certainly not a large event.
Excerpt: "Carbania is entering a new era. An era where the people, you, can decide who will be your government, something we have not had in 40 years. I think I can be your guide, your leader, to guide Carbania into the next page of its history book. I will stand for the ideals of democracy, and the ideals of Christ."

January 13, 2022
11:00 AM
Location: Catedral de San Fernando, Intichiquan
Summary: Jose Antonio spoke to members of the Catholic clergy, including several priests and the bishop (not archbishop) of Intichiquan.
Excerpt: (from conversation with priest, not publicly shared) "If we're going to be Christian Democrats, we need you guys on our side. I'm not saying you should be telling people to vote for me, there's something... off about that, but at least cast your personal votes for me. What other candidate is running on Catholic values?"

January 14, 2022
10:00 AM
Location: Small town, Alturas
Summary: Jose Antonio met with the mayor of this town and the people there. This particular town was nestled quite deep within the mountains, and was somewhat disconnected from the national politics.
Excerpt: "I can assure you all that under my administration, you will not be left behind. I see your problems and I will fix them. As President I will improve our nation's infrastructure, build new roads and highways, improve our schools and homes, and make sure you will always be connected with the rest of our nation."

January 15, 2022
9:00 AM
Location: Small town he's mayor of, Camparroz
Summary: Jose Antonio attended church services at the local church, as he does every Sunday. Before the service, he was seen confessing to the priest.

January 17, 2022
10:00 AM
Location: Santiago de Carbania, Camparroz
Summary: Jose Antonio attended a Q&A at the city hall.
Excerpt: (Question: My daughter was taken advantage of recently, and we had to abort the child that came of it. Will you keep abortion legal in cases such as these?) "First of all, I am so sorry that this happened to your daughter, and I wish you the best in her mental recovery from this incident. I am opposed to abortion, I believe it is murder of a human being, however I can understand there are cases such as this where an abortion could be necessary. I will make sure Carbania is tough on crime, and make rape as rare and non-existant as it can be, however I will allow abortions in cases such as rape, and incest. It is a tough call on my part, but I understand the mental anguish that would be caused had you be forced to keep the baby."

January 19, 2022
12:00 PM
Location: Slums of Cayañar, Valenzuela
Summary: Jose Antonio performed acts of service to these residents, and spoke briefly to them.
Excerpt: "I know how hard it is for you to live in places like these. We need to improve our housing, and our infrastructure. Why should some people just like you live in nice, suburban homes, and you have to live here? This will change under my presidency."

Mr. Rabellino will be making more visits and campaign stops across Carbania in the upcoming days of January and into February.

[Guagolandum]

José A. García's itinerary - Part 2

---

Date: January 20, 2022
Location: Orphanage in a small city, Tres Ríos
Summary: García visited orphans and performed charitable duties on an orphanage. He also received drawings from the children there and glued them in his office.
Excerpt: "Orphans need care and love. They don't need war, they need peace. And to not leave them homeless, without people caring for them, I'll make sure from parliament that Carbania has a public orphanage and housing system. Not just for orphans, but they're one of the pillars of this proposal"

Date: January 23, 2022
Location: Former dictatorship detention centres, Camparroz
Summary: García visited former dettention and torture centres, now museums, to remember his horrid experience in them.
Excerpt: "I was detained specifically in this detention centre. It was horrible and an experience I want to make sure no Carbanian has to pass through anymore. This is a thing of the past that we should remember to not repeat it."

Date: January 26, 2022
Location: Cathedral of Santiago de Carbania
Summary: García went to church after years, to try and reconciliate his faith in God with catholicism, understanding that he missed church services.
Excerpt: "I haven't come here in many years. It was about time, since I missed being preached about Jesus's teachings. Though not entirely correct nowadays, his teachings have given our society a shape, be it for good or be it for bad. We must take into consideration that priests who spoke out publicly against the dictatorship were also persecuted, regardless of their status as God's envoys.

Date: January 29, 2022
Location: Amusement park, Intichiquan
Summary: Spending quality time with his family.
Excerpt: "It's something good to not leave your family without a caring father and husband."

[Guagolandum]

"The labourist do not fight alongside that of the labourers"
Date: January 30, 2022
Location: Industrial Area of Intichiquan

Currently unemployed, García was running off of savings, necessary to pay his taxes. Taxes were increasingly a problem for his family, so he needed to get a job. And he knew where to.

García arrived at 8:30 a. m. on the Industrial Complex of Intichiquan, specifically at one of the factories owned by Carbanian Manufacturing Company, Inc., where his father and he himself worked at a young age. "I have once more come to ask for your financial support", he said. "But I'm open to earn my money labouring. As the Labourist I am, I want to make sure I give a good example. Besides, I need the money.", García told the boss, as the latter thought. Finally, the boss agreed on hiring him as there was a vacant at that factory left by another labourer who went pursuing his dream of completing his secondary education. His working day was heavy, especially because he had become unused to working heavily at a factory, but he made it. And he returned to his apartment with a smile on his face. "I have once become a true Labourist! I will use again to work hard and comprehend what the workers of this nation pass through. It's not all about what my opponents say, it's about the people too. And the people go first rather than politics."

Various journalists took photos of him labouring and those went in the headlines of various journals of the Federal District and nationwide-circulation journals.

I have once more become a labourer, fellow citizens. I'm no capitalist, no oligarch. But I think labourers need an employer to not become homeless, and that's why I'm not a communist. The new, modernized, labourist Carbania shall arise!

[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

The following Facebook posts are promoted by the Union of New Commons and Yesenia's presidential campaign as of January 11th:

[Tehrangeles]

Israel Mendoza
January 1st-3rd, 2022
Bosqueviejo



After the so-called unity government finally declared the upcoming national elections, Israel Mendoza praised God and gave thanks with open arms, together with his family. The country could finally move on the right path, securing the freedoms of the faithful. Privately, Mendoza knew that it meant a step toward political power for himself and his growing movement, with the end goal of capturing the presidency as Evangelists had done in other countries in the region.

Immediately following the announcement, the President of the Movement for National Restoration (MRN) called for a general convention on the third of January. He figured that the sooner a manifesto and election strategy could be published, the better. As the party had been deliberating for five years, awaiting this moment, the convention would be a fairly short affair- essentially a rubber stamp.

So, after Sunday Service at Assembly for Christ, Mendoza travelled to Bosqueviejo and helped to prepare the party headquarters for the convention. It required a large auditorium, as it included state delegates, party leadership, candidates for office, and rank-and-file members who decided to travel to make their voice heard.

After six hours of deliberations, televised via social media livestream and Hijos de Dios (highlights would be shown on state media outlets) the party voted on a ten-point manifesto and electoral strategy. As President, Mendoza emerged to deliver some remarks on what was decided during the general convention.

“Hello my friends, fellow Carbanians, and ladies and gentlemen of the press, all who are gathered here today or watching from home- God bless you. This is a pivotal moment for our nation, as we complete transition from the dark days of repression and dictatorship, and move toward the shining dawn offered by democracy.

The Movement for National Restoration intends to fully embrace the process outlined by the unity government. As per the strategy created and accepted through the deliberations of this convention, I will serve as our party’s candidate for President of Carbania, a role I will proudly accept.

Additionally, the party will submit a parliamentary list for the races in each province, and will forgo coalitions until after the elections have taken place.

The Movement for National Restoration will run a campaign based on three pillars- faith, family, and country. These will comprise the foundation of Carbania’s new republic- trust that God will guide our leaders and our homeland, the understanding that the family is the most basic unit of law, order and good governance, and a love for one another and the land we call home. All of these therefore comprise the foundation of our simple twelve point manifesto, which the party leadership has agreed upon.”

The first section of the manifesto appeared on a screen behind Mendoza, as paper copies were distributed to the crowd. A digital version would hit the presses (digital and physical) soon thereafter.

“Under the first pillar, faith, there are four points. The first is that our party will put forth legislation codifying the right to prayer in school and the workplace- both public and private. Second, we will codify policies defending traditional marriage- between one man and one woman. Third, we will similarly codify the rights of the unborn, in line with the Christian values and legacy we share as Carbanarians. Finally, we will allocate public funding for Christian television networks, both Catholic, Protestant, and otherwise- in order to expand access to rural populations, and those suffering under Godless repression in nearby countries.”

There was some cheering from those gathered.

“Under the pillar of family, we also have four key tenets. First, is the right of parents to raise their own children. While this may seem simple, in many parts of the country, parents are totally excluded from making decisions about their child’s education. We will return power to parents, allowing them freedom to choose home school, religious school, home school collectives, and other alternatives to those of the state. This has the power to also control how parents introduce children to certain topics, like religious education and sexual education. The second point in bolstering family is increased funding for social services families depend on- primarily education, healthcare, and pensions for the elderly and the downtrodden. In the new era we will ensure the brunt of Carbania’s tax revenue goes to these places, and enshrine them as human rights through legislation. It is only right that we work to follow Christ’s example, at least until private and church charity can make a significant impact in this country. While we agree that market reforms are necessary- they must come from other sectors. Additionally, we will continue to keep narcotics illegal, and use every possible means to keep them off of our streets, out of our homes, and away from our children. Finally, we will propose a expanding the bottom bracket of our tax system, to ensure that a larger pool of people do not pay income tax at the bottom wrung of our society. Unlike the policies of some candidates for president, the Movement for National Restoration sees working families as most deserving of a tax break- not large corporations.”

There was more cheering.

“The final pillar of our platform is bolstering the nation itself. First, that means ensuring the strength and sanctity of our democracy by preventing a future dictatorship from taking place. The way we accomplish this task is by increasing civilian oversight of the military- by appointing a civilian minister of defense, and establishing a large gendarmerie which is separate from the military- in order to protect the civilian state and uphold rule of law. The second is asserting the important role of provinces of our country- to control their own budgets and policies, in ways that best align with the needs of their people. We will also protect our democracy through the creation of a federal corruption commission, banning politicians from lobbying activities, and enacting laws requiring politicians to report gifts. Similarly, we will require parties to sign a pledge to uphold the rule of law and respect the democratic process before standing candidates for parliament. Finally, we will encourage the enactment of a large, broad-based infrastructure package. This will increase the number of coal and gas plants and other cheap sources of electricity in the country to ensure no one in Carbania lacks electricity. We will also overhaul plumbing in rural areas, and expand internet access. Most importantly, we will encourage investment into roads and bridges, and encourage the creation of a commission to investigate foreign ownership of natural resource extraction, to provide insight into whether full or partial nationalization or anti-trust is necessary. My fellow citizens and children in Christ, this is the platform of our party. It is simple, but it will restore our country’s moral health, and bring more economic success for the average person. I look forward to expanding upon the ideas within these twelve points as the campaign continues.”

[Tehrangeles]

Carbanian National Television
Month of
[i]Concentrated on Markets in Buñuel, Bolívar y Carbán, Tres Rios


The Movement for National Restoration cut an ad introducing Mendoza and the party to the parts of the country with the highest concentration of conservative, Evangelical voters- to shore up their support in the upcoming election. Many Evangelical voters would recognize Mendoza from his televangelist presence, so the party hoped to attract new voters and shore up existing support.

In the upcoming elections, there is only one party that stands for your values- that stands for faith, family, and nation.

That party is the Movement for National Restoration, led by Israel Mendoza- Christian leader, father, and crusader for good government that fights for you.



Mendoza and the MRN are running on a platform of upholding our shared Christian values- from bolstering traditional marriage, to stopping the murder of the unborn, to keeping sexual confusion out of schools. He will right for your right to control the upbringing of your children, your pocketbook, and your province.

They also have a platform to maintain law and order and bolster our democracy, cut taxes for the working class instead of corporations, bring you reliable electricity and Internet, and restore our pride in Carbania.

Your values are on the ballot in April. Make your voice heard by putting Israel Mendoza and the Movement for National Restoration in office.

Faith, family, and country.

[Sao Nova Europa]

Alan Castañeda's Campaign Trail:

January 25, 2022
10:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Alan Castañeda talked with corporate executives and then spoke to the press.
Excerpt: "PLP is the party of the economy. If you want a party that can usher the pro-business reforms necessary to produce strong rates of economic growth, then PLP is your party. We aim to reform our tax system, both simplifying it and reducing the overall tax burden. If we want to be competitive in this globalized economy, we need to have a competitive tax system which will attract foreign direct investments. More investments means more jobs. But in order to attract investors, we also need to ensure broadband connection to all parts of the country and to digitize our public administration. Carbania is stuck in the 20th century, let's bring it forward to the 21st century!"

January 26, 2022
17:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Alan Castañeda visited some of the poorest districts of Intichiquan and then spoke to the press.
Excerpt: "We want inclusive economic growth. Under a PLP administration, those who earn less than $3000 will pay zero in income tax while those live below the poverty line shall get a monthly check of $100 under our Minimum Guaranteed Income. This will actually help people get on their feet and escape poverty. Direct cash transfers are far more effective than traditional welfare programs since they are easier to manage - requiring far less red tape and bureaucracy - and give freedom to recipients. We believe in human liberty and compassion. We also believe in security. It is not the richest neighborhoods that suffer from crime and gangs, it is the poorest. By hiring more cops and creating motorized rapid intervention units, we shall put an end to crime and restore security in those streets."

January 28, 2022
12:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Alan Castañeda visited the offices of one of the most prominent Carbanian newspapers.
Excerpt: "There can be no democracy without freedom of the press. Journalists speak truth to power, and often they are placed in danger for doing so. One may think that with the end of the dictatorship the press does not face challenges, but that is wrong. Things are better but journalists still face threats: from violent extremists to populists who vilify them to score political points to lack of adequate funding. As President I will respect the press. I'll defend them from populists and extremists, even when they criticize and attack me. I'll ensure adequate funding through tax cuts that will be a source of relief for the press. We need a free and independent press more than ever, for democracy dies in darkness."

Sebastian Carnicero's Campaign Trail:

January 27, 2022
16:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero talked with businessmen about zoning regulations and then spoke to the press.
Excerpt: "As someone in the real estate business, I can tell you that I fully understand the frustration overtly stringent zoning regulations cause. Such regulations decrease housing affordability, which hurts the middle class the most. This under-utilization of land leads to fewer new houses constructed and thus depressed supply of housing. The end result is that housing prices go up to the roof. By reducing the stringency of zoning regulations, streamlining approval process for projects in municipalities and expediting housing construction, we can make housing once again affordable to meet the demands of increased urbanization and population growth."

January 28, 2022
10:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero talked with small business owners.
Excerpt: "We need to do more to support small business. Under our tax plan, small businesses that employ ten or less employees shall pay a reduced corporate tax of 8%. We shall also remove regulatory burden that forces small businesses to raise prices in order to make a profit. By removing red tape and harmful regulations, small businesses will have the fiscal space to reduce prices and as such be able to compete with big corporations. We aim to make risk-taking attractive, by providing incentives for people to open a business. For the first year of their existence, small businesses will pay zero in corporate tax. Small businesses’ assets will also be exempt in cases of bankruptcy, allowing them to continue to operate during and after personal bankruptcy. This will ensure that those who want to take a risk and open a business, will not have to fear that their life will be ruined if their shop isn't profitable at once. Risk-taking is the basis of capitalism, and we at PLP support it."

January 29, 2022
18:00 AM
Location: Intichiquan, Federal District
Summary: Sebastian Carnicero walked in neighborhoods and talked with citizens.
Excerpt: "We want a modern country. We want a country that embraces the digital revolution and does not lag behind. We want a country that is able to attract foreign investors, so we can create jobs here and our children do not have to emigrate America or Europe in order to find a decent job. We want to bring back security in our streets by hiring more police officers and having more patrols. We want to protect our environment and ensure that economic growth is green and sustainable. Some reject the idea that we can do better. There are some politicians who completely dismiss even the notion that we can approach the West, claiming it is unrealistic. What is actually unrealistic is to refuse to emulate the economic system and institutions that have produced wealth and prosperity unparalleled in human history. We either reform or we sink. We at PLP are up to the task of reforming Carbania. With your support, we can make Carbania a model country."

[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

The Unión de Nuevos Ejido 2022 Parliamentary Campaign

The nature of political fundraising in Carbania is fundamentally different from that which exists even in more well off countries in Latin America, much less in the developed world. For starters, there is no broad national middle class to effectively appeal to for donations, running ads asking for donations would be a waste of money, more likely to being the party into disrepute more than anything. Instead, the money had to come from connections to well off individuals who could afford to donate, some if which Yesenia had know of before, others she had gained over the last few years. These donors were of four general categories, one being friends and family that owed some loyalty to her family through her father. This source was somewhat useful but limited. Many of them remained more committed to the hard right than they were to any one family, though she could receive some funds this way. These people were primarily old regime bureaucrats and officers of the military and police forces.

Another category was the political machine in Pumallaqta. This would be her most solid foundation. They had been supporting the political cause of her father-in-law for years and their contributions to his successor were a matter of maintaining that role of importance. They had proven extremely helpful in supporting her mayoral campaign and many were founding funders of her Union of New Commons party. These people were largely educated professionals and corporate executives, who's wealth either came from salaries, or stakes in companies whose primary customers were the rising middle class and their workers the decently educated. As such they were not particularly hostile to a left leaning agenda that sought to grow the ranks of the middle class and the decently educated. The call services wanted fluent English speakers and the IT companies wanted technologically literate workers after all. A smaller but not insignificant source of money in this group were the owners of factories, especially textile factories. They were a lot more hesitant to give to a left leaning campaign over concerns about any willingness to make unionization or higher wages, though some would see it as a lesser evil on the left than the likes of the MPL.

A third group, would be the new base that Yesenia had been developing since the founding of the UNE. This was mostly made up if the connections of those that signed up to join the party, some organizers from pre-democratic Carbania, others decedent's of those who were in the d regime but now sought a different direction. These money these sources brought in to her presidential campaign would be sporadic, but they would be more useful in boosting spending within states in order to advance those slates. Indeed, the party lists that Yesenia had been meeting and calling people to organize around the country were conceived largely around what was most likely to bring resources to the table. It was not quite bribery, however, the metrics used to make these decisions went beyond funding and into the votes that were won in municipal elections, their volunteer numbers, their effectiveness in getting policy passed municipally in order to measure the capacity to call in favors and mobilize people among others.

The fourth and most recent of the fundraising groups were those that developed through the campaign. To that end Yesenia would prioritize meeting with business leaders in town after town and state after state. Her off would be a commitment to supporting lowering business and retail taxes that give the informal unregistered economy an advantage over those who play by the rules and regulations. Yesenia also emphasized an unwillingness to burden them with a web of new regulations and taxes. Her 'progressive' agenda would be lean and redistributive instead of burdensome and regulatory.

Another less noble though as of now fully legal source was foreign money. This was primarily through means that to kept the party at arms length. An organization that focused on registering people and would even be driving even driving people to the polls, whose activities while Technically politically neutral strictly focused on areas known to be the most friendly to the UNE. Then there was organization that pushed for the advancement and maintenance of the ability for foreigners to buy Carbanian real estate. While it was no means a major plank of the party, the UNE was highly supportive of foreign investment specificlu in real estate, even as it had plenty of concerns elsewhere, seeing it as a largely harmless source of revenue for the country. This organization would contribute a great deal of donations to the latter. By outsourcing some things that benefited the UNE's functions to 'non-partisan' NGOs taking foreign money, the UNE could benefit from foreign donations while advertising that they didn't.

The UNE had a head start when it came to staffing compared to other, more recently founded parties, as they had been in operation as a party from before the municipal elections. So they already had a couple years of planning under there belt for who they'd recruit from and where, The end of December to the end of March was simultaneously summer vacation and time for elections, which means they could count of plenty of volunteering from teens, in exchange for food, clothing and possibly setting themselves up for future employment within the party or civil service, or perhaps a recommendation for a private sector jobs. In areas with high chronic youth employment, this would be quite effective. The UNE would also reach out to more expert staffers, usually a mix of anti-regime organizers and former bureaucrats alike.

The core of all outreach for all UNE campaigning was the community cookout. Never would a rally or town hall be held without food being there. Not only did it mean purchasing and giving away free food, it also meant working within communities to get them to find people who would be willing to contribute food to said cookouts in order to lower that party's costs. Another element of the UNE's outreach was putting a high premium on individuals related to and or had the ear of, well respected community elders. UNE councilors and mayors had also been instructed from the start of the party to build these ties and always work through community elders when it came to doing constituency services.

The UNE's messaging and media campaign would have two main avenues, Facebook and Whatsapp, often at the expense of investment in other social media. The reason for this was simple, these mediums simply gave the most bang for their buck when it came to reaching Carbanians. On Facebook, since 2018 this had meant creating and curating local pages run to cultivate as much good, non partisan, will as possible in order to grow their numbers. Where local groups already existed, party members were instructed to offer themselves up as moderators. All of these activities would be tracked, frequently by staff with experience in both information technology and telemarketing. The effectiveness of individuals and groups would also be added to weighted scores to determine if they'd get on the party list and where.

Now, with elections in full swing, those pages and moderators would be expected to begin slanting their pages and moderation towards the ends of the UNE, but usually not specifically on promoting the party. Instead news stories relevant to the party's current narrative would be boosted, gaffes by parties who the UNE stand to gain from if they lost votes were to be magnified. Access to those pages would also provide insight to what narratives were landing and what needed to be changed. Whatsapp operations would follow a similar model, but more personalized owing to the more closed nature of the platform. Here, nearly exclusively it'd be negative stories that would be spread. The 'whatsapp army' would be instructed to keep within the bounds of the truth, but bad faith interpretations, or things likely to be bent into falsehoods after being spread by targets, were encouraged.

These types of online operations would be where the lion's share of the party's media budget would go. Interaction with more traditional media like radio, television and newspapers would occur, but be more strictly controlled. Every person who went on radio has to have a voice for it, nearly everyone who went on television had to be telegenic. This would also apply to the more 'above board' social media operations' such as the Facebook and Youtube videos that would be produced by the party, which would additionally prove useful for television ads. Social media operations would also seek to direct traffic towards traditional media with a more friendly slant and avoid and ignore media that wasn't, though moderators operating on pages operated by other people were instructed to take a more passive, observational approach to provide pseudo-control groups to measure messaging effectiveness.

[Alozia]

Marbella, Bolívar y Carbán
January 2022

Marbella City Council January Legislative Session Summary

City Ordinance 001/22
Summary: Reiterates the council's commitment to established municipal laws. Confirms 4 year terms for Mayor and Councilmembers and rules of election. Clarifies the need for oath of office to take up duties of elected office.
Status: Signed into law by Mayor Manuel Ortiz.


Ordinance 002/22
Summary: Declares that all local laws relating to the existence and form of the municipal government of Marbella can be overriden by a new ordinance given that they were passed before January 1, 2022. Provides reasoning for the legislation as following: "Given the transition of Carbania into a democratic nation under rule of law and Marbella along with it, legal systems explicitly established with maintaining the fallen dictatorship in mind shall no longer rule the city government."
Status: Signed into law by Mayor Manuel Ortiz,

City Ordinance 003/22
Summary: Establishes various municipal departments: Public Utilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Education, Police, Fire, Health, Public Libraries as well as the Offices of Mayor and Legislative Services to aid elected officials.
Status: Signed into law by Mayor Manuel Ortiz.

City Ordinance 004/22
Summary: Creates Paid Parking zones in the heart of the city to raise funds for public services.
Status: Signed into law by Mayor Manuel Ortiz

City Ordinance 005/22
Summary: Designates acts of vandalism, littering and jaywalking as offences punishable by fines while recognizing that national and state laws may apply additional penalties which are not to be avoided through accepting a ticket.
Status: Signed into law by Mayor Manuel Ortiz.

City Ordinance 006/22
Summary: Legalizes medicinal and recreational marijuana. Allows for the establishment of cannabis stores, subject to strict local oversight (quality, chain of supply, age of customers etc.). Allows to sell small amounts of cannabis to individuals above the age of 18.
Status: Signed into law by Mayor Manuel Ortiz.

City Ordinance 007/22
Summary: Establishes a local value added tax on alcohol and tobacco at a level of 15%.
Status: Signed into law by Mayor Manuel Ortiz.

[Sao Nova Europa]

PLP TV ad:

JOBS!

INVESTMENTS!

GROWTH!

PLP wants to cut taxes for everyone, digitize public administration and attract foreign direct investment. Only a pro-business and reformist agenda can create well-paying jobs for our people.

A vote for PLP is a vote for JOBS!
A vote for PLP is a vote for LESS taxes!
A vote for PLP is a vote for economic GROWTH!

VOTE FOR PLP!
VOTE FOR JOBS, GROWTH AND PROSPERITY!

[Dentali]

Alejandro De La Vega
Organización por la Justicia y la Solidaridad Campaign Infrastructure

Alejandro De La Vega had spent a great deal of his life outside the country of his birth. This was a hindrance but It did give him a few potential advantages. First and foremost was his connections to political consultants, experts in the field from various firms. As Democratic campaigns hadn’t been a thing in Carbania since the early 70s, these experts were not to be found anywhere domestically.

These international hires were paired with local up and coming strategists who had been active since 2018 and activists who had been organizing underground for decades. The up and comers would be learning the ropes as the internationals ran the campaign and the activists ran point.

The OJS had spent the last several years preparing ground game tirelessly; they opened 1 field office per 100,000 people in a province. Each field office had 4 paid staffers in addition to volunteers, grassroots organizers, and community leaders whose job was to constantly canvass in their assigned territory. In mid february they would have a weekend summit to better coordinate and integrate the individual teams and offices. Each field office had a “Field Organizer” leading operations, and each Field Organizer answered to the “Provincial Officer” who would be in charge of the campaign in that province. Field Organizers were part professional networker, part drill sergeant, part door to door salesman

In the month of January each Provincial Officer held 10 ‘canvassing events’ in their respective provinces often working intimately with the faith leaders of the province with the goal of recruiting a minimum of one faith leader per province to help engage voters. Each Province Officer would be adding an additional 10 events a month until the election. During the canvassing they would be collecting contact information and creating a massive voter database to add to what they had been collecting since 2018, De la Vega’s database collected from his COVID relief work and the data purchased from various companies on consumers in Carbania.

Events could be anything from a happy hour at a local bar hosted by the campaign, office hours in coffee shops, Potluck House parties, book clubs, or physical activities like intramural sports.

Starting in late February the Field Offices would begin calling the citizens of Carbania with targeted scripts encouraging them to support the OJS and vote in the election, these respondents would be scored by the callers and classified based on the needs to win them over or turn them out, follow up calls would regularly be scheduled and working at maximum capacity the OJS would be making roughly 50,000 calls a day with a goal of 4 calls per winnable vote by election day.

On the ground OJS candidates and activists would be focusing on taverns, community centers, restaurants, and places where everyday people gathered, physically hoofing it and doing 16-18 hour days six days a week. They would crisscross the provinces in marathon bus tours, no matter what happened they would stay the course, campaigning in villages of under 100 people if necessary, on top of that weekend acts of service were required by the campaign, working in a community garden, animal shelter, soup kitchen or anything else that would get the volunteers seen visibly in the communities.

A “Precinct Captain” managed individual polling places, this was unfortunately not a one for one operation as each captain was responsible for multiple sites. They would be required to memorize rules and practices for the individual precincts and polling places in order to assist De La Vega supporters.

Volunteers and organizers did in person canvassing every weekday from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, between the times most people got home from work and sat down for dinner. Before these times they would mostly be manning call and text banks in dedicated rooms in each field office. If people were missed by in person canvassing they were left notes, and everyone they met received personalized thank you’s in the mail. Quality of conversation, ‘substantive conversation’ was prioritized over quantity of conversation, regular training seminars were held in order to teach these conversational skills.

[Guagolandum]

PLC/LAB TV ad

"Parasites? Worms? Don't worry, here comes the Labourist Party!"



"Parasites are dictators. Worms are madmen. Do they have space in Carbanian society? Absolutely not! And who are the madmen? Fascists and communists, and you know who they are. Labourism is reasonable, moderate and will provide you a new platform which differs from the same exact platform that has ruled us for the last 200 years, and specially in the last 50 years. Tired of an oligocracy? We are tired too. Will you cast us your vote?"

"...or will you keep being ruled by the same fat, old men? Now it's your time to decide. Avanza Carbania!"



Labourist Carbania equals a free Carbania!

[Dentali]

Interview w Jose Garcia
Labourist Party

Interviewer: Good evening we have tonight with us José Antonio García Rodríguez, Leader of the Labourist Party and Presidential candidate. Than you for joining us.

"Thank you for inviting me. It's a pleasure to be interviewed by the national TV."

Interviewer: I want to start by going through your background and letting people know you a bit better... You have been involved in politics a long time, being the leader of the juvenile branch of the Labourist Party and rising through the ranks. You led a number of protests against the regime over the past few decades. How confident are you that Carbania can sustain a Democracy?

"Well, it depends. We have people who want to bring a dictatorship, be it Mandes', be it a communist one. And we have people who want to mantain it. I identify as of the second group. "

Interviewer: By that do you mean the CRM under Pablo Miledo? What other parties do you believe are a threat?

José García: "Miledo is just one. Think about the MRN too."

Interviewer: Should you be elected President what measures would you take to ensure a healthy Democracy?

José García: "Well, I'm going for MP, and if my party gets a majority I could be elected PM. But it depends on the voters. I'd keep the military within the reasonable borders, so they don't grow power-hungry again, among other measures."

Interviewer: So keeping the military within the reasonable borders... Do you feel that can be accomplished at the same time we are fighting a major insurgency?

José García: "Well, I take the example of Colombia: false positives. The military disguised civilians as insurgents and this went unnoticed for many years. Those aren't reasonable borders, but I assure the military will be allowed to use all of its power against the proper insurgents. Civilians are a big NO."

Interviewer: So you won't be scaling back its funding? What about reforming its command structure? removing some of the leadership?

José García: "Yes, I absolutely agree to that. The military does need a renovation. Out with the old, and in with the new."

Interviewer: I want to circle back around to you for a moment... now in campaigning you have mentioned the influence of Liberation Theology more than once, however you yourself are not a Catholic is that correct?

José García: "Correct. I have a strong belief in a loving God, but I hadn't assisted to a Church in many years. Liberation theology has its flaws, yes it does, but I think the concern for the poor is fundamental. In my teens, my neighbourhood, a slum in Tumbes, was visited by priests. I felt cared for. That was a huge influence in my youth."

Interviewer: What flaws do you see in Liberation Theology?

José García: "Might generate a lot of debate, but I think not all the poor are good. There are poor people who fight every day to get out of poverty and deserve a better future. But those who don't do anything but keep burglaring and robbing and then use the shield of 'necessity' should rather be combatted. All crime should be."

Interviewer: Would fighting that mean giving police more power and authority?

José García: "Definitely involves giving them more training. It wouldn't be about police getting more power, but about them regaining power in areas where crime has arisen."

Interviewer: Lets circle back a bit, now youve talked about Liberation Theology and its flaws... Other than its rheotic regarding caring for the poor what from it can been seen in your party platform?

José García: "Well, as you may know, many social and ethnic groups were oppressed by the dictatorship. Liberation theology involves also political liberation for those, such as Afro-Carbanians, Indigenous Carbanians, LGBT+ Carbanians, human rights activists persecuted during Mandes' regime or basically anyone involucrated with the underground political life during those horrid times."

José García: "Political liberation in the form of increased participation. My good friend Pedro Quispe, our presidential candidate, was first affected by communist and then by junta violence."

Interviewer: But economically those who espouse the theology seem to be much further to the left than yourself?

José García: "My conception is different. Since my platform is third way economically, a state of welfare and a social market economy are my main objectives. Those shall not leave the poor even more poor, as does the neoliberal model."
José García: "Lowering the taxes and increasing the minimum wage helps the poor too, since they have less economic pressure on their households."

Interviewer: where do you stand on gay marriage and abortion

José García: "Well, I think marriage in the strict sense of the word is done between a man and a woman. But I'm going to make civil unions possible, because two people that love each other have the right to be united legally. About abortion, I'll always be pro-life. But I think there are cases in which abortion may be the only option. Like when there's the ultimate need (and no other choice for the mother) to abort the baby if there is no other method possible to save both lives. Or in cases of rape, where the mother has not chosen nor has she done anything which she knew could get her pregnant."

Interview: Just to clarify... i've heard your party describe itself as left wing... Is that correct?

José García: "Well, we have an important left-wing past. But currently, we're trying to not abandon labourers as well as shifting more to the centre."

Interview: So the left wing is in the past in terms of policy but you are keeping the rhetoric?

José García: "Yes, we're aiming to reach more parts of Carbanian society, but workers and labourers keep having a primary role."

Interviewer: So how does that set you apart from other more established parties in the Center and Center right?

José García: "Well, not that apart from the centre-right since they are moderates just as us. But the right-wing is seeking to establish a neoliberal model, to which I don't agree. We mustn't privatize what is already working well, I think mixed businesses between state and privates are the best option for things which aren't working well."

Interviewer: That about wraps it up for our time... thank you for joining us.

[Reorganized Portugal]

Partido Demócrata Católico TV Advertisement


"Hello. My name is Jose Antonio Rabellino, mayor of (Small Town I don't want to name), Camparroz, and the Partido Demócrata Católico's candidate for President of Carbania. I can tell you all about my positions and why you should vote for me, but don't take it from me. Take it from average Carbanians."


(The camera pans on the slums of Intichiquan. It cuts to a woman in modest, slightly torn clothing standing in front of her dilapidated home.)

Woman: "Jose Antonio Rabellino wants to build more neighborhoods and homes, so I can live a better life."


(We cut to a young woman.)

Woman: "He cares about my family, and yours too, and he'll make sure to give every child a chance."


(Cut to a church, and a priest standing at the altar.)

Priest: "He wants to base Carbania's government on the teachings of Christ, and put us back on the right track."


(Cut to a miner outside of a small mining town in Alturas.)

Miner: "He cares about my job, and my finances. He'll cut our taxes and give me more money to provide for myself and my family."


"I'm Jose Antonio Rabellino, and I approve this message."

[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

[Sao Nova Europa]

Intichiquan, Federal District
February 5, 2022



A couple of thousands of protestors had gathered in the capital. The Freedom Rally had been organized by a number of right-wing, anti-communist, anti-tax and pro-business advocacy groups that protested "tax theft", "creeping socialism" and the "danger of Carbania becoming the new Venezuela". Many of the protesters waved the national flag of Carbania while others were waving the PLP party banner. While officially the protest had not been organized by the PLP, it had been promoted heavily by the party and had been attended by Alan Castañeda and Sebastian Carnicero, who were cheered on by the crowd.

"PLP is the only party that can stop the red tide!" Alan Castañeda spoke through his microphone. "Socialism is threatening our national fabric. The far-left has been gaining ground. I fear that if we do not stop them, we shall end up like Venezuela or Cuba. Inflation will run rampant, the currency will have no value, people will be starving, elections will be abolished and political opponents will be jailed or even executed. That is the future the far left wants. With this peaceful rally we send a signal that we shall not accept communism! We shall not allow our newly earned liberties to be sacrificed in the altar of Marxism!"

Sebastian Carnicero spoke next. "PLP is the party that believes in human liberty! We want to cut taxes not simply because we believe it will increase consumption, investments and economic growth - it will - but also because it is the moral thing to do! I believe that the hard-working Carbanian - who toils and sweats for hours upon hours in his job - should have the right to decide what to do with his hard-earned money. Other candidates do not have faith in the Carbanian people; they believe that Carbanians are too immature to manage their own money and that the government is the parent who will supposedly manage prudently their money. In reality this means the transfer of the wealth of the people to government coffers, to be managed by lazy bureaucrats sitting in cozy offices and wasting that money in out of touch outlandish bureaucratic schemes. I believe that the Carbanian people are mature enough to manage their own money. I believe that is they, and not the bureaucrats, who should decide how to spend that money. I believe that each Carbanian has his own dreams, desires and wishes, which bureaucrats cannot possibly hope to know; how, then, can they decide what is best for them? I believe that Carbanians are individuals, each one unique, instead of number in some statistical formula. I have faith in the Carbanian people!"

Sebastian paused for a moment, to be applauded by the growth. "We stand here together to bring a revolution of common-sense and say NO to the tax theft of the socialists. We will never allow Carbania to fall into the hands of the communists. We will never let the fire of our freedom to be extinguished by the would-be dictators of the far left. We will never let the communists seize our homes and businesses. We will stand up for liberty! We will defend FREEDOM!"

After the end of the rally, the organizers announced that they would be holding more rallies in the next weeks and encouraged more people to attend them to "defend our democracy from the Marxists".

[The Sarangtus Lands]

Intichiquan, Federal District
February 5, 2022

(Image)

A couple of thousands of protestors had gathered in the capital. The Freedom Rally had been organized by a number of right-wing, anti-communist, anti-tax and pro-business advocacy groups that protested "tax theft", "creeping socialism" and the "danger of Carbania becoming the new Venezuela". Many of the protesters waved Gadsden flags and the national flag of Carbania while others were waving the PLP party banner. While officially the protest had not been organized by the PLP, it had been promoted heavily by the party and had been attended by Alan Castañeda and Sebastian Carnicero, who were cheered on by the crowd.

"PLP is the only party that can stop the red tide!" Alan Castañeda spoke through his microphone. "Socialism is threatening our national fabric. The far-left has been gaining ground. I fear that if we do not stop them, we shall end up like Venezuela or Cuba. Inflation will run rampant, the currency will have no value, people will be starving, elections will be abolished and political opponents will be jailed or even executed. That is the future the far left wants. With this peaceful rally we send a signal that we shall not accept communism! We shall not allow our newly earned liberties to be sacrificed in the altar of Marxism!"

Sebastian Carnicero spoke next. "PLP is the party that believes in human liberty! We want to cut taxes not simply because we believe it will increase consumption, investments and economic growth - it will - but also because it is the moral thing to do! I believe that the hard-working Carbanian - who toils and sweats for hours upon hours in his job - should have the right to decide what to do with his hard-earned money. Other candidates do not have faith in the Carbanian people; they believe that Carbanians are too immature to manage their own money and that the government is the parent who will supposedly manage prudently their money. In reality this means the transfer of the wealth of the people to government coffers, to be managed by lazy bureaucrats sitting in cozy offices and wasting that money in out of touch outlandish bureaucratic schemes. I believe that the Carbanian people are mature enough to manage their own money. I believe that is they, and not the bureaucrats, who should decide how to spend that money. I believe that each Carbanian has his own dreams, desires and wishes, which bureaucrats cannot possibly hope to know; how, then, can they decide what is best for them? I believe that Carbanians are individuals, each one unique, instead of number in some statistical formula. I have faith in the Carbanian people!"

Sebastian paused for a moment, to be applauded by the growth. "We stand here together to bring a revolution of common-sense and say NO to the tax theft of the socialists. We will never allow Carbania to fall into the hands of the communists. We will never let the fire of our freedom to be extinguished by the would-be dictators of the far left. We will never let the communists seize our homes and businesses. We will stand up for liberty! We will defend FREEDOM!"

After the end of the rally, the organizers announced that they would be holding more rallies in the next weeks and encouraged more people to attend them to "defend our democracy from the Marxists".

Mallama, as soon as the rally was announced, got to work. He called up his army of flying picket activists to show up to the capital on the date, along with getting arrangements to cook lots of fresh food and some staples to get people from the slums to attend the counter-protest. He used social media to promote counterprotest efforts, too, in order to boost numbers using student activists. The day had come and...



The protesters marched. They approached the PLP on the opposite side, chanting and singing as they approached from all sides, as a way to mask their numbers and appear larger. They had mass amounts of flags, to the point where it seemed borderline excessive.

"Carbanians! Workers! Free men and women!" Mallama punctuated to the crowd, as he usually did, to start a speech. "We must say no more taxes on the poor to pay for the corporate crisis. We must say no more to these enforcers of the rich's will. They are simply tools of the United States, the tools of corporate exploiters, the people who have left you in a state of poverty. Who are they to tell us how to run a country? The people of Carbania must fight, with will and with spirit, to deny these people the power, and to ensure that the values of our democratic revolution continue. These people who want to raise your taxes - who want to give the rich handouts while extorting you to pay more for food, for water, for electricity, these are the representatives of the rich, and their lies keep on continuing.

They talk about how I am the enemy of democracy, about how we wish to destroy freedom...Yet it was not the MPL that tear gassed civilians during the November Days. It was not the communists who tortured people who fought for democracy. It was those free market fundamentalists, those who created the false idol of profit, those who put your chains there, who exploit our land, our water, our natural resources.

It is time to seize back what belongs to the working people of this country, and to create a true democracy - not some false liberal one, but rather a true democracy in which the workers are able to exercise democratic power over their workplaces as they are over our political institutions, and to destroy the old dictator's constitution in favour of a new one, created with the unified power of all the marginalised groups in this country - the youth, the elderly, the workers, the farmers, the indigneous.

You know what, it's enough time for me simply to talk to you," He rolled off the podium, sticking his notes back in his pocket.

"Castaneda! Carnicero!" He yelled, picking up his megaphone. "Why don't we have a talk, and let the Carbanian people hear out both sides? Come on over here and let's have a debate!"

[The Sarangtus Lands]

Alca Mallama Campaign Schedule - January 2022

January 1 - Off Day

January 2 - Previously covered

January 3 - Start the day on the square where the November Days started, make a speech reflecting on the legacy of the democratisation of the country, the long struggle needed to complete it and about how its values needed to be carried into the future, firing the starting pistol for political campaigning and calling for a Carbania in which all people stood together in solidarity and where unemployment, a lack of access to clean water and illiteracy had become things of the past, and speaking of his dream in which Carbanians would be able to stand with ecah other, hand-in-hand, and proclaim themselves free, free from tyranny, free from want and free from the sicknesses of an ill society, then met with representatives of victims of the dictatorship where he showed compassion and talked about how they would help defeat authoritarianism in the country. After which, he visited a local school, and spoke to the students about how he and the MPL would fight for a better future, helping the poor and improving public education, along with making sure they'd be able to get jobs when they were older. He shook hands with the kids, and then read them a story about the morals of helping other people. He then gave a speech to the teachers outlining MPL education policy, and then talking about their policy to make all education free, while also increasing the salaries of teachers and increasing funding for public education, closing gaps between the rich and the poor. Finally, he closed the day off by making a speech at the largest interest group for the elderly, announcing the triple lock policy on pensions and raising benefits to 60% of the income, along with talking about his support for strengthening social care and ensuring healthcare access for all. This was all in the capital.

January 4 - His first engagement of the day was to speak to victims of police brutality, talking about police reform and putting corrupt police officers on trial, while expressing his condolences and using his experiences with police brutality to empathise with them, shaking hands and generally putting on a nice smile. He then went to speak at an anti-corruption organisation, making an open doors speech with members of the public in attendance about how the MPL would defeat corruption and ensure efficiency in government, fighting against the extortion of ordinary people and excesses of the bad apples of the civil service. He then went to a charity hospital, speaking to the staff, shaking hands and talking about increasing the pay of public hospital staff, along with knocking on his ideas of social care once again. He spoke of his support for universal healthcare, and how he would help the poor achieve equitable access to healthcare, then lauding the hospital director for his commitment to charity, and publicising the how the Carbanian Workers' Confederation under him had supported charities, but then shaking his head at the fact that it was necessary for people in an industrialised, civilised society to rely on the generosity of others for basic human rights. To close the day, he spoke to a local government association in the capital and spoke of how the MPL in power would take local concerns into account, and give them a larger role in government, and how the association could rely on the MPL to fight for local concerns and to be heard at even the highest parts of government as the MPL would keep an eye towards the local level.

January 5 - The next day of his time in the capital was focused on the slums in the capital. He spoke at a large local church where lots of the people in the slums prayed, speaking on the values of generosity and how it was important that a society helped those in want, and how being poor was not a sign of a personal moral failing but rather a sign of being 'pushed down' by an unjust structure, and then talked on the general struggle to help the poorest and how they needed to turn out and vote for the champions of people like them rather than the agents of the rich. He next went with the local MPL association to go around and motivate activists by knocking on doors and hearing out people's concerns, empathising with his own experiences and showing sympathy for how the families were often unable to afford basic essentials such as water and electricity, whereupon he made a few remarks to a journalist following him about the need to fight for ordinary people. Finally, in the evening, he took a town hall and spoke to local residents while taking questions from nationwide, speaking on a wide variety of issues from healthcare to employment to education, reaffirming his fight for a stronger Carbania and a greater Carbania in which all can share in universal prosperity.

January 6 - This was the last day where he was slated to stay in the capital, and he made it quite a big one. After promoting a megarally in the capital through social media, he led one and it was nationally and internationally broadcasted online, while he sought as much domestic radio and TV coverage as possible, he decided to hold it with the cooperation of the MPL association of the University of Intichiquan, meeting with student leaders and organisers beforehand, but also with the working class slum community organisers and activists that organised the majority of the rally, as it was set to cause a massive spectacle across entire sectors of the city, as activists were bused in from outside. It was meant to be a money bomb event, meant to be trending on Twitter and Facebook, as WhatsApp legions of MPL supporters shared it with their families and friends to get as many eyeballs on the rally as possible. And it was certainly an event. As he had local and indigenous musicians do the music for the event, he had a fancy podium set up, where, after meeting with the crowd, began his speech at the stated time, motivating people to donate while denouncing those he saw as the enemies of the MPL - America, China, mine owners, businessmen, media magnates, right-wing lobbyists and academics, and large plantation owners, making fiery attacks at each. He spoke in populist terms, pointing to the PLP as a sign of the "corporatist rot" which threatens to destroy Carbanian society and upturn the progress made since the dictatorship. He attacked them for wanting to raise taxes on the poor, and said that they were the greatest threat to the people of Carbania's economic security, backed by cowards and oligarchs, who he attacked just as vigorously. His speech then flipped to talking about hope and struggle in times of madness, and how the MPL would continue the spring of hope and bring back the dream that was killed by the dictator. The crowd cheered vigorously, as he then took questions from nationwide, speaking on the importance of fighting together, and then calling on young activists to help spread the MPL message across the nation. He spoke to everyday concerns about employment, healthcare and crime, and after a long day of speaking and answering and marching across the capital, he was finally done with the capital. But the campaign had just started...

January 7 - He then went to Valenzuela, where he spoke first to the port workers just outside Intichiquan. He made a national broadcast to social media, talking about how the MPL would raise the minimum wage and fight for the rights of union workers, while adding a personal element as he had port workers volunteer to speak about their own experiences and why they would be supporting the MPL this April. He gave another roaring speech at a community centre, talking about the need to fight the corporatist stooges who have left ordinary Carbanians poor and starving for so long. He then gave a town hall at the same community centre, taking questions on people's everyday concerns, and promoting his union in the process while calling for everyone to join a union. He was asked about his plans for healthcare, and he responded with his support for universal healthcare. He was asked about his plans for education, and he called for improving public schools and making education free. He was asked about his plans for employment, and he reiterated his support for universal employment.

January 8 - Next in Valenzuela, he visited the capital. He spoke in the slums there, first talking about the need to reduce overpolicing, and then also the need to ensure proper amenities for people in order to tackle poverty and to tackle crime. He spoke of giving people hope and a new future, and shook hands with some people to show his solidarity with their situation, talking about his own experiences to empathise with them. He also spoke to a local women's group there, marching with them, and then talking about the need for paid family leave, for child benefits, and for a guarantee of legal equality between men and women, bringing his niece there as they both shook hands with the women in attendance, and even participated in a little singing. To end this particular day, he spoke to a local union branch, motivating them to get out there, and keep recruiting for both the union and the MPL, and sought to keep their morale and their support through being a presence and leading from the front, along with joining them in knocking on doors and making phone calls, publicising this to motivate supporters across the nation and put on a nice image.

January 9 - In the morning, he started off with a fair bit of social media management, putting himself on video calls in front of local activists across the nation, waving hello and giving them a few good words to motivate them, along with making preparations for gifts and giving them refreshments to ensure they could operate at peak capacity, along with making phone calls to local union branches to help them and provide virtual support to those more reticient to actively campaign for the MPL. After these phone calls he then did an interview with a left-wing internet personality, in order to win over at least some of the youth vote, though he also later did a virtual interview with two local newspapers in rural areas of the country. He spoke about his key concerns there, hammering on the need for healthcare, employment and housing, talking about the MPL objective of eradicating Chagas disease and promoting the 'War on Illiteracy' initiative and narrowing the urban-rural gap.

January 10 - After a little rest, he decided to get up early to help the textile workers' union unionise a new workplace, a big complex in the heart of another major city in the state, though not a capital. He picketed with the union workers there, along with speaking with the workers to get them to join the union. He spoke to the local leaders, along with community organisers, expressing his solidarity and talking about how he could help. He did a town hall with the workers of the workplace, some on union issues to encoruage them to join, but some on general electoral issues to get them voting MPL. He spoke on his bread-and-butter as he always did, and remarked on his experiences fighting against the dictatorship. After spending several hours there, he met with indigenous leaders, hearing out their concerns, and, as someone of indigenous heritage himself, accepting their concerns and talking about how they would help in a concrete manner, ensuring their continued loyalty and support to the party, along with addressing indigenous issues such as police brutality and so on.