GC 3Q1903

[Borys]

 16 June 1903: Cartagena

"Welcome back", Security Minister Rey Alizandro said to Eduard Torres. The Foreign Minister had just arrived home from the Vienna Conference the previous day. "I understand it was an eventful meeting."

Torres sighed. "What kind of world do we live in when every international conference gets disrupted in some fashion? The world was so much more civilized when I was a mere desk officer. El Presidente is absent, I take it?"

"Visiting Cuba again", Rey replied. "He asked that I chair the cabinet meetings in his place.

"Indeed", Torres said. It made sense - the young minister was, after all, the President's son, and almost certainly his successor.

"Does the press have the tally correct?", asked Agriculture Minister Jorge Escalante.

"Austria, the Middle Kingdom, the UKA, and Rohan signed; the DKB signed the main treaty but not the annex. The French made excuses and backed out", Torres explained.

"I'm shocked and appalled", Industry Minister Sebastien de Soto said sarcastically.

"Aren't we all", Torres agreed. "Per instructions, I did not sign for Gran Colombia. In fact, I didn't even participate in the conversation, preferring to take notes and make observations."

"So? What did you observe?", Rey asked.

"With regards to Rohan, a definite antipathy towards the Eye, of course. The Austrians seemed most concerned with the rights of captured officers; a Siamese delegate gave him a difficult time over recent Austrian undertakings in various towns."

"What about the intrusion?", asked Ricardo Alizandro. "Did you do us proud?"

"I didn't try to out-race the French delegate, if that's what you mean", Torres replied stiffly. "I put my faith in the assumption that this government is on sufficiently good terms with Senor Mars that he might advise us not to send a minister to an event he planned to disrupt with massacres."

"Good job. Did you get the chemical weapon data the old coot promised?"

Torres shooked his head very slightly, a look of distaste upon his visage.

"Then we'll just have to rely on Benicio to get the data for us instead", Ricardo said with a smile.

3 July 1903

"We're having some strange weather this year", Agriculture Minister Escalante informed President Alizandro during a rare one-on-one meeting.

El Presidente looked puzzled. "We are? It seemed pleasant enough to me."

"I meant we in the global sense. Nearly every country for which I've seen data is experiencing strange weather in one sense or another, be it temperature, precipitation, or both."

"Mm-hmm...?", Alizandro intoned.

"We are not yet noticing greatly unusual weather ourselves, as you noted. But there may be some longer term considerations to be aware of, considerations that may require policy decisions on your part."

"I do not control the weather, Jorge", Alizandro replied.

"More in terms of agriculture", Escalante clarified. He was vaguely perturbed by the president's flippant attitude - perhaps his mind was on Cuba again? "If the weather affects the southern hemisphere's growing season, we stand to be impacted by poor harvests of those commodities we import from the Union del Sur-America. Wheat and corn are the two major products. These crops are already visibly lagging behind normal growth rates across much of North America and Europe. Prices are starting to escalate, and I believe some governments may be considering buying up stockpiles. It is my recommendation to you that, first, we get into the market now and purchase some quantity of cereals from the CSA, Rohan, or even Mesoamerica. It will cost us a bit more than usual now, but it may save us considerably more later."

Alizandro mulled it over for a few seconds. "Okay."

"Thank you", Escalante said, with feeling. Agriculture ministers who couldn't feed the nation didn't last long in their posts. "We should also start talking to the USA now about getting priority for purchase of their exports. I suspect we have a useful bargaining chip in the form of our own crops. Our production of commodities such as bananas, cocoa, and coffee are lower than the last couple of years, but within the broader range we can expect over the course of a decade or two. Similar production elsewhere is suffering from the weather and, again, prices are going up while inventories go down. If we and the USA can strike a mutually satisfactory agricultural trade deal, both nations should be able to avoid what I think will be a very lean year around the world."

"Just how lean do you mean?", Alizandro asked.

"Take bananas. One of the main overseas competitors is the Philippines; this year, between the volcano, the civil war, and the weather, they're projected to harvest, at best, forty-five percent of their average take. Sure, they'll earn more than usual for the crop, but it's less food. Project that same trend around the world, and we're looking at a potential famine. The kind that tears nations apart."

Alizandro finally looked concerned enough for Escalante's liking. "Let's set up a meeting with Eduard later this week. If it's this serious an issue, we'd better talk to the Suramericans sooner rather than later."

   
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swamphen    
Posted: Nov 21 2006, 08:46 AM


Großeadmiral Sumpfhühn
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Hmm, perhaps I'll start subsidising my own banana plantations. wink.gif
   
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The Rock Doctor    
Posted: Nov 22 2006, 08:57 PM


Hegemon
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12 August 1903

"I want to increase our forces in Roraima and Amazonas", Ricardo Alizandro told his brother over lunch.

"Why?", the President asked.

Dumbfounded, Ricardo could only stare at him. "What do you mean, why? Because of the Anahuac. I've lost close to two hundred men in the past six weeks in various skirmishes with the heathens. The theatre commander reports that he doesn't control anything between the Rio Negro, Amazon and Rio Jauaperi except Manaus and Urucara."

"I don't want to escalate matters with the Anahuac, vile as they are, while I've got to worry about the French and the PESN."

"What have the PESN got to do with this, Enrico?", Ricardo demanded. "They're done as a world power. Ruined by their own hand."

"Their fleet is as large as ours", Enrico noted. "How do we know they won't make an attempt to regain Cuba?"

"For the love of God, brother, would you stop obsessing over Cuba?", Ricardo exploded. "It's just a tourist trap with nice beaches and a bit more of the same agricultural stuff we already produce in droves! Focus yourself on the mass of human-sacrificing devil worshippers seeking to establish an empire on our doorstep!"

"The French have them reined in!", Enrico shouted back.

"Don't be ridiculous! The French have no idea what they're dealing with! They're sending their own loyal troops out of the continent, and sending in the Anahuac to secure the cities!"

Enrico retorted, "Palpate wouldn't allow it!"

"Palpete's a delusional megalomaniac who can't recognize that his empire's glory is turning to rot!", Ricardo thundered. "I mean, come on - he's committed acts of war against us because he wants the honor of finishing his ditch first! How is that rational? Oh, right - it is if he doesn't get hurt in return."

Enrico's eyes narrowed. He growled, "Are you accusing me of cowardice?"

"I'm saying that our father wouldn't have turned the other cheek in the face of such transgressions. Nor would grandfather."

"Get out", Enrico hissed.

"Sure - I've lost my appetite anyway", Ricardo exclaimed, throwing his fork down on to his plate with a clatter. Storming out, he left his brother alone with his suspicions and fears.