Guadajar

The island nation of Guadajar sits along the Northwest corner of the Cerulean Islands. Its neighbors include Jamaika (and by extent the Jamaikan Sea) to the West, Jackshead and Presidencia to the South, Perennia to the East, and the vast Western Ocean to the North. Guadajar itself is split into three general regions: The larger Guadajar Mainland, the Three Stars Islands to the East between the Mainland and Perennia, and the volcanic Isla Verde to the Southwest. While all three contain smoother beaches and lush vegetation, the Mainland hosts more varied geographic features including valleys, plains, and marshland.

Despite its history of colonization and relatively humble size, Guadajar enjoys a relatively high GDPPC compared to other nations and most political factions encourage integration with the world economy as a whole. While the nation might not specialize in one particular field, its interdisciplinary approach to resource extraction makes the island nation a stable (if predictable) source of commercial enterprise.

As a former colonial subject and an ardent supporter of other independence movements, Guadajar is wary of any colonial based nation attempting to exert its power over other newly sovereign states. The only notable exception is Firocco as its colonial legacy upon Guadajar has left a minor but vocal group of supporters within the government.

## History

### Colonization

The first mention in any piece of literature regarding Guadajar can be found on a widely known historical list simply dubbed ‘List of Wars and Conflicts’. One may find such a list in most libraries around the world. It is noteworthy that the first overtures of contact are not diplomatic narrations or discovery. Instead it is a succinct entry regarding the invaders, Firocco, and the defenders, the Chieftains of the Cerulean Islands. (Interestingly enough, Guadajar is the only native nation that seems to have kept its name.) The appropriately titled ‘Firoccan Subjugation of the Cerulean Islands’ began in 1605. It ended in 1615 with the ‘colonization of the Cerulean Islands under the Firoccan Banner’. It is unknown how many lost their lives… or would continue to lose their lives under that bloodsoaked banner.

The apparent modern day consensus is that the people of Guadajar have largely survived the great game of colonial ambitions rather unscathed. However, dedicated historians might tell us something different when it comes to Guadajar’s origin stories. The Firoccan Empire was, by all accounts, among the most brutal and devastating colonial powers and the resource rich island was perhaps the most heavily brutalized crown jewel. Its non-Firoccan inhabitants were explicitly listed as slaves in historical texts and after many generations, softened abolitionists pointed to the mistreatment on Guadajar as to why slavery should be banned. Whether or not foreign slaves were imported is a question which can only be answered by future technologies but to this day, it is rather easy to correlate the various skin tones on Guadajar with certain socioeconomic upbringings and ancestry.

How this ‘general consensus’ of independence and Firoccan preferential treatment still stands, despite obvious contrary proof, is questionable but presumably we can bridge this gap by calling this a classic case of imperial revisionary history. After all, who would want to trade with an empire whose commercial roots strengthened on the backs of slaves? Though the Firoccan people might pride themselves on their wealth and savvy trade empire, there is no denying the heavy toll levied upon the Guadajar mestizo population.

There seems to be a large gap in history as the next mention comes nearly 130 years later in 1730. Evidently there were no developments within the island that required further mention beyond the creation and eventual banishment of ‘proper’ slavery even if sharecropping systems still came into effect. In fact, the next historical footnote in the history of Guadajar is the transfer of possessions between Antargentina and Firocco much like vintage toys or books at a merchant’s shop. At the end of the ‘Second Firoccan-Antargentinian War’ in 1739, the two powers decided the stalemate and guarded peace could best be guaranteed with Firoccan re-acquirement of the Fajardo Strip and the ceding of Guadajar. The fact that such an important territorial area such as the Fajardo Strip was traded for the island of Guadajar hints at its continued value in natural resources and working population.

### Independence

Afterwards, there is mention Firoccan history books that “...contact was reestablished with the colonies of Maraguay and Guadujar” in 1801 during the height of the Bonaventura-led Firocco Empire. (Notice the imperial spelling of ‘Guadajar’ in that section.) There are no mentions if any economic systems were replaced at the time or who, exactly, was still in power. But one can assume that the sharecropping, hierarchical nature of Guadajaran business still maintained itself despite the distant governance of the complicated Firoccan-Antargentinian leadership. The mere fact that ‘contact was reestablished’ hints at the off-handed approach to leadership despite the fact that the island was already transferred to Antargentina.

The next explicit mention of the island nation was when it gained independence in 1808, merely 7 years after contact was established once more with the independent forces of the Firoccan Empire. This is either a testament to the absolute devastation of governance that resulted from the Firoccan Standoff during that same year or the aggravating nature of this second wave of colonization which left the wealthy barrons little choice but to revolt. It is highly likely that both played a significant factor into this development, as the Firoccan people were largely distracted by the reconquest of their mainland from the Antargentinian aggressors to appropriately administer their regained possession.

We can infer, due to the wide success of the independence movement, that the disenfranchised mestizo populations had goals which aligned to that of the wealthy landowners. Diary entries of the time, as well as the creation of citizenship documents, clearly show there was already some form of common identity between *all* islanders before the Firoccan crown stumbled its way back to the Cerulean Islands and removed Antargentinian influences from the island after the Fifth Coalition Wars between 1806 and 1808.

An educated leap of conclusions may imply that the colonists were largely left to their own devices and given little choice but to coexist with those pesky underlings under the indifferent care of the Antargentinians. Unlike the Firoccan colonists of Lyria, Montserarria, and other God-forsaken misadventures in native subjigation, the crown would not come back and save them after pretending to be friends with the poorer native and slaves. Perhaps, then, it is this sense of community and of blended Guadajaran identity that created a powerful force of independence when the Firoccans came back into power.

In 1808, after the Antargentinians were finally taken care of, the people of Guadajar were indirectly given a question after staying out of the war: did they still consider themselves part of the Firoccan Empire? The independence movement which, again, developed and achieved its goals over the course of only 7 years starting in 1801, answered clearly: No.

### Modern History

After its continued development into a modern nation state, the next mention of history is the 1905 Jamaikan Sea Typhoon. While it caused a fair amount of damage, the island of Guadajar was as equally fortunate as Coriol to not suffer the extent of damages felt by Presidencia. A total of 800 people died in that event throughout all 3 islands.

Though Guadajar did indeed manage to gain a fair amount of self determination in its history, that seems to have changed oh-so-slightly thanks to the events that transpired on Île d'Oléron, Celtica, July 1907 during the Kijana Conference. The great powers that be, including Drakenstaat, Celtica, Liotain, and Firocco, congregated in an attempt to delicately balance the world into equitable spheres of influence. The alternative would have been nothing short of war and indeed, the threat of war always lingered as Guadajar’s placement into Firocco’s influence came with strings attached. As explicitly mentioned by Lady Catherina Arceneaux of Celtica, “..as long as Firocco is able/willing to exert its influence over the island [of Guadajar], then the other Imperial powers will not intervene. If they fail to do so, or lapse on their claim, then we can revisit this matter.” The people of Guadajar, who were not asked to provide input on their futures, continue to live with this imminent threat of ‘revisitation’ as they conduct international diplomacy. On one hand, you would be hard pressed to assume Guadajar was desperate to return to Firoccan associations after years of brutal-to-indifferent treatment. On the other hand… that irritating concept of ‘historical precedence’ meant no one else could lay a hand on Firoccan affiliated lands. The government of Guadajar knows it walks an uneasy tightrope of resentment towards the Firoccans while wondering if the devil they don’t know could be any worse.

On the subject of international diplomacy, Guadajar seems to have a rather inclusive, global oriented slant when it comes to establishing (or breaking) precedents. For one, the representatives of Guadajar voted solidly ‘yes’ when it came to the creation of an independent and unified Kijana as well as the guiding Five Principles Charter which listed out how this goal was to be accomplished. (Though the date of official signage was never given ffs) this event presumably happened shortly after the events of 1907.

## Political Parties and the National Congress

### Development of Modern Politics

The Guadajaran independence movement of 1808 was successful for two major reasons. Number one, the might of the Firoccan Empire was too busy reclaiming its land from the Antargentinians. Number two, the wealthy landowning oligarchs had to (bleugh) make promises to the disenfranchised and mistreated populations. And unfortunately for the wealthy, they needed those people as they constituted a significant majority of the island’s population.

And as with all successful plans, this came with a bit of compromise. The wealthy oligarchs still very much wanted to have a say in government politics but the poor did not want them to have any room to regain their ‘lost’ power. The logical answer was the creation of the Legislative and Executive branches of government.

The number of Deputies, in the Chamber of Deputies, was proportionally based upon the number of people in each province while the number of Senators, in the House of Senators, was limited to three per province (as to avoid any awkward splitting of a province by left/right ideologies).

It was within these halls of the National Congress, from both the Chamber of Deputies and the House of Senators, that a new leader would be elected. To be more specific, the House of Senators would elect a single candidate and the Chamber of Deputies would then vote on this candidate. A simple majority, even by one vote, would make this man the leader of the nation. This system was agreed upon by both the wealthy and the poor as a sort of failsafe for responsible leadership: the Senators had the experience and the resources to find the most qualified man for the job but the Deputies would ultimately allow the people’s voice to be heard. To no one’s surprise, the best candidate for president is usually the most ‘average’ man of all political parties in the Legislative Branch.

These presidential elections would take place over the course of 7 years, in line with the amount of time it took for the Guadajaran Independence Movement to achieve its goals. However, general elections for the National Congress would take place in the middle of these 7 years. To picture it more clearly, every 3.5 years there would be some sort of election in Guadajar: either the Presidential Election or the elections for the National Congress.

As one might imagine, this can oftentimes lead to frustrating and confusing instances of observation from foreign publics. Take the Presidential Election, for example. Technically, the public themselves do not vote on a president; their representatives in the Chamber and the House vote on their behalf. This then means that any presidential hopeful is required to make overtures to parties as a whole in order to gain votes from the parties he is hoping to work with. Naturally, it is understood that a man put forward by any political party is expected to have the backing of his party, but one party alone does not have enough of a majority for either the nomination in the House or the simple majority in the Chamber. While a presidential hopeful is certainly expected to make public appearances and greet the public, it is ultimately the ability of a party’s candidate to convince other parties to vote for them and form coalition governments. Normally coalition governments tend to vote between their own parties for the next candidates but mutinous parties have been known to occasionally switch sides if a more suitable candidate presents itself.

This exciting process lasts for exactly seven months which, you guessed it, is done in honor of the 7 years it took to gain independence. If neither party can swallow its pride and vote for the candidate of another party, then the most horrible thing happens: the public finally gets to vote directly by a simple majority.

The Senators, aristocratic and oligarchic in their ways, would like to do anything in their power to avoid the tyranny of the masses via a direct election. Who knows what wretched ‘common man’ might become the leader of the nation? Political parties like to drag their heels when it comes to forming coalitions and voting for candidates of other neighboring left/right wing parties. But there is nothing as horrifying as the *public* directly electing their leader. Usually by the 5th month, the Senate manages to pass someone appropriate for the Deputies to approve.

This has only ever happened *once* during Guadajaran’s history back in 1906 after the public was fed up with political parties and their lack of unified responses to the Jamaikan Sea Typhoon of 1905. None of the political parties were able to put forth a viable candidate that the rest of the Senators would appreciate before the 7th month. As such, the current president, Presidente Emilio Juarez, currently enjoys the support of the public though he is finding it slightly difficult to work with other political parties outside of his own Cerulean Mobilization Front due to his unusual ascendancy.

### Modern Political Parties and Ideologies

Any and all political parties are welcome to join the National Congress. There are no minimum number of votes required but obviously there is a limited capacity of seats available both in the House and Chamber. The implication here is that fringe political parties are unlikely to achieve any sort of representation beyond one or two seats on the Chamber level.

Cerulean Mobilization Front - Cerulean/Blue - Agricultural protectionism, debt forgiveness for farmers, encouraged investment in agricultural technologies, economic integration/collaboration with neighboring Cerulean islands over other foreign nations

Reformation Movement - Pink - Female suffrage, lowered voting age from 21 to 18, greater direct democracy, creation of an independent third government branch to determine constitutionality of laws, greater spending on social welfare programs

Pankasmic Party - White - (The differences in Firoccan and Anteargentinian versions of Pankasmic Theophany are borderline negligible on Guadajar and are significantly more interested in cohesion for the sake of political representation.) Continued preferential treatment for religious institutions, prohibition movements, and greater social conservatism.

Commercial Renewal Party - Yellow - Increasing the international presence of Guadajar through trade and diplomacy, caution on military interventionism, tax reformation based on wealth range opposed to flat tax

United Futures Party - Light Blue - Greater funding for education, increased international collaboration for advances in all technologies from warfare to medicine, greater funding for army capabilities

Land, Liberty, and Dignity Movement - Brown - Indigenous rights, increased funding in heavily marginalized mestizo population centers, government accountability, historical preservation of cultural sites

Firoccans Together - Red - Admiration and imitation of Firoccan leadership/governance, increased military funding, consideration of Guadajarian colonization on other lands, limited social welfare budgets

Social Democratic Party - Orange - Increased direct political participation, greater state governance on private enterprises, encouragement of state-sponsored unions

Natural Vision Society - Green - Lowered taxes on individuals, higher taxes on businesses, strict immigration policies, preservation of the natural environment, encouragement of minimum conscripted service

Liberal Voice Party - Purple - Export/industrial based economic growth, removal of barriers for democratic processes, lower barriers to loan procurement and subsidization grants, minor social conservatism