Republic of Val Verde

## Country Overview

**The Republic of Val Verde** is a fictional country used by Hollywood writer and producer Steven E. de Souza when his stories require a South- or Central-American locale that will not cause legal or diplomatic problems. The country is the linchpin of the Val Verde Cinematic Universe in whose movies are set, referenced to, or connected to another movie in some way. There are certainly some inconsistencies over the years on where Val Verde may have existed. Evidence from the films suggest both a Central or South American origin. De Souza believes that *Predator* takes place in Val Verde. *Predator*, like *Commando*, was produced by Joel Silver. However, in *Predators* (2010), Isabelle (Alice Braga) states that the events of the original film took place in Guatemala, though part of the film's first act takes place in another unnamed country. With this evidence we can assume Val Verde is a neighboring country to Guatemala since the action in *Predator* could take place on the Val Verde - Guatemala boarder. In *Commando* the flight attendant says that Val Verde is an 11 hour flight from Los Angeles International Airport, which places it approximately 5500 miles from California and is likely to be near Chile, Paraguay or Brazil. However, with a little apologetic below we can account for that time with a lengthy flight inspection between the two countries. When glimpsed in *Commando*, it appears to be a poor nation, where subsistence agriculture (i.e. livestock) is side-by-side with military propaganda and constant military presence. Inhabitants appear poor, and there is evidence of a trade embargo reminiscent of that placed on Cuba in the presence of battered but functional vintage 1950s cars. Finally to complicate things even more, the map of the Val Verde Guatemalan boarder in *Predator* is a map of Brazil in Portuguese. The study of the Republic of Val Verde is a study of apologetics it seems.

## History (P and A)

The Republic of Val Verde splintered off of Guatemala in 1970 during the Guatemalan Civil War. The territory seized from Guatemala included all the land North of The Northern Transversal Strip which was officially created during the Guatemalan government of General Carlos Arana Osorio in 1970. It is known today as the Guatemalan Department of Petén and is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest by area — at 35,854 km2 (13,843 sq mi) it accounts for about one third of Guatemala.

The area was settled by the Mayans who were the first to flourish there and its modern history began with Portuguese traders on the Eastern boarder and the Spanish conquest of Guatemala in 1524. Guatemala was part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala for nearly 330 years. This captaincy included what is now Chiapas in Mexico and the modern countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The colony became independent in 1821 and then became a part of the First Mexican Empire until 1823. From 1824 it was a part of the Federal Republic of Central America. When the Republic dissolved in 1841, Guatemala became fully independent.

In 1971 the people of Petén renamed the territory Val Verde (translates to Green Valley). The capitol was the city of Flores and the government would be a Military Dictatorship. It was indeed a Banana Republic in every sense of the word with banana's being its primary export. It had one major international airport: Escalan Aeropuerto International in Flores. It bordered Mexico to the West and North, Belize to the East, and Guatemala to the South and the majority of the county was rain forests.

The area to the South East of Val Verde was known as Conta Mana and was occupied by the Republic of Val Verde off an on throughout its history as an access point to the Gulf of Mexico. The largest city in the area is the port city of Livingston which would serve as the only port into the country from 1977 to 1990. It was separated from Guatemala by the Dulce River and Lake Golfete in the South and the Chapada das Mangabeiras low lying mountain range on the West. Most of the small villages in Conta Mana are named in Portuguese due to the early Portuguese traders from before the Spanish occupation including Bom Jesus, Catita, Volta de Sarra, Borro do Brejo, Carto Cercado, and Barra.

#### 1970 - 1978: Establishment and President Esteban de Souza

Esteban de Souza took control of the Guatemalan northern military forces in December of 1970. He sought to bring safety and stability to the people of Petén from the Guatemalan Civil War. E. de Souza succeeded for sometime, working with the United Fruit Company and making allies with the United States. He assumed the role as the first President of the Republic of Val Verde.

In 1977 E. de Souza sought to control the port town of Livingston on the Gulf of Mexico and secure a trade route. He sent his troops into Guatemala to secure the port town of Livingston. The invasion force was successful and the Republic of Val Verde now had access to the trade route along the Southern boarder of Belize, North of the Dulce River and Lake Golfete and East of the Chapada das Mangabeiras low lying mountain range. This area would be named Conta Mana. This in effect secured its banana export to the United States but the area would be a bed of hostility and highly contested, changing hands many times over its existence.

#### 1978 - 1986: The Rule of President Arius Perez

In 1978 leadership of the Republic of Val Verde was passed peacefully over to Esteban de Souza's second in command, Arius Perez. In 1980 Perez promoted Ramon Esperanza to General of the Val Verdian Army and began a campaign to strengthen its military. It was during Arius Perez's tenure that the government became invested in the narcotics trade. The United States Government ignored this drug scandal early on due to Val Verde's proximity to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador and their wish to suppress communism in the West. In fact, in 1982 the United States moved a division of the U.S. Army to Conta Mana to help secure the area for Val Verde’s exports. It wasn't until Ronald Regan's war on drugs that the U.S. began to put pressure on Val Verde, but at this point it was too late. General Arius and the Val Verde military regime were now irreparably intertwined with drug cartels. The United States began to put sanctions on Val Verde including mandatory cargo inspections on every flight between the two countries at the Houston International Airport; often adding six hours to each flight.

    by 1985 Arius Perez would have many people tortured and killed. He justified this by saying the country needed to be led by someone who understood discipline, but that was a ruse in order to conceal the drug trade from the United States. In 1986 the U.S. Army sent in Delta Force after numerous well-publicized terrorist incidents occurred in the region linking the Val Verde Government to the narcotics trade. The result was the removal of Arius Perez and the instillation of a United States puppet government.

#### 1986 - 1988: President Raphael Velasquez and the Civil War

President Valesquez was put into power by the United States Government after the removal of Arius Perez in 1986. Arius Perez was extradited to the United States but due to a lack of sufficient evidence he served little jail time and established himself off the coast of Santa Barbara where he commanded a garrison of Val Verde loyalists. Velazquez's tenure as president would be short. Tensions mounted during his career over concern that the United States had overstepped their boundaries in the instillation of President Velasquez. Velazquez attempted to separate himself from U.S. influence by refusing to spy on communists in Guatemala and focusing on more internal affairs. The United States began to work with General Ramon Esperanza who vowed to overthrow the communists in Central America. In 1987, Guatemalan Guerilla’s made a territory grab for Conta Mana, and sent in troops to the boarder, a move that made the Val Verdian government look weak.

#### 1987: Val Verdian Cabinet Minister Kidnapped in Predator

In 1987 Guatemalan insurgents kidnapped the Val Verdian Cabinet Minister and his aid and retreated back into Guatemalan Territory. The United States sent in the C.I.A. to mount a rescue mission under the direction of Al Dillon. Dillon sent in a squad of Green Berets under the command of Jim Hopper to track down and rescue the Cabinet Minister, but the squad went missing in action. Al Dillon then called on Delta Force to track down the Guatemalan insurgents and rescue the Cabinet Members. Unfortunately, Delta Force were unable to rescue the Cabinet Member and his aid who were executed by the Guatemalans and all but one from Delta Force were killed by a mysterious assailant.

The U.S. continued to train troops and pilots and positioned the USS Georgetown off the coast of Conta Mana. Tensions flared in 1988 when General Esperanza mounted a civil war and took control of Conta Mana. This siege cut off Val Verde from the coast and pressured President Velasquez to relinquish control of the government to General Esperanza.

#### 1988 - 1990: The Military Regime of General Ramon Esperanza in Die Hard 2

The Republic of Val Verde was greatly impacted by the Esperanza-controlled government. In 1988, the General gained favor with the United States by leading his country's army in a campaign against communist insurgents. This military campaign was aided by American dollars and US military advisors including Colonel William Stuart who was instrumental in the signing and execution of the military pact between the parties. Throughout the decade, General Esperanza was accused of atrocities in Val Verde, including-but-not-limited to cocaine smuggling, racketeering, bribing of government officials and the holding of numerous political prisoners over the past decade. Despite the allegations, the General retained many supporters locally and abroad.

Complications arose when mounting evidence revealed that Esperanza had violated the neutrality of Belize and Mexico. When his funds were cut off, it is believed that the general entered the drug trade, specifically in cocaine smuggling. After high-ranking Pentagon officials were accused of continuing to sell arms to the regime, despite a Congressional ban, the United States became vested in removing Esperanza from power and making an example of him. On December 23rd, 1990, an extradition agreement was reached to transport the General to the United States, where U.S. Justice Department officials would await his arrival, likely to charge him with war crimes. Esperanza's day in court would never see the light of day however as his plans for escape at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. were thwarted and he perished in an airplane crash.

#### 1990 - 1996: President K. Pedro Salón and reintegration into Guatemala

In the summer of 1990, public outcry demanded that General Esperanza hold democratic elections for the next president of the Republic of Val Verde. One such candidate was K. Pedro Salón who was a member of the Freedom Party and was becoming very popular. General Esperanza agreed to have a democratic election, and he ran as an incumbent. Though the elections were mostly peaceful, the results were not what General Esperanza had hoped as K. Pedro Salón won the popular majority vote. Esperanza ordered the immediate incarceration of then President K. Pedro Salón, and held him as a political prisoner for two months. After General Esperanza's extradition, K. Pedro Salón assumed the roll of President of Val Verde and was released.

President Salón's first years as president were challenging, for as he promised to lower tensions with a smaller military presence, the area of Conta Mana was seized back by Guatemala. Without Val Verde's access to the port of Livingston, the county's exports would be slowed. Talk soon began to reintegrate Val Verde into Guatemala as the Guatemalan civil war was coming to an end. In 1996 the Republic of Val Verde returned to Guatemala as part of the Guatemalan Peace Accords. The area known as Val Verde returned as the reinstated Department of Petén.