President Perez fears war in Caribbean will drag in the Estados Unidos de Colombia
José Rojas Pinilla, reporter for Colombian state television, Inravisión, stood rubbing his temples pacing back and forth in front of the wall of television screens. His camera-man, Óscar Pareja, was passed out in a chair next to him. His producer, René Valderamma was asking him questions he couldnt seem to focus on. It was noon and his head was killing him. He had met with the president, Andrés Pérez, for drinks in the presidents hotel lounge and they had drank heavily until 7:30 am when José Rojas had had to catch a flight back to Bogotá. Almost five hours later and with only 2 hours sleep, he now found himself going through the footage of the informal interview the president had provided. The footage would be assembled during the day and at 6pm he would be back on camera, hopefully fully refreshed, to present the second part of the interview that had begun yesterday evening after the financial summit in México.
Seriously René, just stop talking for a second. Let me think. A minute ago, or was it five, you asked me what I thought of him. To be honest, hes a real pendejo. But hes charismatic and charming. Even when you know hes bending you over, hes smiling away and you cant help but like him. But yeah
a real cabrón. I mean, go to that still we have of him with the cigar. Yeah, thats the one. Look at that f__cking poise. This is him when I arrive and I catch him talking to that puta from the syndicates.
René was intrigued, Yeah, you mentioned he was talking to Fernando Gaitán when you got there. What was that about?
Not sure, the pendejo pretends like I wouldnt know who he is but I recognize him right away. He didnt realize I was there at first so he keeps talking to him. Óscar got it on camera. Play the tape.
<On the TV monitor a well-dressed but sleazy-looking man is leaning in towards the president. He speaks animatedly. A young woman is next to him, making eyes at the president.>
<The man is saying, The telenovelas revolves around the Moreno family, a wealthy Maracaibo family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. The series focuses on the baron J.R. Moreno who is a ruthless oil tycoon who cheats his one-time partner out of his share of the business. The show focuses on wealth, sex, intrigue, and power struggles. Ultimately each season ends with a major cliff-hanger. Weve already got a cliff-hanger that revolves around the question, Who shot J.R.? We think its going to be extremely popular.>
<The president puffs on his cigar, Pure trash. HA! Colombians will love it. Ah, José, my friend was just leaving, please, take his place, and let us complete your interview.>
René looked worried, So you think the rumors are true? The president is going to open the channels to private syndicates? For nine years, since television has come to Colombia, we, Inravisión, have been the only game in town. This is going to change things dramatically. And they want to fill the air-waves with this trash, this Who shot J.R. mierda? I am so happy I didnt vote for him.
The reporter rubbed his temples, Who cares? We can talk about it later. Lets get this interview done and I can crash for a few hours before I go on camera.
Okay then, what did you talk about?
The reporter rubs his temples again, I started by congratulating him on the birth of his grandson and he seemed to be genuinely pleased by that. We then moved on to the financial summit and he quickly grew bored. There wasnt much to say really that wasnt already said. The Sitko-Quito cooperative is moving towards greater market integration. Big business is happy. Little companies are apprehensive. Its all in the papers anyway; theres no story there.
The whole time were talking were drinking and I tell you, René, that pendejo can drink. Its putting back these Mexican beers, Deus Exuis, like its going out of style, and he begins to indulge himself a bit more as he relaxes. A few ladies come by and he starts flirting with them not even bothering to hide his ring. He seems to forget the camera is on the whole time. So much for the family-man persona. Anyway, he got cruel at points too. Some sort of tourist, maybe a Californian, not sure, came in, looking for directions and Pérez calls him over, eager to provide directions. Get this. He tells him to head one way for a block, turn left, then follow that for another block, then turn left, then follow that for a block, then turn left, then follow that for a block. The tourist isnt sure what to think and suddenly Pérez is laughing like a donkey and has his bodyguards throw him out. It was pretty cruel. We got that on tape too. I really cant believe this guy sometimes. The crazy thing is that hes so magnetic, his personality is so charismatic, you cant help but enjoy yourself in his company and want to please him even if he does disgust you. Women especially; you should have seen the beautiful ladies that came by our table. Ill tell you another story later about that
its not important for here or now.
So anyway, back to the story
pass me those pills
yeah.. the blue ones
damm Deus Exuis
anyway, back to the report. I asked him next about the Carribean conflict. And remember by this time were both pretty gone so we might have to do a lot of voice-overs for both of us cause when I looked at the footage all I heard was slurring and swearing. Im actually pretty impressed with the grand pooba here; he figures that there is significant foreign involvement in the islands, presumably one of the Soviet nations is keen to export its ideology and that anyone involving themselves there has to absolutely consider that they are not only struggling with a domestic uprising but with foreign-sponsored domestic uprising. The up-side to that, from his point of view, is that a wedge could potentially be driven between the people and what could be branded foreign ideology. Ultimately the Carribean people have much more in common with the people of Colombia than any other nearby nation. They share language, religion, culture, a history of colonialism, and like us, are made up of diverse populations united by a common culture. So if things do go south, we might make use of that. But for now, the president figures we got enough troubles with the mess created by New England.
René interrupts the reporter, Yeah, I was hoping youd get to that.
Yeah, so the president wasnt sure that former president Custudio
Shame about that slander campaign
I was talking man
Dammit- I do want to get some sleep right? Anyway, he says he wasnt sure if she would be successful and her attempt, along with the Japanese one, looked like it was going to work for a short while but ultimately failed cause the New English government didnt want to give one old fashioned out of date fighter craft to Canada or some such mierda. Ol prez thinks it was an excuse and the New English governors were hoping for some miracle i-win situation without realizing how badly screwed they really were.
The camera-man Óscar, had apparently awakened, because he added, Yeah, we got THAT gesture on tape. Of course, we can never play it if we want to keep our jobs and heads.
José Rojas continues his report, Yeah, that guy can be filthy but the thing is, we all laughed even though it wasnt really funny- hes just got that undeniable presence. Anyway, so with the fall-out from that negotiating debacle and Colombian governance on record as saying that the New English government is solely responsible for the war, the brass and military elite realize they have to provide support to poor beleaguered Maritime Provinces and next thing you know our boys are running into USA forces in Haiti. So this really, is what the president is worried about. Weve agreed to protect Maritime territory in Haiti and make sure that some of its treasure gets back to the Maritimes to assist in its reconstruction but at the same time theres this massive communist uprising going on and foreign, presumably soviet, funds and weapons are pouring into the islands. How long you think thats going to stay on the other side of the Haitian border? Prez thinks not long, not long at all. Hes got all the military boys on high alert over there, our destroyers looking for foreign subs, patrolling beaches, etc. But ultimately they cant intervene cause the Carribean Republic didnt invite us in, thank God, they invited the Confederates. The confederates? They got their own problems with that perculating racial tension and the whole Civil Rights Movement. Ever hear of Rosa Parks? Well, they have, they for damn sure have. Texas too of course. And thats only gonna get worse with things progressing as they are in Africa. Anyway, they got their own problems but none-the-less are standing up to the USA on some issue involving a submarine. Prez dont think theres any chance of real war there but things could be messy. And some say, albeit not Pérez that a couple of the more adventurous European countries might decide to punish the USA over the New England war
really though, its probably more about the USA leadership not rolling over for the big wigs across the pond. Anyway Pérez isnt really worried about that but things do look shaky in North America and hes not really sure what the Confeds are going to do in the Caribbean. Apparently hes been in touch with their military brass, even offered to help them out a bit, but no requests have been made upon us so we arent getting directly involved. The thing is, regardless of if anyone invites us in or not, or regardless of if we even want to get involved, we ARE going to get involved. At least thats the way Prez sees it. We just have too many assets over there and too much territory we got to watch. Its a matter of when, not if. That is, unless the Confederates can cool things down and somehow kick the mystery foreign sponsors out.
So thats our story then?
Yeah
what else? Resistance in Central America is pretty much coming to an end. Their leadership is divided and ineffective. Our troops are there in huge numbers and the people know it. Already many think of themselves as Colombians. Thats a story about waiting and waiting isnt interesting. It sucks. No. We run the Carribean story. Anxiety and fear. Thatll get em watching.
The producer looks at the many television screens playing different parts of the interview and nods, Alright, get some sleep. I need you back here in three hours. Make sure your brain works and don't worry about the TV-face; we'll get you some Colombian white to sort that out.
As Óscar and José Rojas shuffle out, René grabs a pen and jots down a short running tittle. He looks down at the paper and smiles. It says, President Perez fears war in Caribbean will drag in the Estados Unidos de Colombia. Yeah, thatll get them watching.
The link is in my sig.
