NationStates Jolt Archive


Trouble In Portugal [ESS Only]

Honako
09-04-2007, 21:48
The Troops View

The toy like men lined the streets in pretty, well organized rows of troops stood so straight and in such a precise formula it seemed that if you flicked over one of them they would all topple over like dominos. Their uniforms were not militaristic – they were created to symbolise the WEF – they were ornate, beautifully hand crafted from blue materials with a satin underlay and visible golden stitching. They weren’t made for war, to be stained with blood - they were made for show. The clothes the troops wore were more like extraordinarily expensive suits than army wear.

Sixteen thousand of these authoritarian snobbish troops stood high and proud in the overcrowded streets of the inner city area of Lisbon. They also symbolised what many believed was the cause of the massive rebellious protests today, across Portugal, with major ones taking place in Porto and Benifica also, but Lisbon being the centre stage. These straight-faced guards of the WEF stability, part of the all show army known as the Home Front, with rifles slung over their shoulders, were the last defence against a possible uprising.

The Rebels View

Adriana Gomes breathed heavily before she began her historic walk to the makeshift stage that had been erected in the centre of the massive square, also the focus point of the demonstrations today. Over one million people, ten percent of Portugal’s fed up population, had filled the streets today – not with blood as they had planned, but with relatively peaceful protest. Here in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, outside the Headquarters for the Portuguese Western European Federation Commission, three hundred thousand protesters stood – not all the struggling minorities and people who could not even afford bread at their overpriced local store, but also some of the rich businessmen that ran this alliance had joined their cause.

Adriana walked on. She took every step as a step towards freedom and revenge for the people who had been lost. Once she reached the podium a wail of cheers and support greeted her, she was centre stage, and it felt as if the whole world was listening. The speech began, a short one, but one that she hoped would help make a change:

“The Western European Federation is a organization that boasts one of the strongest democracies in the world, a peoples elected commission that rules its people. Well then tell me this Commissioners, why are we not allowed to choose our own leader, why must it be from what you say is best? Why is your so called public elected Commission so corrupt you have to have a six figure wage before you can even be considered to apply to enter, and that everyone who has been elected has an amassed of over $10 million.

“Why is it that your government ignores Portugal, a place that is now seen as a dumping ground for the unsightly citizens you do not want to be known for, the struggling poor people that do not conform to your Federations image of a rich nation full of powerful wealthy people? We are treated as the worst country due to our relatively small economy, despite it being larger than most in the world!” Her voice grew louder, and more confident as every word she spoke echoed through the square and was directed right at the imposing government HQ.

“Why is it that you hide behind your massive organizations that provide aid for many poorer countries in the world, to shield your corruption and show good will? And finally, why is it that this so called democracy of yours does not allow us, the Portuguese’s Peoples Front, despite having many members that meet your rich standards, to run for the commission?” She was now shouting, screaming for them to listen “And why is it that you brutally murdered our leader, the honourable Afonso Lopes, and yet still deny it? You have damaged us, taking away our chances of being on the Commission also, but we will not give in. We know what you did, and Portugal will be free from your oppression!”

A mass eruption of cheering and support deafened the ears of the confused and now sweating troops. They prepared themselves for rioting, and feared what was to come next.

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/2577/sealif2.gif (http://imageshack.us)

Official Report From The Western European Federation Commission

Yesterday, at 13:17pm, an emotive speech made by Adriana Gomes, friend of Afonso Lopes and member of the Portuguese Peoples Front (PPF), caused a minor riot in the city centre of Lisbon.

The streets were evacuated of all non-precipitating citizens and thousands of well-trained government forces had to fight off the rebellion. We can confirm that sadly 57 soldiers lost their lives – along with over 300 protesters. We continually tried to keep the peace, and no shots at humans were fired during the uprising, though the cramped conditions and the horrific stampede of people took these lives. A full investigation into the events will commence shortly.

We have also issued a warrant for the arrest of Adriana Gomes and 21 of her friends and high up members in the organization, for starting a riot. The list of names and possibly locations of these wanted people is attached.
Honako
09-04-2007, 21:49
One Week Earlier

Western European Federation Headquarters, London, UK

François Chirac was getting increasingly worried. He was sweating furiously only a few minutes after leaving the meeting, and was already on his fourth glass of water, and yearning for something stronger. He palms were hot as he read the piece of paper on his shabby desk over and over again – his orders had still not sunk in. He was the Minister of Defence, one of the most powerful men in the WEF, and had seen his fair share of corrupt, hidden policies during his time in the WEF – hell, the only reason he had been permitted into the Commissioner Elections was due to his huge £224.89m fortune. But this was shocking, a government conspiracy.

He had been given orders to commence the murder of Afonso Lopes, leader of the dangerously rebellious PPF. He had increasingly voiced against the government and the WEFC believed he would start an uprising that could see them lose the whole of Portugal – and more importantly to them, hundreds of billions of pounds. He would hire a group of low profile but trained terrorists maybe, or gangsters, to take out Afonso – not a group linked to the government in anyway. They would be accused of the crimes surely, but no evidence would link it back to them. They knew they were taking a risk of even furthering unrest in Portugal, but the resistance movement had to be squashed.

He had also been given orders to sabotage the whole organization, the whole Front. Their television studio and newspaper production lines, previously allowed to print and broadcast, would both accidentally be destroyed in a terrible fire. Their fifteen candidates to become members of the Commission, all looking likely to become members, would be bribed and sent on their way, leaving the Peoples Front forever. They would be replaced with numerous Portguese multi-millionaires, sons of rich corporation owners etc.

No more death but Afonso’s were to come from this cleansing of the PPF, and that was a stern order. It would be a tough operation – the WEF was not used to being this bad, they were generally the model government. But when they wanted something done, it happened.
Honako
09-04-2007, 22:20
[OOC: Firstly, sorry for the triple post, but oh well. This thread is basically for government response to the riots, and whatever, and for me to post up news on any uprising and latest developments in the PPF. Remember, apart from the accusations, you do not know my government was involved in the murder.]
Honako
10-04-2007, 19:00
François Chirac indifferently flooded through the reports of attacks in the day. Every member of the Commission had applauded him on the success of the mission, but he was somewhat unsure how they could class it as a ‘victory’. Small riots had erupted all over Portugal, and the Peoples Front were only growing in support – despite lacking their own media coverage and having a murdered leader. A state of emergency had been declared, and the reports of the events of the last few days were coming in at a increasing pace - he worried an uprising in the slums could be likely:

Official Report From The Western European Federation Commission

Yesterday, at 19:07pm, the official government meeting of the Portuguese Commission was cancelled after hundreds of protesters sat down and boycotted the meeting, refusing to allow any Commissioners in. The police eventually non-violently rounded them up, but the meeting was already delayed by over two hours so it was stopped anyway.

Also, to coincide with their protest, the PPF hacked into the government public website and made it redirect to their own website. Due to this hacking we are currently working on removing both sites from the web.

Official Report From The Western European Federation Commission

Today, at 08:19am, a minor protest in the slums of the city of Porto, Portugal, saw it escalate into a riot and culminated with the death of six protesters. The demonstration was organized and overseen by the Portuguese Peoples Front (PPF), and has resulted in the warrant for the arrest of seven of it’s high up organizes.

The deaths, all of Portuguese poor citizens, which are believed to have been caused by police after they brutally attacked police vans that were patrolling the area, and severely injured two police officers. Currently a curfew is being considered for many of the slums, and a full investigation will continue shortly into this protest and the violent events that unfolded.
Honako
10-04-2007, 23:33
[OOC: Firstly, sorry for the triple post, but oh well. This thread is basically for government response to the riots, and whatever, and for me to post up news on any uprising and latest developments in the PPF. Remember, apart from the accusations, you do not know my government was involved in the murder.]

[bump for people to do what it says etc..]
Amazonian Beasts
11-04-2007, 02:25
This was the great experience of democracy-the voice of the people to freely protest and assemble to their own liking. However, even freedom has a limit-and when that threatened lives, the response was positively negative. In the Republic, people were given the voice to freely interact-and the government regularly stayed out of individual affairs. However, the Republic was wary-on the lookout for insurrection. When it came, the reponse would be negative.

In the international scope, the Republic considered itself as a "partner" rather than "shareholder"-the world was an open field. However, when something such as an insurrection-even in the form of aggressive riots-occurred in a democratic country-it could certainly happen in the democratic Republic. The fire needed to be extinguised before the sparks could shoot out.

As such, the Republic responded promptly as more and more reports of the destabalization of Portugal's society.


Addressed to the Western European Federation

We of the Republic sympathize in your time of need, and offer what we can to alleviate the situation and refer it to a more democratic process.

Best Wishes,
Bill Frist


In reality, the Republic had a different agenda-to quash this anti-democratic uprising. It needed containment, not discussion. It was time for action, not time for talk-talk had stalled the dramatic rise of the Republic during the Clinton years. OMI was in charge of this-it could require more than the standard payload.


SIC:

Addressed to the WEF

Encryption Code ZXT8P

The Republic is wary of this insurgent uprising, and offers the full use of the Republic's special operations military units in order to put this revolt down and pave the way for unopposed democracy.

-Office of Military Intelligence, Section 2
Kampfers
11-04-2007, 03:10
Official Statement from the GGA to the WEF:
We wholeheartedly support your operations in Portugal. We are currently unable to commit any troops as peacekeepers, as we may soon be engaging in a war on terror, but we wish you continuing luck in dealing with this insurgency.
Honako
11-04-2007, 09:58
The Commission had noted the fact that international forces, both of whom they had relatively tight relations with, had offered their help. The WEF only really viewed this as just a minor slip up - or so they deluded themselves - the offer of 'help' for them actually rather shocked them. They thought they were no Kazakhstan; they were just a country that had found its troubles. They were grateful though, to see that nations would offer help to their alliance.

Though the WEFC did not see this as a full-scale revolt in Portugal yet, they saw that accepting the Americans offer would be in their interests. Not only would it greatly help them to capture the many members of the PPF they wish to have in their hands, it would also improved relations by accepting this offer of goodwill in the interests of democracy.

Addressed to the Greater Germanic Alliance

Your support for our fight against these rebels is most appreciated. You do not need to worry about not currently offering peacekeepers; we can handle the situation well ourselves at the moment.

Addressed to the Republic of America's

We thank our allies for their support, and we also hope that this situation is quickly resolved.

SIC:

TO: Republic of America's

Your offer of assistance is most useful. Currently we can handle the riots, they are just angry men who are fed up of being poor. But the leaders of this group, the ones who organize it, are tricky.

They have connections, possibly even in our government, and are not easy to find. We have a list of 40 wanted people, and so far only three have been found, and only seven unofficially spotted. Your forces will be useful in committing raids that may need to be carried out in order to bring stability to Portugal.
Amazonian Beasts
11-04-2007, 21:45
Republic Response to the WEF

We will covertly send in forty Republic Commandos (10 teams) and two companies of Republic Rangers (288 total) to see what we can do in stabilizing the situation and hunting down the ringleaders at large in this movement.
Candistan
11-04-2007, 22:46
Lisbon, Portugal

The UR Consulate had been closed to the public for the time being and had taken ten Russian tourists under their watch. The Security troops had began stringing up some constantina wire above the wall and was placed on alert status. They had reported seeing a roving band of people moving near the consulate shouting and cursing the UR for Kazakhstan, but for now, it hadn't been regarded as a serious breach to the consulate's security.

Transmission to the WEF

The UR would like to know if it would be possible for us to have an Mi-2 light helicopter at the consulate in case of an emegrency evacuation. We await your response.

(OOC: Though, it is possible for the mob to attack...)
Honako
11-04-2007, 23:07
OOC: Please, let the mob attack..make this more, international.

Reply to UR Request

We will permit you to have a helicopter nearby for evacuation, and if you feel you are in danger we can send assistance, though in will be hours before we can get any troops there. One thing we must say is that the helicopter will have to be provided by the WEF.
Honako
13-04-2007, 12:07
UNITED KINGDOM NEWS NETWORK

News brought to you that can afford it, with a smile.

A kind faced man greeted the millions who had their eyes glued to the screen:

“Good Morning citizens of the UK. As you know recent developments have seen the end of the Trinidad and Tobago war, but more on that later.

Over the last three days a further nine citizens have been confirmed dead because of the rebellion in Portugal, and over a hundred injured. Though the government still maintain they are ‘100% in control of the situation unfolding there’ and that they are ‘receiving help from other nations also in bringing stability to Portugal’ – to quote our Commissioner of Defence, Mr. François Chirac.

It seems as if their claims of help are correct, as in a raid yesterday conducted by them and assisting NAR Forces ten of the wanted 38 from the Portuguese Peoples Front (PPF) were arrested, and it seems peace is being brought swiftly back to the country. In other good news, they have also lowered the national defence rating of Portugal, which can be Secure, Unstable or State of Emergency, to Unstable. This may not sound great, but at least it’s a step forward from the code red there was in the country before.

Now, in our other headline story, the WEF plans to help install a peaceful democracy in Trinidad and Tobago…”
Amazonian Beasts
14-04-2007, 01:13
OOC: If possible, I'd like to say that troops are already there...it'd make a post regarding their transportation across the Atlantic (which would be a bit dreary and factual) moot and allow me to start getting into the heads of the SpecOps in Portugal.
Requesting permission before going right in.
Honako
14-04-2007, 09:46
OOC: If possible, I'd like to say that troops are already there...it'd make a post regarding their transportation across the Atlantic (which would be a bit dreary and factual) moot and allow me to start getting into the heads of the SpecOps in Portugal.
Requesting permission before going right in.

OOC: Yeah, sure. The only reason I'm dying this down is because of the upcoming war, but the riots are still going on and the leader of the PPF is still at large.