Stolen Election: A Moral(es) Tale

[Barbaria1]

Launching a new story here by yours truly, with cameo chapter by Windar, entitled “Stolen Election: A Moral(es) Tale”.

It’s Election Day in the República de Nueva Valencia, its first democratic election since the advent of the fourteen-year-old dictatorship of Presidente Manuel Mendoza. All pre-election polls suggest that the opposition ‘Frente Liberal Democrático Party’, led by Bárbara Morales, daughter of the country’s deceased last democratically elected president, is headed for a landslide victory.”

What could possibly go wrong? Follow along and see.

And as always with my stories, comments, banter, illustrations and even limericks are welcome.

 

[Barbaria1]

1.

Columbia, Capital of the Republic of Neuva Valencia, Tuesday, February 18, 10:18 am.

With a wave of her hand, first left then right, Bárbara Morales stepped out from the curb onto Avenida Constitución.

Several steps out in front of her strode Jack Smith, her ‘ex-CIA’ security chief, eyes alertly scanning the crowd. Tall and muscular, with close-cropped sandy hair, piercing blue eyes, and square jaw, his appearance fit his role perfectly … the consummate security professional.

His minions, a hand-picked detail of six operatives, flanked her on left and right, fending off the ever zealous attempts by media people to elicit a statement from her.

On the far side of the capital’s broad ceremonial avenue, and her destination that morning, stood the Palacio de la República, a monumentally large domed structure … its classically-columned front entrance looming over a grand staircase stretching down to street level.



It was Election Day in the República de Nueva Valencia, and Bárbara Morales, the Frente Liberal Democrático Party’s candidate for the office of President, was on her way to cast her vote. And making a show of it by voting in the most visible place possible … an overtly public signaling of confidence in her electoral prospects, given that the polls had given her a commanding lead over her opponent, sitting President Manuel Mendoza.

Having literally run the country into the ground, through incompetence, greed, corruption and oppression, the pre-election polls reflected the mood of the country. Change was in the air. Her political rallies had been huge affairs. Mendoza, on the other hand, had been forced to round up attendees for his.

And, should she win as everyone expected, there was to be an element of justice in her expected triumph. For it was her father, Juan Carlos Morales, Mendoza had ousted from the presidency fourteen years earlier in what amounted to a brazen military-backed coup. At the head of a military junta, Mendoza had dictatorially ruled the country for more than a decade before finally agreeing, three months earlier and under intense international pressure, to finally hold a national election.

The international pressure had simply turned out to be irresistible, as Nueva Valencia under Mendoza’s authoritarian rule had come to earn near pariah status. The country had defaulted on its debt, decimated its middle class, impoverished further its poor, and seen many hundreds of thousands of its citizens leave to become refugees beyond its borders.

Sadly, Bárbara’s father would not be around to witness her anticipated electoral triumph, having perished years ago, along with countless thousands, in the brutal repressions and political incarcerations that followed in the wake of the Mendoza coup.

Bárbara was the only child of the union of her father, Juan Carlos, and his American spouse, Kara Andersson … a fiery college professor whom he’d met at a midwestern state university on the occasion of that institution awarding him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his enlightened policies … policies that had both modernized and made prosperous his small Latin American country. Like her husband, Kara Morales had been imprisoned and had perished during the years of oppression following the coup.

But all that was history now. On this day, Bárbara easily commanded the attention of the adoring crowd. Dressed in a gray suit, tailored to accentuate her youthful figure, its skirt cut well above her knees, she energetically mounted the steps to the Palacio de la República. Her long brown hair, worn in a ponytail and swaying saucily back and forth, adding to the sense of that she was about to bring forth to the Nation something new, vigorous and free-spirited … a return to better times.

And she knew full well how to play the game for all it’s worth. On reaching the top of the steps, she spun about to face the crowd, planted her feet apart and flashed with raised arms a pair of ‘Churchillian’ two-finger victory signs … before lingering a bit afterwards to both acknowledge and bask in the rapturous response.

Then with a parting wave she pivoted to enter the building. And as adoring chants of “Bárbara! Bárbara! Bárbara!” filled the air, she and her security detail disappeared from sight.


***************

“Here she comes, the bitch whore-queen of the Left!” muttered Rico Sanchez to ‘Subteniente Pedro Gonzales, the senior officer seated alongside him at the polling desk,.

“SHHHHH! Our orders, Rico, are to treat her courteously. We’re not to make any trouble. In fact, orders are to clear the space of ordinary voters so she doesn’t have to stand and wait in queue. As you can see, that’s being done, as we speak, by the building’s security guards.”

“I don’t know why. If you ask me, we ought to seize the opportunity to take the uppity cunt out.”

“No, the bitch has her own armed security detail surrounding her, in case you haven’t noticed. So that might be a bit difficult and rather messy. Besides there’s no point. Mendoza’s going to win this thing easily. Of that I have no doubt. And after he’s won, he’ll see that she’s dealt with appropriately.”

“You mean the “fix” is in?”

“Of course it is! Mendoza’s no fool.”

“So, she’ll spend the rest of her days in a nice cell at the Prisión Federal?”

“That would be far too good for her!”

“Couldn’t agree more!”

“Now look sharp. Here she comes!”


**************

Later that evening, at the Frente Liberal Democrático Party headquarters, located in the student union building on the campus of the Universidade de República de Nueva Valencia, the optimism was infectious as ‘exit polling’ returns flooded in. It seemed certain that Mendoza was going down in a landslide. The building’s main floor meeting hall was packed, the mood exultant. Wine was flowing. A band was playing. People were ready to party. The word was spreading that the pre-election polls had apparently been way too conservative! History was being made. And it wouldn’t be long before the crowd began to call for Bárbara Morales to appear.

Yet, the return watchers on the second floor were becoming nervous. The reporting of official vote tallies from polling districts had been noticeably and curiously slow. And as the ‘official returns’ began to come in, they were markedly and increasingly at odds with both the pre-election and exit polling. Something was definitely going wrong!

In her second floor Party headquarters suite, Bárbara sat perched on the edge of the bed. She was wearing only a white terrycloth bath robe, having just showered and joined the others watching, with growing concern, the glacial pace by which the official returns were being reported, and the unbelievable numbers in those that had come in.

A look of puzzled concern crossed her countenance as she leaned forward to better see the numbers, oblivious to what the widening gap at the front of her robe might reveal to anyone who might care to look.

“That bastard Mendoza’s manipulating the results!” groaned Bárbara’s normally ebullient campaign manager, Pedro Mendenez. “Fuck! This can’t be happening. The fix is in!”

She fixed her gaze on him. “Appears so! What should we do, Pedro?”

Turning to face her, he gaped at the unexpected sight of her inadvertently bared breasts, but managed to recover quickly enough to answer. “We can make a statement. Call fraud! Demand transparency.”

“It won’t do any good,” interjected Jack Smith. “Mendoza’s in complete control. Within hours his security forces will be everywhere, out to make certain that ‘his’ election results stick. And, to see that thousands of already identified political opponents are rounded up and carted off, most of them never to be seen again. It’ll be a rerun of what happened fourteen years ago, and probably far worse! The best and only thing we in this room can do is to hustle Bárbara out of here, and out of the country, as quickly as possible. And don’t think that’s going to be easy, because it won’t be!”

“But simply fleeing doesn’t seem right!” she protested, rising to her feet, and almost as an afterthought, hastily pulling the separated front of her robe together. “I want to speak to the Nation, to the people.”

“Not going to happen,” snapped Jack, holding up a note that one of his operatives had just come into the suite to hand him. “Those bastards have just cut all communication links going into and out of this building. And there’s a full company of Mendoza’s goons outside, preparing to cordon off the building!”

“No, this can’t be happening!”

“It is, Bárbara! And we need to get you the hell outta here pronto! My men tell me they’ve managed to commandeer the lift. The plan is to get you in it and hustle you down to the cellar … and hopefully away from here via an old utility tunnel that connects with a few of the surrounding buildings. If we move fast enough, we might just make it before Mendoza’s goons think to block it.”

“Alright, alright! But I’ll need to get dressed first. I’m wearing absolutely nothing but this bath robe!”



“Bárbara, I’m sorry. But there’s no time for that! We need to move NOW!”


TBC

 

[SirMGBZ]

What could possibly go wrong? Follow along and see.

Hopefully everything!

SubtenientePedro

Could use a space there. ;-)

Okay, this is off to an interesting start. I am definitely waiting with bated breath (or is that masturbated breath) to see what happens next. I'm hoping something that would make my favorite writer of south american interrogation and torture erotica Cortez jealous.

 

[Ted Parry]

I thought politics was "off the menu" on the forum - but there again it is pretty obvious these are trumped up charges.

 

[Migoz2]

Nice start.

 

[Mikerytel]

Launching a new story here by yours truly, with cameo chapter by Windar, entitled “Stolen Election: A Moral(es) Tale”.

It’s Election Day in the República de Nueva Valencia, its first democratic election since the advent of the fourteen-year-old dictatorship of Presidente Manuel Mendoza. All pre-election polls suggest that the opposition ‘Frente Liberal Democrático Party’, led by Bárbara Morales, daughter of the country’s deceased last democratically elected president, is headed for a landslide victory.”

What could possibly go wrong? Follow along and see.

And as always with my stories, comments, banter, illustrations and even limericks are welcome.

Thought it said stolen erection at first

 

[Mikerytel]

1.

Columbia, Capital of the Republic of Neuva Valencia, Tuesday, February 18, 10:18 am.

With a wave of her hand, first left then right, Bárbara Morales stepped out from the curb onto Avenida Constitución.

Several steps out in front of her strode Jack Smith, her ‘ex-CIA’ security chief, eyes alertly scanning the crowd. Tall and muscular, with close-cropped sandy hair, piercing blue eyes, and square jaw, his appearance fit his role perfectly … the consummate security professional.

His minions, a hand-picked detail of six operatives, flanked her on left and right, fending off the ever zealous attempts by media people to elicit a statement from her.

On the far side of the capital’s broad ceremonial avenue, and her destination that morning, stood the Palacio de la República, a monumentally large domed structure … its classically-columned front entrance looming over a grand staircase stretching down to street level.

View attachment 1579270

It was Election Day in the República de Nueva Valencia, and Bárbara Morales, the Frente Liberal Democrático Party’s candidate for the office of President, was on her way to cast her vote. And making a show of it by voting in the most visible place possible … an overtly public signaling of confidence in her electoral prospects, given that the polls had given her a commanding lead over her opponent, sitting President Manuel Mendoza.

Having literally run the country into the ground, through incompetence, greed, corruption and oppression, the pre-election polls reflected the mood of the country. Change was in the air. Her political rallies had been huge affairs. Mendoza, on the other hand, had been forced to round up attendees for his.

And, should she win as everyone expected, there was to be an element of justice in her expected triumph. For it was her father, Juan Carlos Morales, Mendoza had ousted from the presidency fourteen years earlier in what amounted to a brazen military-backed coup. At the head of a military junta, Mendoza had dictatorially ruled the country for more than a decade before finally agreeing, three months earlier and under intense international pressure, to finally hold a national election.

The international pressure had simply turned out to be irresistible, as Nueva Valencia under Mendoza’s authoritarian rule had come to earn near pariah status. The country had defaulted on its debt, decimated its middle class, impoverished further its poor, and seen many hundreds of thousands of its citizens leave to become refugees beyond its borders.

Sadly, Bárbara’s father would not be around to witness her anticipated electoral triumph, having perished years ago, along with countless thousands, in the brutal repressions and political incarcerations that followed in the wake of the Mendoza coup.

Bárbara was the only child of the union of her father, Juan Carlos, and his American spouse, Kara Andersson … a fiery college professor whom he’d met at a midwestern state university on the occasion of that institution awarding him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his enlightened policies … policies that had both modernized and made prosperous his small Latin American country. Like her husband, Kara Morales had been imprisoned and had perished during the years of oppression following the coup.

But all that was history now. On this day, Bárbara easily commanded the attention of the adoring crowd. Dressed in a gray suit, tailored to accentuate her youthful figure, its skirt cut well above her knees, she energetically mounted the steps to the Palacio de la República. Her long brown hair, worn in a ponytail and swaying saucily back and forth, adding to the sense of that she was about to bring forth to the Nation something new, vigorous and free-spirited … a return to better times.

And she knew full well how to play the game for all it’s worth. On reaching the top of the steps, she spun about to face the crowd, planted her feet apart and flashed with raised arms a pair of ‘Churchillian’ two-finger victory signs … before lingering a bit afterwards to both acknowledge and bask in the rapturous response.

Then with a parting wave she pivoted to enter the building. And as adoring chants of “Bárbara! Bárbara! Bárbara!” filled the air, she and her security detail disappeared from sight.


***************

“Here she comes, the bitch whore-queen of the Left!” muttered Rico Sanchez to ‘Subteniente Pedro Gonzales, the senior officer seated alongside him at the polling desk,.

“SHHHHH! Our orders, Rico, are to treat her courteously. We’re not to make any trouble. In fact, orders are to clear the space of ordinary voters so she doesn’t have to stand and wait in queue. As you can see, that’s being done, as we speak, by the building’s security guards.”

“I don’t know why. If you ask me, we ought to seize the opportunity to take the uppity cunt out.”

“No, the bitch has her own armed security detail surrounding her, in case you haven’t noticed. So that might be a bit difficult and rather messy. Besides there’s no point. Mendoza’s going to win this thing easily. Of that I have no doubt. And after he’s won, he’ll see that she’s dealt with appropriately.”

“You mean the “fix” is in?”

“Of course it is! Mendoza’s no fool.”

“So, she’ll spend the rest of her days in a nice cell at the Prisión Federal?”

“That would be far too good for her!”

“Couldn’t agree more!”

“Now look sharp. Here she comes!”


**************

Later that evening, at the Frente Liberal Democrático Party headquarters, located in the student union building on the campus of the Universidade de República de Nueva Valencia, the optimism was infectious as ‘exit polling’ returns flooded in. It seemed certain that Mendoza was going down in a landslide. The building’s main floor meeting hall was packed, the mood exultant. Wine was flowing. A band was playing. People were ready to party. The word was spreading that the pre-election polls had apparently been way too conservative! History was being made. And it wouldn’t be long before the crowd began to call for Bárbara Morales to appear.

Yet, the return watchers on the second floor were becoming nervous. The reporting of official vote tallies from polling districts had been noticeably and curiously slow. And as the ‘official returns’ began to come in, they were markedly and increasingly at odds with both the pre-election and exit polling. Something was definitely going wrong!

In her second floor Party headquarters suite, Bárbara sat perched on the edge of the bed. She was wearing only a white terrycloth bath robe, having just showered and joined the others watching, with growing concern, the glacial pace by which the official returns were being reported, and the unbelievable numbers in those that had come in.

A look of puzzled concern crossed her countenance as she leaned forward to better see the numbers, oblivious to what the widening gap at the front of her robe might reveal to anyone who might care to look.

“That bastard Mendoza’s manipulating the results!” groaned Bárbara’s normally ebullient campaign manager, Pedro Mendenez. “Fuck! This can’t be happening. The fix is in!”

She fixed her gaze on him. “Appears so! What should we do, Pedro?”

Turning to face her, he gaped at the unexpected sight of her inadvertently bared breasts, but managed to recover quickly enough to answer. “We can make a statement. Call fraud! Demand transparency.”

“It won’t do any good,” interjected Jack Smith. “Mendoza’s in complete control. Within hours his security forces will be everywhere, out to make certain that ‘his’ election results stick. And, to see that thousands of already identified political opponents are rounded up and carted off, most of them never to be seen again. It’ll be a rerun of what happened fourteen years ago, and probably far worse! The best and only thing we in this room can do is to hustle Bárbara out of here, and out of the country, as quickly as possible. And don’t think that’s going to be easy, because it won’t be!”

“But simply fleeing doesn’t seem right!” she protested, rising to her feet, and almost as an afterthought, hastily pulling the separated front of her robe together. “I want to speak to the Nation, to the people.”

“Not going to happen,” snapped Jack, holding up a note that one of his operatives had just come into the suite to hand him. “Those bastards have just cut all communication links going into and out of this building. And there’s a full company of Mendoza’s goons outside, preparing to cordon off the building!”

“No, this can’t be happening!”

“It is, Bárbara! And we need to get you the hell outta here pronto! My men tell me they’ve managed to commandeer the lift. The plan is to get you in it and hustle you down to the cellar … and hopefully away from here via an old utility tunnel that connects with a few of the surrounding buildings. If we move fast enough, we might just make it before Mendoza’s goons think to block it.”

“Alright, alright! But I’ll need to get dressed first. I’m wearing absolutely nothing but this bath robe!”

“Bárbara, I’m sorry. But there’s no time for that! We need to move NOW!”


TBC

Another good story barb

 

[Fossy]

“Alright, alright! But I’ll need to get dressed first. I’m wearing absolutely nothing but this bath robe!”

“Bárbara, I’m sorry. But there’s no time for that! We need to move NOW!”

Great start Barb, and those ending lines above are exactly the provocative finish required for us all to be salivating over the next chapter

 

[windar]

Jack Smith

Now where have I seen that name before???

Of course, it is a pretty generic name, one you'd almost think was a pseudonym...

 

[malins]

All pre-election polls suggest that the opposition ‘Frente Liberal Democrático Party’, led by Bárbara Morales, daughter of the country’s deceased last democratically elected president, is headed for a landslide victory.”

What could possibly go wrong? Follow along and see.

"What could possibly go wrong",

well here at the Doomberg Economic Analysis Desk that is a question we just absolutely love to ask!​

Now you could go look at the fundamentals as researched by our D.E.A.D experts and see that a new government will be confronted with ingrained inequalities going back all the way to colonial times that will be difficult to alleviate without causing a red scare and panicking investors who are so important to kickstart the foundering economy! On top of that the Mendoza regime has recently signed long term contracts with both Chinese and Western interests who will not like any claims for renegotiation! Meanwhile support of the disenfranchised layers of society for Morales can be fickle if a new administration doesn't deliver quickly on many areas of basic welfare, which could mean spiraling debt! That's what the IR hacks say.​

​

Our partners fom 'Black Swan Portfolio Management' point out that LatAm dictatorships don't work like they did 50 years ago, with people getting herded into stadiums and shot or disappeared en masse. That opens up a lot of upside though for anyone willing to go old-school, and do a quick end-run around the slow moving international framework of human rights concerns. In the end everyone wants their offshore oil, lithium and rare earths projects. That's a lever in Mendoza's hands if he's willing to go hardcore.​

​

Moving fast is also a favorite topic with our friends at 'Tweaking Alpha' and they are running a realtime prediction market, with uncensored and anonymous input. Not everyone will like it but the leading bet right now is "does Morales survive the next 24 hours" with currently 88% for no - remember prediction markets often pick up trends before anyone else!​

​

A different perspective comes from 'ParaNoir Private Security Inc.' who point out that the biggest practical risk for Morales has to be infiltration of her closest circle of bodyguards and protectors by Mendozist double agents. You have to hand it to them, those guys usually know exactly what they are talking about!​

​

We will be streaming our next Nueva Valencia update in an hour. Of course if you haven't already, please do sign up for our Substack. If you don't know how to invest in this developing situation, take it from us, buy some blyatcoin which tracks the International Despair Index over time, and even an idiot can't go wrong with that! ​

 

[thecuriousone]

I would be happy if you write such a nice story not in blue any more. Difficult to read.

 

[Barbaria1]

"What could possibly go wrong",

well here at the Doomberg Economic Analysis Desk that is a question we just absolutely love to ask!​

​

Now you could go look at the fundamentals as researched by our D.E.A.D experts and see that a new government will be confronted with ingrained inequalities going back all the way to colonial times that will be difficult to alleviate without causing a red scare and panicking investors who are so important to kickstart the foundering economy! On top of that the Mendoza regime has recently signed long term contracts with both Chinese and Western interests who will not like any claims for renegotiation! Meanwhile support of the disenfranchised layers of society for Morales can be fickle if a new administration doesn't deliver quickly on many areas of basic welfare, which could mean spiraling debt! That's what the IR hacks say.​

​

Our partners fom 'Black Swan Portfolio Management' point out that LatAm dictatorships don't work like they did 50 years ago, with people getting herded into stadiums and shot or disappeared en masse. That opens up a lot of upside though for anyone willing to go old-school, and do a quick end-run around the slow moving international framework of human rights concerns. In the end everyone wants their offshore oil, lithium and rare earths projects. That's a lever in Mendoza's hands if he's willing to go hardcore.​

​

Moving fast is also a favorite topic with our friends at 'Tweaking Alpha' and they are running a realtime prediction market, with uncensored and anonymous input. Not everyone will like it but the leading bet right now is "does Morales survive the next 24 hours" with currently 88% for no - remember prediction markets often pick up trends before anyone else!​

​

A different perspective comes from 'ParaNoir Private Security Inc.' who point out that the biggest practical risk for Morales has to be infiltration of her closest circle of bodyguards and protectors by Mendozist double agents. You have to hand it to them, those guys usually know exactly what they are talking about!​

​

We will be streaming our next Nueva Valencia update in an hour. Of course if you haven't already, please do sign up for our Substack. If you don't know how to invest in this developing situation, take it from us, buy some blyatcoin which tracks the International Despair Index over time, and even an idiot can't go wrong with that! ​

Giggle snort! @malins , that’s brilliantly done.

I laughed, but truth be told, it’s incredibly and sadly ‘real world’ accurate. Luckily in my stories “the good ones usually win in the end”. But it seems to be increasingly the case in the real world, or perhaps it’s always been the case, that the opposite holds true, and it all starts over again.

 

[Barbaria1]

I would be happy if you write such a nice story not in blue any more. Difficult to read.

Yes, I’m sorry about that, but blue is my trademark color. Hint: if it bothers you and you still want to follow the story, try clicking on the check mark in the lower left corner of your screen and temporarily switch to the “Shades of Grey” background setting.

 

[Fossy]

“Alright, alright! But I’ll need to get dressed first. I’m wearing absolutely nothing but this bath robe!”

 

[Jollyrei]

This Mendoza (isn't that a villain from the Simpsons?) moves fast. And Barb's security guy looks like Robert Redford in my mind. .

You think she might count on public pressure to keep her safe? Mind you, Russian opposition leaders generally seem to work from a gulag somewhere.

 

[Barbaria1]

“Alright, alright! But I’ll need to get dressed first. I’m wearing absolutely nothing but this bath robe!”

View attachment 1579392

Great illustration, Fossy! Love it

This Mendoza (isn't that a villain from the Simpsons?) moves fast. And Barb's security guy looks like Robert Redford in my mind. .

You think she might count on public pressure to keep her safe? Mind you, Russian opposition leaders generally seem to work from a gulag somewhere.

Wait! Russians, you say? Whatever happened to the Monroe Doctrine?

 

[windar]

Yes, I’m sorry about that, but blue is my trademark color. Hint: if it bothers you and you still want to follow the story, try clicking on the check mark in the lower left corner of your screen and temporarily switch to the “Shades of Grey” background setting.

Are there 50 shades of grey?

 

[Barbaria1]

Are there 50 shades of grey?

Wise ass!!!

 

[Loxuru]

LatAm dictatorships don't work like they did 50 years ago, with people getting herded into stadiums and shot or disappeared en masse.

Aah, Latin America in the good old days: moustache accentuated grumpyness, presented in a stylish combination of Prussia-inspired uniforms with sun glasses! At least, they made visibly clear : "your country is run by decent people you can fully trust!"

Wait! Russians, you say?

Oh, blaming poor Mr. P*tin again?

Whatever happened to the Monroe Doctrine?

Too bad, most current and (and near-future ) leaders think, this doctrine is called :"Gentlemen Prefer Plondes!"

“Alright, alright! But I’ll need to get dressed first. I’m wearing absolutely nothing but this bath robe!”

“Bárbara, I’m sorry. But there’s no time for that! We need to move NOW!”

What could possibly still go wrong after this!?

First episode, and already a memorable couple of lines! Great start, Barb!

 

[Migoz2]

Anyone who is unaware of the sorts of shenanigans that have been known to go on in Latin American countries can explore @Art's excellent documentary work on his thread here

Art by Art

A good-looking woman, about to turn sixty, had met up with old school friends at a trendy location. The atmosphere was almost like at the usual class reunions. Everyone tried to outdo the others a little, perhaps in earnest, perhaps in jest. She had dressed in a white pantsuit with a jacket...

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