• Sign up or login, and you'll have full access to opportunities of forum.

Stolen Election: A Moral(es) Tale

Go to CruxDreams.com
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!”

View attachment 1579395

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



TBC
now we get to see barb using elegant outfits!
 
6.

New York Times Building, 242 W 41st St, New York City, Wednesday, February 19, 7;19 am

“Jack? What a surprise! Are you here in New York?”

“No! I’m calling from down in Nueva Valencia because I need you to do me a favor. You’re aware, I assume of what happened down here with the recent presidential election, right?”

“Sure. The election was apparently rigged so that the Prez … what’s his name … Mendoza …got himself re-elected. And his opponent …a young woman … nice looking as I recall … has reportedly disappeared. Not my beat, but yeah, I’m aware.”

“Well she … her name, by the way, is Bárbara Morales … and I’m with her right now … is about to be arrested by Mendoza’s security police! But before she gives herself up, she hopes to make a statement. And I think that’s newsworthy and it’s important that the international press picks it up. But there’s very little time. She can’t stall for long. Can you help?”

“I think I get the picture. Hang up and I’ll make some calls. I happen to know someone with CNN who went down there with a camera crew to cover the election. I imagine he might still be there. Where exactly is Morales intending to make this statement?”

“Outside the Burdel Rosa Rojas … it’s a brothel in the Barrio Rojo.”

“A brothel? Holy shit! What a story! Hang up, Jack. I’m on this!”

“Okay, thanks a million!”


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

‘Capitán de Policía’ Sergio Perez was getting nervous. It had been nearly three quarters of an hour since the Proprietor of Burdel Rosa Rojas had come outside the establishment to confirm that Bárbara Morales was inside, had decided to give herself up, and would be coming out to do so shortly, on condition that she be allowed a short statement.

But over half an hour had passed and she still hadn’t appeared.

He knew that Morales, and likely some members of her security team, were holed up in there. And that they’d probably already captured or even gunned down earlier the five of his men who’d gone in there and failed to return. He wanted desperately to end this thing swiftly and peacefully. Especially given that a CNN reporter and camera crew had just turned up, which meant that somehow the international press had gotten wind of things.

Perez wasn’t sure how that had come about, but he could well imagine that it could put his ass on the line with Mendoza should things go badly. He remembered well Mendoza’s admonition that under no circumstances was Bárbara Morales to be allowed to make a public statement of any kind!


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

“Alright, I think we should be getting some press coverage soon now,” Jack had announced.

“And the police have agreed to allowing you a public statement,” added Madame Rojas.

“Good, now we stall for as long as possible.”

And so they’d done just that for as long as they possibly could before venturing out. But there was a limit. That they knew. No one wanted more bloodshed

Stationed at the viewing portal in the brothel’s front door, Madame Roja had been keeping an eye on the police. And noting that they seemed to be forming up to undertake what looked like an assault on the premises, she turned to Jack with a questioning expression. Then stepped away so he could take a look.

“Yeah, it’s time. They look as though they mean business. The good news is there’s a CNN truck out there.”

Bárbara nodded. “Yes, it’s time then. Step aside and let me lead the way.”


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

CNN News Central, 30 Hudson Yards, New York City, Wednesday, February 19, 9:25 am

The words ‘CNN’ and ‘Breaking News’ appeared on millions of screens across the U.S., as well as through CNNi on a great many tv platform markets across the world.

A studio news anchor in New York had appeared immediately on screen to announce that the news service had obtained exclusive coverage of a shocking event in Neuva Valencia: the arrest and detainment of the country’s principal left wing opposition leader to the far right regime of Presidente Manuel Mendoza.

“Now to bring our viewers the latest,” the anchorman had continued, “we go to our correspondent on the scene, Juan Martinez … “

A face filled the screen, the face of a middle-aged man, his head swathed in a blood-stained bandage.

“Juan, we understand you were present on the scene, is that correct?”

“Yes, having received an early morning tip that Bárbara Morales, who has refused to concede the recent presidential election here … which is widely believed to have been stolen by President Mendoza … and who has been in hiding until this morning after being charged of multiple crimes by the regime … had agreed to turn herself in to the authorities.”

“Why would she do that? From what we know about the Mendoza regime, any charges against her are likely to be trumped up.”

“Probably so, but we’ve yet to learn exactly what they actually are. In any case, she’s been on the run and apparently the authorities managed, in the early hours of this morning, to learn that she’d taken refuge in a brothel located in one of the capital’s poorest districts. Being trapped there with no way out, our understanding was that she’d agreed to give herself up peacefully with a guarantee that she’d be allowed a public statement before being formally taken into custody.”

“And you and your team were present for her statement and arrest?”

“We were, but as it turned out there was no statement. The security police simply swept in the moment she’d emerged from the brothel and took her into immediate custody. Their methods were swift and brutal, I wish I could show you video, but the authorities also roughed up me and my crew, as well as destroying our camera equipment and confiscating our van.”

IMG_6790.jpeg

“And that presumably accounts for your bandaged head?”

“Yes, as I said things got very nasty almost immediately. I did have a good vantage point and could clearly observe Ms Morales as she emerged from the brothel’s entrance. She seemed calm, and lovely as always … nicely dressed, wearing a sleeveless black dress, silver heels, and a black beret. She was accompanied by a body guard, whom we’ve managed to identify as Jack Smith, former CIA, and now a freelance operative. Also by the brothel owner, who is known as Madame Rojas.”

“You say it was swift and brutal … can you be more specific?”

“Yeah, there was nothing gentle or respectful about it. The security police were in full riot gear, armed with batons and tazers. They were waiting and ready to go from the moment Morales, Smith and Madame Rojas came out of the brothel and headed for the microphone that had been set up for her, presumably by pre-arrangement, probably no more than twenty paces from where they’d emerged. The police were on them in a matter of seconds.”

“Did they try to defend themselves?”

“With what? How? It was actually impossible to see what went on, and my crew and I were already being harassed. What I did see and can tell you about, though, is what happened in the immediate aftermath when they dragged Ms Morales and her companions away from the point of attack.”

“And …?”

“Well, they had her on her feet, more or less, and were propelling her … half dragging her would be more accurate … it looked as though they’d stun-gunned her … between two officers towards a waiting police van. They had her wrists cuffed behind her back. She seemed dazed and had certainly been roughed up. I could see that she had a bloody nose, her hair was in disarray. Her dress had been torn and half-ripped away. I guess one might say she was topless … that is, half naked. I remember noting that somehow she was still wearing one shoe. An officer appeared to have picked up the other one. And when they got her over to the police van, the back doors of which were open, I saw one of the officers literally sweep her off her feet and throw her bodily inside. I still can hear in my mind the hollow thud and her cry of pain as she hit the floor decking.”

“And what about the other two? Smith and Madame Rojas?”

“Smith was a bloody mess. They literally beat the crap out of him. Rojas seemed relatively unhurt. They were loaded onto a bus, along with the other occupants of the brothel, a bunch of whores and their male clients.”

“Any idea where they were being taken?”

“Most likely to one of the regime’s infamous detention and interrogation centers. Oh, and an interesting tidbit I picked up about the brothel detainees … one of them is said to have been a top-level government official!”

“Do we know who?”

“No, but … hang on … something new has just been handed to me … hang on while I take a look.”

“Of course.”

“Oh wow … it seems that the corpses of five policemen have been found inside the brothel … shot down in cold blood … all ambushed and murdered, our source is telling us … allegedly by Ms Morales and her American bodyguard!”

“Well listeners, there you have it. Exclusive reporting, live from Nueva Valencia. Our thanks to CNN’s Juan Martinez!”

“Juan, we certainly will be waiting for more breaking news from you on this story.”


TBC
 
Last edited:
Great chapter Barb. The weave of the tale was perfect to put our heroine into a complete state of jeopardy from which she will emerge totally and utterly 'scathed' (We hope) ...

"... Their methods were swift and brutal ..."
Oh, scathed Barbara shall be - the result of many interesting "swift and brutal" methods...(Well, maybe not all so swift. Interrogations can sometimes take a long, long time.)
 
Back
Top Bottom