Gran Colombian News, H1/07

[The Rock Doctor]

5 January 1907:  Somewhere Other Than Gran Colombia

The op had been in progress for nearly four months when the mark was identified.  Three of his men had taken on jobs in different parts of the facility, and one had observed the mark's behaviour on a number of occasions:  quiet and aloof at work, surly and hard-drinking at night (the latter often spent in one of the waterfront dives that passed as a drinking establishment around here).   "He's unhappy with his lot in life.  Might be ripe for picking", his man had told him.

He'd asked his man whether the mark was worth going after.  The last thing he wanted to do was spend a large chunk of his budget and risk detection by smuggling out a guy who designed bilge pumps.  His man had assured him that the mark was not just an engineer but a project manager, so probably not a bilge pump designer. 

So he'd authorized his man to chat the mark up a bit - fortuitously encountering the mark in a bar one night with a made-up story of hardcase supervisors and enough local currency to keep them both drinking through to closing time.  Misery had indeed proven to love company - and open ears, and open wallet.  His man later told him:  "He's hardcore.  Pushes his own people hard to excel at what they do.  But he's not a 'people person' - too honest, too blunt.  He started getting into shouting matches with his superiors about priorities, he concentrating on combat utility, them on financial and political implications.  They got tired of it and sent him here a few years back - supposedly as a promotion, but he eventually saw he'd been exiled from the capital to a colonial shithole."

"So he was here for...", he'd asked his man.

"Yeah."

"Huh.  He got family?"

"Wife, two kids, and a dog.  I've seen a photograph."

"He attached to them?"

"Like I said, I've seen a photograph.  Yeah, he's attached.  But the marriage has been strained by their time here - he's always out drinking, she hates the place and hardly leaves the house.  Considering how he was ogling the hired help and working girls, I'd say there's not much of a fire in the bedroom, either."

"Kids suitable for travel?"

"Teenagers.  Son's coming up on eighteen, and I made an offhand comment about the boy going to the university soon.  The mark didn't bite on that, but I'm guessing he'd view the local school as a third-rate establishment."

He'd thought that over for a bit as his man waited patiently.  "Alright...we'll play it cool.  Don't want to attract any undue attention.  Leave him be for a couple of weeks.  Then, happen to meet him when he's out drinking again.  Tell him you heard of a guy who got recruited by a foreign talent recruiter and that you're seeing if the guy can hook you up with the recruiter, maybe get you outta here."

"Okay", his man said.  "If he asks me what country?"

"Your guy didn't tell you - but the first thing he was going to do was attend an opera."

His man snorted.  "Cute, a hint of high culture.  Alright, usual signal when I'm ready for another chat." 

[The Rock Doctor]

12 February 1907:  La Prensa Nacional

Yesterday a trade and political mission departed Ciuad Jorge aboard the passenger steamer Pascual Escobar.  Accompanied by the armored cruiser Furious, the mission will make call at several African ports over the coming months to seek business opportunities.

Deputy Minister for Agriculture Fransisco Madoz told assembled reporters, "The West African region produces a number of agricultural goods of interest to Gran Colombia, such as rubber, coffee, and cocoa, along with mineral commodities such as gold, iron, and rutile.  We will be meeting with officials in both colonial adminstrative centres and local seats of power where it can be arranged, to see what synergies may be possible by bringing together their resource extraction sectors and our refining and marketing abilities."

A precise itinerary has not been released, as Deputy Minister Madoz noted, "The schedule is in flux as our consuls and representatives in West Africa work on arranging specific meetings for us."

[OOC:  Those of you with colonies in the region - please let me know if they'd be willing to receive the GC trade mission]

16 February 1907:  Somewhere Other Than Gran Colombia

His man had played the mark carefully, and now the bait had been swallowed. 

The mark had been intrigued at his man's story about the fictitious colleague being "head-hunted", asking his man questions that the latter professed not to know.  Several nights later, the mark and his man had met again, after he'd authorized his man to reveal Cartagena as the fictitious colleague's destination. 

"He didn't seem entirely suprised it wasn't in Europe", his man told him during the meet.   

"You'll never pass as a Norman", he replied, though with the Department of Miscellaneous Affairs now recruiting Jamaicans of Norman descent, his man would never have to make the effort.  "What did he think of Cartagena?"

"He's aware of the size and cosmopolitan nature of the place.  He gave me a thoughtful hmmmm when I named it", his man answered.

"And what of Gran Colombia as a whole?", he asked.

His man shrugged.  "He seemed ambivalent at first, but as the night progressed, he'd mutter things along the lines of Gran Colombia's starting to build up a first-rate navy, I hear.  Before we parted ways, he asked if I'd met the talent recruiter.  I said that I had, but didn't think he was interested in me.  He asked that if I met the recruiter again, I should mention him, and I said I would."  His man smirked at him.  "So, now that I have met the recruiter again - what do you want to do?"

"First things first", he replied.  "Is there anything to suggest you've been made?"

"Nothing.  I've been careful - always window shopping or going into the market to buy a few things before we meet.  I don't always go home afterward - sometimes I go to other dives for a drink and meet up with other friends.  The meetings with the mark can be attributed to random encounters - I've already been to the same place once and feigned not noticing him.  He never paid attention to me."

"What about him?"

"Nothing to indicate he's being watched.  Not that I'm infallible, mind, but I can spot a tail most times."

He nodded.  "Very well.  Arrange a meeting.  I'll show up early enough to watch you both arrive, then make a late entrance after I'm confident we're all clean."

"Will do."

[The Rock Doctor]

3 March 1907:  Somewhere Other Than Gran Colombia

The meeting with the mark had gone off well.  Nobody had been followed, near as either he or his man could tell, and they'd both been watching most carefully.  Drinks had been ordered and consumed, with himself steering the conversation towards local politics to get a sense of the mark's attitude on various issues.  By and large, the mark seemed largely indifferent to government so long as he was appreciated by it.  The mark was really quite self-centred.  Gran Colombia could deal with such a man - at least long enough to get what it needed from him.

Later on, with the bar noisy and the patrons intoxicated, they'd chatted in quiet tones about the mark's work.  His man led the conversation, trying to prove to him that the mark was worth recruiting; apart from letting the mark explain just what he could do, it also helped create at least a temporary bond between the mark and his man:  after all, his man was trying to help, right?

The mark's knowledge about his field was impressive.  Based on the mark's words and body language, he had no reason to think the mark was inflating his abilities or otherwise lying to him.  He, in turn, had enough technical knowledge of his own to see the that mark was on the leading edge of the field of capital ship design - or, rather, would be if not stuck designing gunboats in a place like this.

"Let's get him and the family out", he told his man.  "There's a ship we can use on the eleventh.  Only what they can carry out with them...and the dog."

29 March 1907:  Monrovia, Liberia

The Gran Colombian mission to West Africa had already concluded its first stop, and it had been brief.  The Normans at Freetown, Sierra Leone, had met them with some courtesy, but had shown no particular interest in discussing business opportunities.  Whether that was due to French influence, Norman disinterest, or local protectionism was difficult to say, as the mission had not managed to actually meet any senior members of the colony's government.  Instead, they'd been received at lunch by the local archbishop, and then toured the city in horse-drawn carriages, with a young but commendably keen bureaucrat in charge of the enterprise.  Pascual Escobar and Furious had barely finished coaling when the orders came to light the boilers.

Now, Deputy Minister for Agriculture Fransisco Madoz stood at the railing of the Escobar as the liner nudged towards the pier in Monrovia.  The scene on land was quite a contrast:  several thousand locals had turned out, and he was fairly confident he recognized the Vice-President of Liberia, J. J. Dossen, at the head of the Liberian delegation awaiting them.  A full band and a legion of young dancers were also nearby, though neither had evidently received a cue to initiate their part in the proceedings.

"I think this could be productive", Madoz said to his counterpart, Felipe Sagasta, the Deputy Minister for Industry.

"It's a better reception than Freetown", Sagasta agreed.

"Politically, I mean", Madoz clarified.  "This New Whig Party has been the only legal political party here for almost thirty years.  Limited voting rights, tolerance of involuntary labor, interested in protecting their business interests and building their nation.  Our nations run themselves in broadly compatible fashions."

"The labor issue is interesting, considering that the founders of the place were ex-Norman slaves", Sagasta noted.  "I wonder how they reconcile that."

"I'm sure they've found people they don't consider to fit into their ideal society", Madoz said.  "Once the government has instituted an 'us versus them' view of civil rights, the rest is easy."

Sagasta grunted his agreement.  "Are we bringing up the fact that they've got the Franco-Norman block all around them?"

"No.  We're after business opportunities first and foremost - Liberia brings little to the table in a military sense.  Let them decide if they want to talk about more than cocoa and iron."

They barely felt the ship bump into the pier; the captain was quite the skilled hand.

"One last look in the mirror and then we're on our way", Sagasta said.

[The Rock Doctor]

30 March 1907:  Monrovia

The first day of the visit to Liberia had been all pomp and ceremony.  Speeches, marching bands, dancers, a dinner with society's elite and a formal ball:  the works.  Fransisco Madoz had concluded the evening watching young Gran Colombian officers and officials flying around a dance floor with the daughters of local businessmen and officials, just as might happen back home in Cartagena.

But with all that now out of the way, it was time to talk business.  Madoz, Felipe Sagasta, and the lesser officials from Defence and Foreign Affairs found themselves seated around an enormous bamboo table with their Liberian counterparts, led once again by their vice-president.  J.J. Dossen was giving a quick overview of his nation's economy:  "There is great wealth to be had from the land.  Funtumia Elastica, which can grow to heights of two hundred feet, is tapped for rubber by dozens of plantations.  Raphia Vinifera is the palm from which piassava, a popular commercial fibre, is spun.  Several species of coffee grow here and are harvested for their beans; one can also find figs, coconots, and cotton being exploited in the country side.  There are oranges, limes, ginger, sweet potatoes, cacao, bread-fruit, sugar cane, rice, and of course pineapples, which grow wild across the entire land."

"Truly a cornucopia", Madoz agreed.

"There are indications of similar wealth to be gained from within the earth, as well", Dossen continued.  "Placer gold is found in many of our rivers, and although the bedrock sources of the yellow metal has not yet been found, the natives often report that our interior is chock full of it.  Similarly, we have some evidence to suggest sapphires may be found, along with industrial stones such as garnet, mica, corundum, and graphite.  Our current mining industry, though modest in scope, is concentrated on the extraction of iron, which occurs in many deposits."

"We have heard of the abundance of iron here", Sagasta interjected.

"I have no doubt", Dossen agreed.  "So my question to you:  where is Gran Colombia's interest?"

"Senor Vice-President, you will no doubt be aware that Gran Colombia's agricultural sector generates many of the products grown in Liberia - so we are not so much interested in importing new food products as we are in increasing the market share of those we already deal in", Madoz replied.  "Consider cacao, if you will.  In the Americas, cacao is harvested from Mesoamerica down to Brazil.  However, it has been harvested in this part of Africa in increasing amounts for about thirty years now, and our economists forecast that in due course, the majority of global production may in fact originate here in western Africa."

"Our local producers say much the same thing", Dossen confirmed.

"Therefore, we want a foot in the door", Madoz stated.  "We don't want to lose market share, especially considering that the French are positioned to increase theirs by virtue of controlling the Ivory Coast.  In cacao, as with rubber, coffee, and other agricultural goods, it is our contention that Liberia's fertile earth and its available workforce, coupled with our established processing and marketing abilities, would be mutually beneficial."

Dossen nodded.  "That may be so - I feel compelled to point out, however, that only a fraction of our population is actually involved in the wage economy.  Many remain largely hunter-gatherers.  We can arrange for them to be brought in as labor, but is some inefficiency in that."

"We have grappled with that in Gran Colombia", Madoz agreed.  "And with respect to Liberia, we do not consider forced labor to be the most effective means of providing manpower in most cases.  There are exceptions, of course, but it would be better to entice the idle portion of your population into the labor pool through education, training, and such incentives as they may find rewarding.  Make them want to work."

"If the means can be found, it could be done.  This is a traditional lifestyle; few willingly abandon it", Dossen responded, with some skepticism in his voice.  "I assume you will be having similar discussions on your stops to the East, then?

"Yes", Madoz confirmed.  "Though our knowledge of geopolitics east of the Ivory Coast is less than complete, we will be seeking opportunities there."  He didn't add his view that the stop in the Ivory Coast would be utterly unproductive.

"And if Liberia were interested in dealing with Gran Colombia, would the transactions be limited to agricultural and mining activities, or would matters such as, I don't know, military goods, be a topic to discuss?"

Madoz smiled innocently.  "Between good friends, many things are possible."

[The Rock Doctor]

1 April 1907:  Cartagena

"I thought you'd be curious to know that Sir Humphrey Conway has been arrested", President Rey Alizandro announced to the Cabinet.

"What?  Why?", blurted Sir Edmund Fitzroy, Minister for Jamaican Affairs.

"Didn't you receive one of his letters?", the President asked by way of response.  "He sent them to half of bloody Iberia, it seems."

"I heard something about this", Minister Escalante mused.  "Something about hidden bullion?"

"Precisely", Rey replied.  "According to the letters, he's seeking foreign assistance in smuggling the bullion out of the country."

"It sounds more like a hoax to me", Minister de Soto commented.  "I find it hard to believe Conway could write that many letters - besides, doesn't he have a small fortune of his own?  He could have just chartered a trawler and secreted it out himself."

"It's possible he's innocent, of course, but I don't think he is", President Alizandro said.  "Remember, a fair bit of bullion was missing from Commonwealth possession when the crisis was over."

"Most of that went to New Switzerland, I think", Benicio Delgado noted.

"Perhaps."

"Hell, even I think this is a scam", Ricardo Alizandro contributed.  "I mean, one of these letters was sent to me.  How stupid would Conway have to be in order to send a request for help in defrauding a nation to that nation's defence minister?"

"I hear your skepticism", Rey said, "But perhaps you can explain why we lost five constables to Conway's bodyguards if he's innocent?"   

"Huh?", Ricardo grunted.

"Conway claims the bodyguards aren't his, that they were sent by a Count Griffith without his consent.  The constables managed to disable and capture one."

Benicio Delgado asked, "Is he talking?"

"Conway?  Denying everything."

"No - the bodyguard."

"Not yet", the President said.  "But I've arranged for some expertise to be assigned to his file:  an Internal Security asset known as 'The Carpenter'.  The bodyguard will spill his guts eventually - it's just a question of whether he'll do it figuratively or literally."

[The Rock Doctor]

7 April 1907:  Cartagena

The Cathedral of San Miguel was, as always, packed for Sunday mass, and while the congregation was suitably pious, they were also getting a little bit restless by the time Cardinal Juan Rodriguez announced the last anniversary.

"Before we conclude today's gathering, I want to take a moment to speak with you about a coming storm", the Cardinal said, his voice strong and steady.  The congregation rightly assumed he was speaking metaphorically, given the weather outside, and they patiently waited as Rodriguez appeared to search for his next words.

"The Church exists to bring God's message to Man, and to aid Man in his quest for salvation.  God trusts that His clergy shall reveal His truth to Man, and Man trusts that the clergy shall guide him on his quest to be with God.  Yet what if a clergy were to stray from their responsibilities by questioning the message of God?  What if a clergy were to lead Man astray?"

Cardinal Rodriguez scanned the congregation, carefully avoiding eye contact with the occupants of the first pew.  "In that scenario, friends, that clergy would be working against the will and plan of almighty God.  That clergy would, in fact, be serving the aims of Lucifer, who seeks to pervert God's message and lead Man to his eternal doom in the fiery pits of Hell."  The cardinal noted the intrigued expressions on many of Gran Colombia's leading citizens before him.  Perhaps they thought he was about to publically announce some misdoing on his part?  Not likely...

"My friends, you have no cause to fear, for this clergy acknowledges the correct teachings of God and exists solely to guide you to His light.  Sadly, not all of your countrymen are so secure.  A false church now exists in this land, serving a dark purpose.  From an island up north, its tentacles now spread, seeking to corrupt the minds and hearts of our friends, family, and countrymen. 

"Consider the savages of the south; raised in ignorance of God's glory, they would spend the eternity of their afterlife in purgatory, despairing that they can not be closer to the one true God.  Our church - your church - has sent to them messengers of God's word such as Padre Santiago Batista, who strive tirelessly to bring them into the light.  Now the falsh church of the north sends its own agents to subvert the unenlightened savages and send them to an eternal doom far worse than purgatory.

"We, the church, can only do so much, for the land is now bound under civil law, and obedient to the proclaimations of its civic master, the government.  We, the church, have spoken to the government, and beseeched him to outlaw the false church, lest it add more victims to Lucifer's list.  Yet government has done nothing - and as you well know, my friends, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.  So as I bid you to go in peace and goodwill, my friends, I ask that you speak to the government and urge him to do something before it is too late.

"Ite, missa est."

As the cardinal and his priests proceeded down the aisle to the doors, the congregation flowed into the aisles behind them, leaving President Rey Alizandro to smoulder in the front pew of the cathedral.

[The Rock Doctor]

8 April 1907:  Cartagena

Stephane Drouin laid back in his wicker beach chair, a sigh of contentment escaping his lips.  "This is more like it", he murmured.

"Oui", his wife Diane replied.  She was lying face down on a beach towel, working on her tan, a few feet away.

There had been wonderful beaches at Rio de Janiero, of course, but they'd all been crowded with thousands of locals who'd grown increasingly scornful of the Drouins and the other French expatriates as the Brazilean situation had gotten worse and worse.  Rumors of violence and abductions along the beaches - even in daylight - had been enough to keep them away from late '03 to early '05, by which time the two were nursing their sorrows separately elsewhere - him in bars, her in their little reading room.

This afternoon at the Bocagrande beach was the first truly relaxing family outing they'd had in a good four years.  The two of them were relaxing in the sun, while the kids were down the beach a bit:  Marc joining in a game of volleyball with some other teenagers, Yvette throwing a peice of driftwood for the dog.

"We made the right decision", he remarked.

"If the house and your salary are any indication, yes", Diane agreed.  "It's hard to believe our luck changing after all that time.  I had hoped that the Iberians would recognize your potential despite what Paris did to you, but they never did."

"I don't know what happened there.  Perhaps they're just content with who they have in Europe.  I saw nothing to suggest they even looked at my work, like it was just business as usual under a new boss", Stephane said. 

"Lucky for us that colleague of yours ran into the recruiter from the Colombian government", Diane remarked.

"I'm starting to wonder if it really was a matter of luck", he noted.  "But I'm not going to look this gift horse in the month.  The Colombians recognize my genius.  They're paying through the nose to get it.  So we're going to enjoy this day at the beach, and tomorrow I'm going to meet this Vice-Admiral de Irujo I'm working for."

"Are you going to be working long hours?"

"Not for a few months", he confirmed.  "The Colombians are still sorting out things like torpedo bulkheads and superfiring turrets but haven't worked out all the details...which means that their ships for next year are pretty damn peculiar, by the way.  Only after they've got the basics worked out, and I've got more familiarity with their design principles, will I be working longer hours, pushing their limits further.  Till then", he added, ogling her swimsuit-clad form, "I shall gladly be home with you each night."

[OOC:  According to the Moderators, Gran Colombian recruitment of this French ex-pat from Rio de Janiero will count as acquisition of Capital Ship Architecture (Cutting Edge).  Digestion of this tech will take place in 1908, just as soon as I've digested the Swiss-acquired Advanced level of this tech.]

[The Rock Doctor]

To:  Agriculture Minister Jorge Escalante; Foreign Affairs Minister Eduard Torres
From:  Deputy Minister Fransisco Madoz
Date:  19 May 1907

Dear Sirs,

Please find attached a comprehensive report on the now-concluded mission to West Africa.  For your convenience, allow me to summarize our findings at this time.

Our visits to Sierra Leone, under Norman control, and the Ivory Coast, under French control, were brief and generally inconsequential.  It was our opinion that the Norman administration in Sierra Leone took pains to avoid a productive visit, as we were simply unable to make any contact with any senior bureaucrats despite the fact that our arrival was well publicized.  Our stop in the Ivory Coast was also brief, but did include a dinner meeting with the French administrator and some local businessmen.  The French were polite, and not dis-interested in business opportunities, but also clearly protective of their own interests in the region.

Our visit to Liberia was fruitful.  The New Whig party controls what is essentially a one-party republic with a strong interest in capitalism and broadly similar views on matters of governance.  Liberia's agricultural and mining sectors produce commodities similar to Gran Colombia's, but has been hindered by lack of capital and human resources.  Though we did not engage in an explicit discussion of defence issues, I am of the opinion that the Liberians do feel hemmed in by the Franco-Norman alliance, and view Gran Colombia as a possible balance against those powers.

Our visit to Nigeria was informative.  There is considerable room for growth in their agricultural and mining sectors, and the human resource potential is favorable on account of the large local population.  However, the political situation gives cause for concern; the state is nominally a kingdom, but appears to function more as a feudal state, with local rulers possessing considerable power that is sometimes employed contrary to the interests of the kingdom as a whole.  I and my colleague from Industry were in agreement that the political risk is, on the whole, not conducive to investments at this time.

Our recommendations are:

1)  That further work be undertaken to investigate investment opportunities in Liberia, with the objective of establishing Liberia as a possible partner/client state to Gran Colombia.

2)  That further work be undertaken to monitor events in Nigeria and, where the situation may arise, work to shape the political development of the kingdom in a fashion that better promotes investment.

Respectfully,

(signed)