(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/709845204689092691/1132039338742525982/image.png)
THE SOVEREIGN STATE OF BARRANCO
TIMELINE
6000 BC - Earliest settlements within modern day Barranco. The civilisation today known as the Elena constructed a series of farming settlements that show evidence of domestication of animals and the raising of crops.
4000 BC - The Guangava civilisation emerges and evidence of a sophisticated pottery process can be found.
3000 BC - Evidence of the establishment of a series of hilltop settlements, more than likely attempts to observe and fortify the various valleys that run through Barranco. These fortifications attract others desperate to take advantage of trade opportunities or simply the protection of the fortifications. These are considered to be the first Barranco cities.
2000 BC - Evidence exists of various trade networks including coastal fortifications which have lead experts to believe the early Barrancoian's were able to roam all over the eastern coast of Albion
1000 BC - There is evidence of a period of prolonged warfare between the natives and some kind of invaders, several key fortified towns shown large scales of destruction.
1st Century AD - There are attempts by the Barrancoians to settle the island to the east of the mainland. It fails several times but there are a significant number of semi permanent outposts there.
c. 500 AD - Christian Missionaries arrive and attempt to make the nation Christian. The nations small percentage who took to the faith venerated St. Agnes.
c.900 AD - There are a series of breakaway states established in several of the deep valleys. These see a viscious on and off century of warfare.
c.1000 AD - Out of the various breakaway states the state of Tormentia emerges dominant and begins enslaving several others.
1532 AD - The Barranco Edict - Edmundo Dimas Nieto, a prominent military commander successfully gains control of all of modern day Barranco and establishes a Kingdom with himself as King Edmundo I.
1688 AD - The practice of slavery is forbidden and King Adão II establishes the worship of Apus as a state religion. Shortly after he orders the destruction of several Christian places of worship and what is effectively a purge of any non Apus faith.
1702 AD - King Adão II dies and his son Efraín III becomes King and while maintaining Apus as a state religion ends the purges. During this time he converts the semi-permanent settlements on the Eastern Island into permanent ones.
1793 AD - Under King Silvério II the Priesthood of Apus organise an uprising against him after he eases rules against other faiths and rumours spread of him taking a Christian wife and converting. This causes a five year civil war at the end of which the King, his wife and three children are executed. The nation becomes a Theocratic Republic run by the Keeper of the Sacred Peaks who is also the leader of the Apus faith.
1813 AD- The Island War - On the Eastern Island the population rebel against the Keeper of Sacred Peaks and the short lived Kingdom of Barrancosia begins. The war lasts four years and ends in a stalemate.
1830 AD- The 2nd Island War - The Keeper of Sacred Peaks attempts to retake the island and again fails after a three year campaign. This leads to the emergence of a Royalist Restoration faction.
1837 AD - The 2nd Civil War - The Royalist Restoration begins a rebellion against the Keeper of Sacred Peaks and finds support from those of the Eastern Island. The war lasts a decade and at the end the Keeper of Sacred Peaks has all but wiped out the Royalists and taken control of the Eastern Island.
1850 AD - The Barranco Constitution is created. Following what many believed was a breakdown in society that would have lead to a third civil war the Keeper of Sacred Peaks established a new government. This would be a democracy where a President was elected from members of the Apsus faith and supported by an elected Parliament. This however was short lived.
1880AD - The Royalist Revolution- With the new constitution considered a failure by many there began to be calls for the return of the monarchy. This saw a revolution begin in that was broadly supported by the population. In 1883 the war ended and Raúl Léo Flores was crowned as King.
1893 AD- With Raúl Léo Flores dead his son Édison took the throne and was considered to be a rather bad King. As a result he oversaw five years of chaos which resulted in his own assassination.
1901 AD - The Almeida Family lead by Juanito Maximiliano Almeida effectively take control of the port city of Berenza, they are capable of keeping the key city in order while the rest of the nation seemed constantly on the brink of civil war. The Almeida's had begun as petty thieves in the city and over several decades effectively controlled all crime in the city and then branched into honest enterprises. As such in return for supporting the monarchy Juanito was made Prime Minister and while ensuring the nation calmed down feathered his own families nest significantly.
1920-1940's With the Great War underway the Barrancoans initially supported the Ardian Empire however 2/3 the way through the war the Almeida's (who had been profiteering off the war greatly) seized control of the nation and ended their involvement in the conflict. Lisandro Almeida named himself President.
1950's - With rapid urbanisation the nations cities became over stretched. As a result large slums emerged on the edges and poverty hit unprecidented levels as the Almeida's effectively saw the nation as their own personal Kingdom.
1960's-1980's - The Almeida's found themselves constantly struggling to keep the lid on the pressure pot of the nation. Standards of living were low, poverty was everywhere and there were rumours that the Eastern Island would seek to breakaway.
1990's - The Cartel Wars - With the Almeida's considered to be at their weakest various criminal gangs fought for control of the major cities, especially the slums, this saw masses of smuggling, assassinations, drug dealing and prostitution becoming rife. The Almeidas declared martial law in 1997 and began illegal executions on minor criminals.
1998 -2008 The 3rd Civil War - The Cartel Wars saw various gangs join together and focus their attention on the new martial law enforcement. This turned into an all out war where the cartels ended up winning and the nation was effectively split into four with various gangs controlling each. The nation was in theory run by a President however they were merely a puppet of the various Cartels.
2019- The Unification Campaign - The Sáez Cartel emerged as by far the strongest and made no secret that they now intended to take full control of the nation. They did this in 2019 by first eliminating the leaders of all the other Cartels and then effectively staging a coup. Under Isidro Samu Sáez a new government was established which essentially made the Sáez's monarchs in all but name.
2022 - Álvaro Octávio Sáez becomes President having inherited the title from his father Isidro Samu. He announces a vast number of reforms that will maintain the families hold on the nation but goes a long way towards supporting the poor.
BASIC FACTS
Population - 51, 678,912 (as of 2021 Census)
Capital City - Larrea (officially 5,500,000 people however unofficially slums take estimates to 8,500,000)
GDP per Capita - $12,500
(https://imagenes.america.elpais.com/resizer/cJRSaICG-Dwvfr7rTdmr8Yd7j6M=/980x980/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/MXTYTMC2PZNKFGXYQVJ54B3IPI.jpg)
THE GOVERNMENT
On paper Barracano is a Presidential Republic. This however is manipulated to ensure that the President is from the Sáez Family. This is achieved by a system of regions within the nation voting not directly for President but for electors. Beneath the Presidency is the National Assembly.
PRESIDENCY
The President is elected for a period of five years. A President may serve no more than three terms without a break.
The nation is split into sixteen regions, each with a similar number of people. On the date of the election every person over the age of 21 who is a registered citizen can cast a vote for who they wish to represent them at the Sovereign Congress. The role of the Congress is to discuss any amendments to the constitution and vote upon them if any are suggested. Once the constitution is reviewed the Sovereign Congress cast their votes for anyone who has been nominated for President. To be nominated for President you must have been born in Barranco and have had three grandparents born in Barranco. You must be at least 25 at the time of the Sovereign Congress. To make it onto the ballot you must have 1,000 signatures on a petition calling for you to be President.
The Sovereign Congress has always been full of members that can be controlled by the Sáez crime cartel meaning their preferred candidate will always win. The President has the following powers
Chief Executive: The president is the head of the executive branch of government. This means that the president is responsible for enforcing the laws passed by the legislature, appointing Supreme Court Judges and for carrying out the day-to-day operations of the government.
Commander-in-Chief: The president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. This means that the president has the ultimate authority over the military and can order the armed forces to take action.
Chief Diplomat: The president is the chief diplomat of the country. This means that the president is responsible for representing the country in its relations with other
countries. The president can negotiate treaties with other countries and appoint ambassadors.
Chief Legislator: The president can propose legislation to the legislature and can veto legislation passed by the legislature. The president can also use his or her influence to persuade the legislature to pass legislation that he or she supports.
Chief of State: The president is the symbolic head of state of the country. This means that the president represents the country to the world and is the ceremonial head of government.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
The National Assembly is a body made up of three representatives from each of the 16 administrative areas. They are elected for a period of six years with elections taking place every two years for one of the positions. The representatives must be born in Barranco and be over the age of 21. They must have also lived in the administrative area they seek to represent for four years prior to standing. To make it onto the ballot they must have 500 people sign a petition to name them as the representative and then elections take place. There are no limits on the number of terms a person can serve.
The Assembly vote on and propose legislation. While the President can introduce legislation the Assembly can block this if 3/4 of the Assembly vote in favour of using the Assemblies veto, this however has never happened in the history of the nation.