Costa Muerta
Costa Muerta, officially the Republic of Costa Muerta, is a nominally independent and sovereign nation located on an island off Inaria's Akkalan Peninsula, just off the coast of Surimtak, at the confluence of the Abecean and Jyaltic Oceans.
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| State Motto | Libertad o Muerte | ||||
| • Ingliz | Long live Costa Muerta, Land of Promise | ||||
| State Anthem | Viva Costa Muerta, la tierra de Esperanzas | ||||
| • Ingliz | {{{nation_anthem_ingliz}}} | ||||
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| Official language | Aspenish and Ingliz | ||||
| Founding Date | yourinfo | ||||
| Government • Type • President |
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| Capital | Ciudad del Sol | ||||
| Administrative Divisions | yourinfo | ||||
| Largest City | Ciudad del Sol | ||||
| Area • Total • % water |
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| Population • Total • Growth Rate • Density |
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| GDP • Total • GDP/capita • Growth Rate |
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| Currency |
Peso (₱) | ||||
| Time Zones | yourinfo (AMT yourinfo) | ||||
| Trigraph | CTM | ||||
| Calling Code | +yourinfo | ||||
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This nation is a Non-player country (NPC), the article is played by nobody in particular but it is open to people to add information. |
Contents |
Overview
A former colony of the Aspenish Empire, its history and inherent cultural practices have made it a tradition, however, to turn a blind eye on what the legal text says in favor of prevalent and unspoken local mores, that is, a closer focus on what the people really want, instead of what morality and democratic traditions say the people should have.
History
TBD
Government
Elective officials in government are usually changed by means of the imposicion, 'rigged elections', contuismo, 'continuing the official beyond the legal term', or candidato unico, 'single electoral candidacies'. The legislature is nothing more than a rubber stamp and an additional patronage position for the President to award to close relatives or loyal friends, with most of the necessary laws being drafted by the executive ministers. In essence, it is a feudalistic realm posing as an egalitarian republic, and has, for all intents and purposes, several more decades to run before it can be officially dubbed 'a failed state'.
It faithfully follows the golden rule: He who has the most gold, rules. This is why cynics have derisively scorned the national anthem's line that declares Costa Muerta the Promised Land, or the land of promise (which has been the case for eras - the fairly bountiful land in Costa Muerta has long been promised to be equitably distributed to the people, though implementation of land reform remains mired in corruption, legal, administrative, and procedural knots).
Politics
Don Tomas Fanscotala, President of Costa Muerta, is the leading member of the Fifteen Families, a jolly man whose main concerns are women, wine, song, family, and friends, in that particular order. His eldest son, Tommy, is a spoiled and vicious brat, Colonel in the Army, Youth Minister, and Mayor of Ciudad del Sol; his second son, Jaime, the aptly-appointed Air Minister is nothing more than an airhead; his indefatigable third son, Miguel, inherited his father's love of fast women and fast cars, and is Minister for Sports. His youngest, and only daughter, the level-headed and conscientious Donita Maria, is Minister for Social Welfare and Women's Affairs. The pompous First Lady, Madame Evita Fanscotala, is Culture Minister, and Ambassador-at-large.
Señor Joao Martin Torrijos, the Prime Minister, and Señor Pereo de Cuellar, the Foreign Minister, are foreign-educated members of the Fifteen Families; seasoned technocrats, basically, who try to keep the house of cards from collapsing while their cronies raid the national coffers. Senor Pedro Nunez, the Interior and Justice Minister, keeps the radicals at bay, while Doctor Alvarez, the Education and Information Minister, prevents the 'antisocial' disease from spreading.
Military
The military is the government's ensurer of peace and order, and the chances of a coup d'etat are slim: every poor Costa Muertan knows that the shortest route to prosperity is through the Army, where after a few years, a dutiful officer can settle down in his own home in one of the sprawling military estates, while one lucky enough to reach general's rank can make more money as a Minister or an Ambassador abroad, and gain enough social rank to get his children into the same foreign schools as the Fifteen Families. Middle class cosmopolitan folk who aspire for more can try running for local office (with the blessings of the only legal party, the Great Society Movement), serve as a political drone for a few years, rise through the ranks, and also get the same results as their brother generals.
Geography
Its a southern island.
Economy
Majority of its people are peasants who trace their lineage from animistic locals who have mostly died out due to disease or currently toil in the sugar fields or own little homesteads to raise cattle. The standard Costa Muertan, however, is a mestizo, with the exclusive privilege to vote, and usually part of the middle class, mainly urbanized professionals with local high school or foreign college level education, who work in the banks and offices in Ciudad del Sol, 'City of the Sun'; the capital and primary port, business, cultural, and social center. It is therefore not surprising to see that a large part of its people annually leave the country to seek better lives elsewhere. Some return only to emancipate their relatives from their dreary lives, with Deria, Bontera, Kantonia, and Aspenia as the favorite places of emigration, and employment or Grand Councillorship in the Serene Republic as the lottery prize.
An integral part of Costa Muertan life is the despachando, a 'fixer', who, for a price, will secure you any permit, make the necessary introductions to the judge, policeman, or ministry inspector; square away the requisite civil service bureaucrats, and even get you tiptop hotel service and a willing companion for the night...or two.
Foreigners are rarely harmed, since they are the main revenue earner for this nation where most of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the elite Fifteen Families, who keep the lucre in secret accounts abroad instead of investing it in the local economy. A miniscule amount is kept circulating to keep the opiate of the masses, the cinemas and sport, operating.
Culture
Issues
Numerous farmers and 'antisocials' have tried to get reforms going, but all they have managed to reform is the quantity of the annual harvest: their bodies make for good soil fertilizer. The local educational standard is kept to the bare minimum, and as a result, the population is compliant, and so long as they are thrown a few crumbs, they are content to work hard in the fields all day and drink gin or play dice until the wee hours of the night. It is therefore no surprise that the population growth rate, the prevalence of disease, and the incidence of infant mortality, are high in the rural areas.
