Calaveria in Turmoil After Coups

CALAVER - The coalition government in Calaveria, largely led by Xeroists, was recently toppled amidst what was widely called a conservative coup. In the immediate aftermath, Calaveria has been filled with political persecution, anti-democratic legislation, secessionist movements, and even another coup.

This began after the Supreme Court of Calaveria brought numerous charges against nine citizens, including Chancellor Ari Netzl, Vice Chancellor Sky Haliat, and more. In total, seven people were purged and exiled. Multiple people charged with crimes were not even in positions of government, but merely voting Xeroists. This resulted in the complete dissolution of socialist control in the government, which the self-proclaimed Progressive Party gladly used as an opportunity to establish themselves in power for good.

The defendants were allegedly planning to "overthrow the state," however all evidence in now-visible court documents seems to suggest the exact opposite, bringing ideological motives of the Supreme Court into question. Our reporters had the opportunity to speak with Atticus Reed Jr., a Justice in Calaveria, merely a day prior to another coup rocking the nation. In this interview, these ideological motives seem to come to light, where he claimed Netzl, and by extension Xeroists, "undermine" the republic. No actual legal basis for the purges seems to exist, after thorough review of the prosecutor's supposed "evidence," including Netzl explicitly stating he did not wish to form a true one party state, which has even brought Netzl criticism from Xeroists internationally in the past. It appears even the most lukewarm Xeroist in the entire international movement has been targeted by conservative propaganda initiatives.

"...[W]hat we did was necessary for the preservation of the foundation of Calaverian Democracy... All of this overall is for the good of Calaveria, [e]ven if some think otherwise."

— Justice Atticus Reed Jr., during the interview with Dr. Ronango'O

Immense turmoil rocked Calaverian political life, with a new Constitution being hastily reformed to keep Xeroist politicians out of power and seemingly consolidate all power in the Progressive Party of Calaveria. The new Chancellor of the country after the ousting of Netzl, Theodore Greene, is the Secretary of the Union of Democratic Nations & Organizations; which has brought obvious inquiry into the supposed democratic nature of the organization.

We had the opportunity to speak with the co-leader of the Free Liberal Party just prior to a no-confidence vote that they would later host. This no-confidence vote, unknown to us at the time, would result in the ousting of the Greene government, and a counter-coup by reactionary forces from within the Progressive Party. The Free Liberal Party is very much opposed to Xeroism, and even Valentin of Sarvanlen had much to say about the Theodor Greene government during our interview. He informed our reporters that extreme political bias towards the Progressive Party (PPC) was omnipresent throughout the trials. Valentin told our reporters that he is split on the matter, but that it is very clear the trials were not neutral, nor were the purges justified. Lastly, he told us that the Theodor Greene government could very possibly fall the same day as the interview. This prediction would quickly turn to reality by dawn, and few could have truly anticipated what would come next.

Finally, we spoke with one of those nearly purged in the coup, who wished to remain anonymous for our report, fearing political violence or repression if they spoke out openly. They detailed how the trial was terribly mismanaged. Information about the trials was even reportedly censored, trying to keep it from public eyes. Our reporters were only able to access court documents after speaking with a Calaverian citizen who sent us the messages. This has brought mass outcry from people on all ends of the political spectrum, however even as bills to reform the Supreme Court are prepared, the "Progressive" Party has actively attempted to subvert the public calls for justice by shoe-horning in legislation which would ban "extremism" and "Xeroism," seemingly up to be interpreted and enforced by the already biased Supreme Court. The anonymous informant told us the same thing that Valentin did, that Calaveria was rapidly spiraling.

Those who had publicly spoken up, including one dissenter of the Greene government named Maria de la Rosa expressed that she was personally threatened by the Progressive Party for voicing her grievances. Others were not as lucky as she was however, as multiple people were stripped of government titles and voting rights. She would later be ousted in the aforementioned second coup, which we will discuss shortly. She concluded the interview by stating she had hopes for a more democratic Calaveria, but that appears more distant everyday as the so-called Progressive Party makes quick work of preventing immigration by Xeroists, silencing opposition, and crushing Calaverian institutions.

In light of the turmoil, Chancellor Greene was forced to draw several concessions, including dubiously legal pardons of some of the defendants, having to consider removing provisions banning Xeroism, and even pardoning Ari Netzl. This was solely because socialists still retained claim ownership and complete control of Liranoskova, a province in Calaveria, which was used as a bargaining chip to force the Progressive Party to stop some of its policies.

That night, Valentin initiated a no-confidence vote of Theodor Greene, which passed, removing him from office. Immediately, he fled the country and gave up ownership of official Discord channels. Chancellor Brusilov, a member of the Free Liberal Party, was appointed into office, but this would not last long. Greene would choose to give the country over to a close friend of his instead of to the legal new Chancellor. At this point, a second coup rocked the country and destroyed any possibility of recovering Calaveria back to normal.

The new man in charge, Valorum Caligula, announced that the country would become the Calvarus Imperium, a dictatorship led by him. Immediately, almost every single publicly known socialist was purged from the country (for a second time!) and institutions were overridden. At this point, the socialists in control of Liranoskova bravely chose to do the one correct thing, to fight back. They declared their independence, and the Abexilan Socialist Internationale recognized their calls for freedom from the Calaverian regimes. At this point, Theodor Greene opted to return to the new so-called Imperium, and realized that Valorum had undone the fragile tapestry keeping Calaveria together. He forced the Imperium to be reformed into the Commonwealth of Calaveria, a “constitutional” monarchy, without the peoples’ consent, in an attempt to show that it wasn’t a “dictatorship” anymore and to desperately appeal to Calaverians not to leave to Liranoskova en masse, which they were already doing. This has only been partially effective.

The question on the lips of many of our reporters is: where was the public outcry? Where is the UDNO, who is supposed to uphold "democratic principles" in light of a blatant anti-democratic coup in one of their member states? How is it that a country where people have genuine fear of being exiled if they openly criticize the government is considered a democracy? Why is it that even when Xeroists go through the "official route" and win elections in bourgeois states, they are still targets of political repression by so-called "democratic" politicians?

Now, the UDNO remains silent, refusing to budge or condemn the anti-democratic coups in Calaveria, and likely itching to condemn the Liranoskovans for freeing themselves. Countries like Hou Zhanaland have given embarrassing calls for “peace” while still giving legitimacy to the Calaverian regime. Is it not funny that Calaveria’s “democratic” allies clap like seals when conservatives and dictators coup the government, but suddenly gasp in horror when the people rightfully proclaim that enough is enough? Have these diplomats no shame?

The future for Calaveria is something we cannot necessarily predict, and believe that we have tried, but we remain hopeful that peace will be restored, and that one day Calaverians will be able to return home to their country, without disenfranchisement, legal persecution, and regime change. We would like to end this article with the following quote from Ari Netzl, who told our reporters this shortly before Liranoskova would declare independence:

"Socialism is not yet dead in Calaveria. Those members of the DSPC, who have not yet been purged by the Progressives, are doing their best to go for important governmental roles such that a true leftist voice never disappears in our wider Republic ... [We] will do our best to work on Liranoskova and form what the DSPC wanted to start forming federally: a province based not on profit, but on the community. The mere existence of Liranoskova proves that Socialism will never fall in Calaveria, at least not entirely. This is definitely rock bottom for the party; [but] we will rise again."

— Ari Netzl