Foreign relations of Candelaria And Marquez

The foreign relations of Candelaria And Marquez are historically oriented chiefly toward developed democratic nations and emerging Rushmori economies. The country’s major political parties have generally agreed on the broad outlines of foreign policy, and the current coalition government has been quietly active in promoting free trade, nuclear disarmament, and arms control.

Though polyglot, the inhabitants of Candelaria And Marquez are not generally considered a gregarious people, and have long been seen to hold attitudes to foreign nations of a somewhat xenophobic nature. Successive governments long kept dealings with mainland Rushmore to the barest minimum, instead remaining tethered to the United Kingdom. Since the Republic's entry into the United Nations however, the establishment of friendly and productive relations with nations outside C&M's usual cultural 'comfort zone' has become of increasing importance, culminating with the creation of a full Embassy Exchange Programme in 2007.

UK Relations

The declaration of the First Republic in 1947, though coming as something of a surprise to both London and the Candelarian people, was none-the-less met with broad public support. Though the islands continued to maintain links to the UK for some time, the Republic has remained outside of the Commonwealth and consistently followed a policy of integration with Rushmore ahead of enhancing historical relations.

Conservative elements in society have long pushed for improved relations with the 'motherland', as well as the establishment of more formal relationships with other former British colonies across the world. The left-wing have resisted such calls and labelled them offensive to that portion of the country's society - now the majority - who are not of British ancestry. However, newspaper polls have consistently suggested that it is C&M's non-British, and particularly non-White, population that is most in favour of greater bilateral contacts with the UK.

Relationship with Europe

The overwhelming majority of C&M's population is of European decent - both British-Irish and Continental - and the continent still supplies the bulk of immigration to the islands. The Republic has maintained certain political relations with Spain thanks to the Hispanic population on Marquez, but most direct relations with the 'old country' are conducted by citizens with family overseas.

Relationship with Rushmore

Until the early 20th century, the Candelarias' geographical position off the north-west coast of Rushmore was ignored as much as possible by most governments, who showed an often unnervingly racist attitude to nations of aboriginal Rushmori ethnic origin. The sudden split with Britain in 1947 however, forced the new Republic to massively improve its economic and political involvement with the mainland. The years following the Civil War under President Clarke saw a flurry of treaties signed first with sovereign states and later with Rushmore as a whole. The signing of the 1967 Rushmori Human Rights Accord effectively crystallised the status of Rushmore as a political entity in its own right for the first time. Despite the protestations of much of the right-wing, the dominance of Centrist and Centre-Left governments in C&M throughout the latter half of the 20th century saw the signing of the 1975 Rushmori Regional Free Trade Agreement and the 1977 Rushmori Regional Defence Accords. The latter saw the establishment of the Rushmori Regional Defence Organisation (RRDO) the following year, to which C&M was an enthusiastic member. However, while the RRDO remains officially in place, with a significant part of C&M's naval force permanently assigned to it; the lack of any major armed conflicts fought against Rushmori nations by outside forces has seen many to view the Organisation as effectively defunct. This can be seen as a worrying development for nations such as C&M that has sacrificed elements of its Armed Forces - in the Republic's case it’s Air Force - in the knowledge that neighbouring powers have a responsibility to jump to its aid in the event of war.

Politically, C&M holds one of the ten seats on the Rushmore Senate where it is represented by former Unionist Party MotH and leadership candidate Oran Shehata. In recent years, the Republic has been supportive of the UN Delegate status of Switzaland, though as a neurotically neutral country, the administration of President Anderson declined to support Rushmore's membership of the Great Green Federation. The announcement by the Switzish government in mid-2007 that the country would not be seeking to re-new its tenure as UN Delegate as the next regional elections, has left something of a hole at the centre of the region's power-base. The Anderson government are believed to be most likely to support the Yerdua to take the role, though no member of the cabinet has confirmed in explicit terms that C&M will not be standing for the position itself.

A key issue of dispute remains C&M's restrictive attitude to immigration from mainland Rushmore, a policy condemned as openly racist by much of the continent's thinkers but defended across the board in the islands as a regrettably necessary means to protect the Candelarias' cultural heritage.

The Wider World & The UN

In the past, the Candelarias' cultural isolation and its agricultural economy’s general prosperity minimized public interest in international affairs. However, the rapid change in the country's industrial output, growing global trade and other international economic events have made C&M increasingly aware of the country’s dependence on unstable overseas markets. The country has become is a strong advocate of free trade, especially in agricultural products, though it still remains neutral of any official bodies of that nature.

The Republic has long been a member of the UN, and shown broad support for its rulings. Conservative elements of the islands' political scene have on occasion raised national sovereignty concerns, but there has never been a noticeable clamour for the country's withdrawal. Max Esajas, a veteran diplomat, currently represents C&M at the UN. He has never been known to speak.

ISP

Following President Anderson's June 2007 state visit to Descartesland, the two countries agreed the establishment of an International Space Programme. Following this, C&M scientists and trainee cosmonauts have travelled to Koryolov City to begin full integration into the united operation.

Terrorism & The War On Terror

The Modern Liberal administration of President Israel Clark went to great pains to regularly offer 'sympathy and solidarity' with nations affected by terrorist action, but remained openly suspicion of the notion of an 'Axis of Evil' or 'War On Terror' as so termed by the UN.

The Unionist Party opposition, and subsequently government, of James Anderson had initially been widely expected to take a more forthright stance on the issue of international terrorism. However, shortly after coming to power, Anderson made a keynote speech strongly criticising those both and home an abroad who "would use the cause of freedom and our way of life as excuses to clamp down on those hard-earned freedoms and irreparably change our way of life". The Anderson administration has since resisted efforts by some to vastly increase anti-terror legislation and further support the international struggle against it. While the vast extension of CCTV in C&M, as well as the introduction of increasingly more public security measures, has led some to question the government's commitment to their libertarian stance on such personal freedoms; the Unionist reticence to sign up fully to the global anti-terror conflict cannot. In a February 2007 interview for the Albrecht Mercury, Social Affairs minister Reuben Queseda described terrorism as a "tactic used by those who consider themselves beleaguered and cannot fight back on an equal footing", and that as a tactic it was "seldom justifiable - but no less so than most conflicts fought by traditional means".

International Disputes

World War I can be considered in practise the last time Candelarian troops saw large-scale action on foreign shores, having stayed neutral for much of WW2. The country's army is understandably small and considered a highly professional service not suited to accommodating the endless streams of under-educated young men used as cannon fodder by other nations. Most of the country's defence brief is invested in its comfortably-proportioned navy.

There have, however, been consistent arguments with nations over C&M's reticence to accede to certain extradition requests as well as the country's open-door policy on refugees and asylum seekers.

International Aid

A far from wealthy nation, C&M is a modest international net lender. It does however offer assistance of various forms to neighbours and allies in times of severe need, the most recent occasion being the Georgia Wales Volcano disaster (United Denmark) in February 2007.

Dependencies

At the current time, the Republic is responsible for the external relations and defence of three autonomous territories.

Cabrera Island Territory

Population: 11,000 (2006 est.)

The most South-Westerly of the Candelarian islands, being more than 800 km from the ‘mainland’. Traditionally housing a rural population subsisting mostly on sheep farming and fishing, Cabrera was the only one of the Candelarias’ smaller islands to support James McManus’ Socialist Party during the Civil War, and refused to recognise the authority of the Second Republic from 1960. After attempting to go it alone for several years, the island’s Cabrera Socialist Party government was voted out in favour of the Cabreran People’s Revolutionary Party, who made some effort to take the island back into the Republic.

Though in practical terms the island should be considered part of C&M, Cabrera remains officially sovereign. In C&M General Elections, it votes as part of the Fallon Island constituency where Cabrera’s denizens are believed to have played a major role in seeing the Libertarian-Unionist candidate Ciaran Okikiolu elected to the House. In most domestic issues, however, Cabrera remains governed by the People’s Revolutionary Government, consisting of a single Executive Chamber, the People’s Revolutionary Council. As of May 2007, The People’s Revolutionary Party holds 16 of the 20 seats; with the Cabrera Socialist Party, Libertarian-Unionist Party, the SD&G and the Unionist Party each holding one seat.

Key Government Officials (as at June 2007)

First Minister, Don Mitchell
Labour Minister, Brent Bendoni

Henderson Atoll

Population: 60,000 (2007 est.)

Established as the first (and arguably only) genuine Candelarian 'colony', Henderson City was founded in 1931 on a volcanic island some 80,000 km to the North-West of Marquez. Named for Robert Henderson, the Merchantist politician who inspired its creation, Atollians quickly came to promote themselves as the most ardent followers of Reuben Merchant's 'vision' of the ideal state. Certainly, the colony can claim great successes in regards to the physical and mental well-being of its citizens and its intellectual output, though many Candelarians view the state with suspicion and claim to feel 'uneasy' in the company of smilingly fundamentalist Hendersonites. Atollians, for their part, commonly see mainlanders as 'backward', and the state funds massive programmes of 're-education' for the Candelarian masses.

Henderson City - essentially the entirety of the original atoll - accounts for a little over half the colony's population, today entirely consisting of a dozen tightly-packed skyscrapers - the largest anywhere in the Candelarian world. The rest of the colony's denizens are based in predominately similar set-ups on other atolls, a number of which were originally entirely submerged and reclaimed only with extensive and expensive building programmes. The colony remains heavily subsidised by sympathetic businesspeople from the Candelarias - and more recently elsewhere in the world - though it retains its own economic output being the base of a number of large Candelarian firms, particularly advertisers and investment companies. Efforts to turn certain 'scrapers into 'playgrounds' for the wealthy have been met with considerable resistance by much of the native-born Atollian population.

Politically, the colony has its own government who have total control over the state's affairs - despite their obvious value businesses are highly taxed and regulated, and have little political influence. Henderson Atoll's Political Freedoms are rated better than C&M's by the UN. The Colonial Leader, directly elected every three years, appoints his cabinet from any source providing they are supported by the 25-member Colonial Senate.

Key Government Officials (as at June 2007)

Colonial Leader, Mari-Jayne Beskovich
Deputy Colonial Leader, Joe Ireland
Senate Leader, Adrian Grayson

The Secretary of the Treasury, Chris Jones
The Secretary of the Interior, Darwin Saltsman
The Secretary of External and Candelarian Affairs, Cleo Gowan
The Secretary of Social Justice, James Vitty
The Secretary of Commerce, Dorotea Batista
The Secretary of Education, Health and Welfare, Sue Reed
The Secretary of Housing, Development and Transportation, Adrijana Curkic

Ransome-Bkyki Island

Population: 310,000 (2005 est.)

As with the majority of Rushmori aboriginal groups, the origins of the RBI’s brown-skinned population are unclear. The Bkyka lived a comfortable existence as crab fisherman until the arrival of English explorers, led by Captain Michael Ransome, in 1781. The subsequent influx of missionaries saw Christianity and the English language all but wipe out the native religious traditions and dialects within a matter of decades, though many traditional forms of art, music, and storytelling remain untouched by outside influence.

Though officially administered separately by Britain throughout the 19th century, the island came to be seen by many as part of the Candelarias colony and there was a considerable amount of migration between the islands. In 1947, following the declaration of the First Republic of the Candelarias, RBI was approached to become an official part of the Republic. Royal loyalists to the last, however, the island's government declined, heralding a period of terse relations between Albrecht and Ssotapel. In 1949, and without warning, several thousand ethnic European Bkyka were expelled from the island and sent to the Candelarias, while all diplomatic contact was cut off. With reports - later proven to be somewhat exaggerated - of the severe abuse of that part of RBI's non-indigenous population that had remained behind, the Candelarian government attempted to engineer a coup in Ssotapel. A lack of support from within the Candelarias Defence Force saw the operation fail to come to fruition, though the revelation of the plot in 1954 would see the resignation of the Candelarian Prime Minister of the time, Sidney Ferguson, and help lay the seeds for the country's forthcoming Civil War. As it was, the far-left RBI government of the time was soon replaced with a conservative administration, which reformed ties between the two countries. The movement of citizens between the islands remained a sore point for some time to come, however, with limits on the numbers of C&M tourists to RBI and mutually agreed limits on Bkyki immigrants to the Candelarias imposed to stop a drain on valuable citizens. Following another period of political impasse during the Candelarias Civil War, C&M took back responsibility for RBI's defence in 1962, though the RBI parliament maintained it's own External Relations, particularly after a referendum saw the country become a Republic in 1977.

Today, RBI's foreign policy is increasingly integrated with that of C&M, symbolised by the appointment of Harry t'son o'Henry, a former RBI Minister for Housing and Planning, as C&M's Ambassador to Tweetonia.

To date, RBI's culture has remained homogenous and largely unaffected by pressures from the English-speaking world. However, many traditionalists show increasing concern at the emergence of distinct youth cultures - particularly those of an anarchist, 'punk', or homosexual nature - in the island's largest towns. Such right-wingers frequently clash with other campaigners who suggest that C&M does not 'meddle' in RBI culture enough, turning a blind eye to the unwelcome prevalence of rape, incest, and the religiously-motivated torture of children in some of the island's backwater communities. The issue was given major publicity in C&M following the rescue by Candelarian tourists of Samuel o'Herman, a young boy with a severely malformed right leg who was found tied to a tree and left for dead in wolf-inhabited country. After a high-profile legal case, Candelarian judges ruled that while his 'abduction' and subsequent trafficking to C&M was unlawful, his return to RBI would likely result in his execution on the grounds of 'demonic possession'. o'Herman is now a ward of the Candelarian state, and the issue remains highly political.

Agriculture and fishing still accounts for much of RBI's output, alongside tourism from C&M and Rushmore. The island has, however, opened up considerably to international trade and investment and key exports today include fertilisers, soap, clothing, furniture and the assembly of motor vehicles, TV sets, and electronic domestic equipment.

Since becoming a Republic in 1977, the Head of State has been the directly-elected President who invites the leader of the largest party in the People's Assembly to form a government and become Prime Minister. Since the mid-80s, the Assembly has been controlled by the Cautious Party, who hold 32 of the 60 seats after the August 2006 elections. The National Development Party hold 14 seats, the Civil Defence Party 3 seats, and the rest Independents.

Key Government Officials (as at June 2007)

President of the Republic, Christopher o'Amice

Prime Minister, Harold o'Gerald
Second Minister, Maggie o't'Slaughterhouse
Social Affairs, Housing, The Police, Justice and Heritage, Michael o't'Silks
Finance, Industry, Urban Affairs and The Elderly, Shawn t'son o'Augustine
International Trade, Candelarian and Rushmori Affairs, Media and Sport, Fabien t'son o'Gervais
Education, Migration, Transport, Health, Rural Affairs and Drug Abuse, Paul t'Champion

Status of the Outliers

Each of the Candelarias' Outlying Islands operates their own governments and in theory could be considered separate nations. However, since their internal affairs are so dominated by the Albrecht government, and they remain so socially and politically integrated with the larger two islands, they should still be seen as part of the Republic, despite their lack of representation in the country's official name.

Modern Embassy Programme

The establishment of an internationally fashionable Embassy Exchange Programme was a key tenet of the Unionist Party's election campaign in 2004. Following their victory under James Anderson, the system of C&M Consuls across Rushmore began to be tentatively expanded into full-scale embassies. In early 2007, the Programme was established internationally in earnest, with Ambassador Amber Vale of Damanucus becoming the first foreign dignitary permanently assigned to the islands in the modern era. Though the Programme has met with the broad support of the public and Parliament, there has been some degree of criticism of the choice of nations invited to take part, some of whose democratic credentials are to be questioned. The C&M government has, however, insisted that the utmost consideration goes in to all embassy applications and requests, and that in the modern era it is necessary to promote friendly dealings with countries with widely varying political outlooks. It should be noted that there has been further recent criticism of the EEP by the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee and of the country's foreign relations in general since President Anderson's election, to whit that there hasn't been nearly enough of them. The Unionist Party have strenuously stressed over several months that C&M's contact with the outside world will grow considerably in future months, but at its own pace.

Rushmori Consuls and Embassies

The Republic maintains a number of missions in neighbouring nations, listed below by the relative size of the C&M diplomatic presence.

The Wider World

Relations With Non-Humans

The majority of C&M's public and politicians have found the often bizarre realities of the modern world difficult to come to terms with. The notion of 'fractal reality', (allowing huge nations to pop in and out of existence and to move between geographical regions willy-nilly) remains highly controversial, despite its general acceptance by the international scientific community. Similarly, the passage of time is generally deemed to be slower in the Candelarias than many other nations. Even more problematical is the existence elsewhere in the world - and beyond - of sentient non-human life-forms. Officially the C&M government continues to deny their existence completely, an increasingly farcical position given their common appearances in the country's media coverage of overseas affairs and the clear evidence of such beings living in small numbers in the Candelarias itself. Sensitive documents leaked to the press in the June of 2007 suggest the Anderson administration may be preparing to sensationally reverse the country's official position on the matter after many decades of opposition from conservatives in the government.

CAMOTS

The Candelaria And Marquez Overseas Trade Service was established in its current form in the late '90s, to draw together the country's larger corporations and government- controlled industries into the organisation best served to work in C&M's economic interests. Though still primarily active in Rushmore, the Anderson government's internationalist outlook has seen CAMOTS begin to forge relationships with similar entities in friendly nations in far-flung parts of the world.

CAMOTS sounds a bit like Comits, but that's about the best you can do. It's a rather unsatisfying acronym, but that's what happens when you don't think these things through.

For want of anywhere better to stick it; the following is an unnecessarily imprecise list of the Republic's major natural resources, exports and wotnot.

Resources:

Clay, coal, lead, zinc, limestone, pumice, molybdenum, aluminium, natural gas, copper, forests, fish.

Industries:

Tourism (esp. Gambling-related), electronics, machinery, precision equipment, motor vehicle manufacture and assembly, food processing, book publishing, shipbuilding, mining.

Major Exports:

Electronic goods, power-generating non-electronic machinery, diplomats, motor vehicles, transport equipment, beef and dairy products, live animals, forestry products (wood, pulp, paper, cardboard, cellulose).

Major Agricultural Produce:

Rice, wheat, barley, fruit (esp. grapes), vegetables (esp. potatoes), sunflowers, daffodils, dairy goods, fish.