King of All I Survey
Chapter 110: Maribel Plans Strategy with Guatemala

Chapter 110: Maribel Plans Strategy with Guatemala

We hashed through every possible scenario we could imagine, devising plans for anything that President Arroyo might do in response to Colombia’s political maneuvering. We thought we had everything covered, including a plan in case he offered full cooperation.

Meanwhile, we had Luis, acting as Maria Isabel Flores’s executive secretary place a call to the Presidential Palace saying that Miss Flores was concerned about Colombia’s actions and would like to talk with President Arroyo within the hour, as she was currently travelling and would be unavailable until then. Fortunately, he agreed to wait until that call before making any public statements. He was already in touch with Gabriel Morales and Alejandro Hernandez, the heads of the Guatemalan Congress and Supreme Court, respectively. They had agreed, he said to wait before making any statements. Luis suggested that they be included on Miss Flores conference call.

Meanwhile, Mom once again underwent a personality overwrite from Joe using his direct memory implant capabilities. We all agreed, especially Dad, that she would retain Susan Bailey’s memory and perspective as an underwritten awareness. The result, like last time, was that her base behavior patterns would be those of Maribel, but she would also retain the knowledge and background of Susan Bailey, my mother. That means she would know our technological capabilities and how we had accomplished crushing the cartels, as well as our future plans. Most importantly, from Dad’s point of view, was that she would remember she was married to Dad and that I was her son.

Dad and I prepared to watch from the Status Room as Maribel prepared in the Simulation Room. It was configured to look like a basic office, tidy, but nothing too fancy. A window to her left showed a view overlooking downtown Lima, Peru as it would appear from a skyscraper in the heart of the business district.

We had displays showing the video feed to and from her "office." We also had video feeds from invisible drones we had hovering near the ceiling in the offices from which the three Guatemalan leaders would be conducting the call. For the call itself, Hernandez and Morales would be on audio only, while Arroyo would be on video. I sent a mental command to Joe and moments later, two big buckets of popcorn floated into the Status Room, one for Dad and one for me. Dad laughed when he saw it coming through the doorway on the floating serving platforms.

"Now we’re ready for the show," he said as he reached for the popcorn.

Arroyo, as we watched him through our drone feed, looked confident and relaxed as he prepared for the call and took his seat at a conference table where the camera was set up for the video call.

"Well, he doesn’t look like he’s afraid of the Colombians or upset about their moves," Dad commented.

"Yeah, I’d say he looks a little smug, if anything. Here we go," I announced as the call was connected.

"Good morning, Miss Flores," President Arroyo began, " I have Congressional President Hernandez and Supreme Court President Morales on the line as well."

"Good morning, gentlemen," Maribel answered cordially, "I am calling to find out whether you plan to turn me over to the Colombians, among other issues."

Arroyo laughed out loud, "You are direct as usual, Miss Flores. You are not a Guatemalan citizen. May I ask if you are in Guatemala right now?"

"I would rather not answer that, but I would like to know whether I am free to move about in Guatemala to oversee my various charitable endeavors there."

"My government will not make any attempt to detain you, Miss Flores. We would not want to risk trouble with Peru by arresting one of their prominent citizens. We are also deeply appreciative of your efforts to help our poorer communities build infrastructure and transition away from the culture of drug-trafficking. As for Mr. Camal de Leon, we have made a binding amnesty agreement, and we intend to honor that agreement, so long as he does the same. No attempts will be made to arrest him."

Maribel smiled, "Well, that’s good to hear. How, then do you intend to respond to Colombia’s... grievances, if I may ask?"

"We think Colombia has perhaps acted rashly, without considering all the facts. Let me lay out the nature of our planned statement to the international bodies in which the accusations have been made." Arroyo grinned, and his expression gave the impression of a Jaguar stalking a capybara basking on a riverbank. "As you know, Guatemala and Colombia both were the unfortunate victims of the drug lords. Using their ill-gotten profits and threats of violence to bribe and corrupt government officials and law-enforcement agencies alike, they had established safe operating bases in both our countries from which to produce and distribute illegal drugs throughout the Americas and, indeed, throughout the world. Despite our best efforts, we had been unable to take them down. Then, some weeks ago, we received a packet of intelligence information. It detailed the operations and financial transactions, and even the private communications of these criminals. It showed the specific bank transactions and communication transcripts facilitating their efforts to corrupt government officials. It directly linked official actions undertaken by those elected and appointed officials in response to those bribes and threats. We verified and used that information to make arrests and bring the guilty parties to trial. Meanwhile, a third party, the same one who provided that evidence, informed us of their desire and ability to eradicate production of illegal drugs in our country. We happily accepted their offer, because Guatemala’s government does not want to be complicit in the smuggling of these harmful substances to their intended markets, such as the United States. We value our friendship with our neighbors to the north too much to let this singular opportunity slip away. We are quite grateful for the help we have received in strengthening our nation and restoring the rule of law within our borders. How could any honest and sane leader do otherwise?"

Arroyo paused with a beatific smile. Maribel nodded in agreement and encouragement. Really, this was our best-case scenario and almost exactly what we had scripted if we could choose his words for him. I looked at Dad as we watched. He grinned at me and we both took a big handful of popcorn, as Arroyo resumed.

"We also offered a broad amnesty program to help former low-level associates of the crime syndicates the opportunity to repair the harm of their misdeeds by rebuilding and strengthening communities throughout the country. Of course, counseling to help keep them on the right path is a mandatory part of that deal. Think of it as a work-release program with regular probationary meetings. A Charitable foundation has graciously offered to step in and fund this effort as well as to administer it for us, with direct governmental oversight, of course."

"As for Colombia’s situation, Miss Flores, I presume you gave them similar evidence of the criminal activities of the cartels, and perhaps certain government officials?"

Maribel nodded, "We did, and I, personally, will be happy to appear in an international forum, to testify to our actions. My statements would go something very much like this: Unfortunately, despite the iron-clad nature of the evidence we provided directly to the leadership of all three branches of government, which could be verified easily with a warrant for phone information, internet server records, bank transaction records, and so forth. They have denied receipt of any valid evidence of any criminality whatsoever, by anyone. Afterwards, we continued to track illegal drugs flowing from Colombia to Guatemala and other countries, such as the United States and Mexico. We even intercepted a phone call from members of the Rain Cartel in Colombia to a squad of terrorists in El Salvador who then crossed into Guatemala and showed up with rocket-propelled grenades. I might add that they were caught wearing false Guatemalan police uniforms in a stolen Guatemalan police car. They were, in fact, apprehended while trying to inflict mass casualties at a facility run by our charitable organization as we held a large meeting to register and organize those who have been charged with rebuilding Guatemala’s infrastructure and restoring stability to the outlying regions formerly held by drug-traffickers. Subsequently, fearing further cross-border attacks and receiving no aid from the Colombian government, we removed the narco-terrorists from Colombia, destroyed the source of their livelihood, fields and drug labs, and confiscated their illegally obtained funds so that they could no longer buy assassins to hunt us or political leaders in Guatemala or elsewhere. The funds have been sequestered in an interest-bearing escrow account. We would be happy to provide a full accounting, and make them available to countries who can claim damages related to the activities of the cartels or expenses involved in fighting them. As to the prisoners, we would also be happy to entertain a work-release program similar to that in Guatemala, which we would also fund and administer, with direct Colombian government oversight, provided that criminals within the government are removed from their positions and put on trial in an international court. We would be happy to provide evidence to that court, to facilitate their prosecution. All captured drug-traffickers from Colombia are being treated well, receiving counseling, medical care, and proper nutrition. Quite a number of them have already expressed a willingness to cooperate with a Work for Amnesty program, and many have been certified by our expert counseling staff as highly unlikely to revert to criminal behavior if managed under such a program. We can provide some of them to testify in the appropriate venue. Others have long-standing, entrenched tendencies toward violence and it would not be safe to release them back into the general public at this time. Again, we can provide direct evidence of violent crimes they have committed. It is quite a long and graphic list. As you, President Arroyo can attest, the Guatemalan Government, in no way approved or contributed to any actions outside their borders, and no foreign prisoners are housed in country, including those captured here with advanced military-grade weaponry during an attempted attack after receiving orders from Colombia."

Arroyo seemed puzzled. "You would admit to mass abductions, detaining Colombian citizens without trial. Using unauthorized methods to make monetary transfers for third party accounts within various banks and other financial institutions? I suspect, in light of such admissions, you would be detained. You would undoubtedly be asked for a list of the people involved, as well as a complete accounting of your charitable institution’s holdings. They would demand the location and likely the release of all those detained, without conditions."

"Yes, I suspect that is true," Maribel sighed. "They will not get any of that information from me, although Food First and Health First are registered charities and as such, their complete financial records are available. Tell me, President Arroyo, would Guatemala surrender employees of Food First working within your borders to any outside authority?"

"Are they Guatemalan citizens?" Arroyo asked.

"Does it matter?" Maribel countered.

"Somewhat, but no, I would not surrender anyone in your organization to outside authorities. I suspect I would have a popular uprising, if I did," he said, only half-joking.

"Wait a minute," Justice Morales interjected, "If they provide evidence of crimes, we would have to arrest and surrender the suspects."

Maribel just waited. It only took a second before President Arroyo spoke again.

"Crimes against which country’s laws, Justice Morales? Are we responsible to judge the merit of their claims or should we just hand people over without question? I could argue that all of the activities of Miss Flores and her associates were done in the interests of the national defense of Guatemala in direct response to foreign aggression against our people and our nation."

Morales, though not on video, sounded as if he were going to choke, "Why, that’s..."

"That’s Guatemala’s official position with regards to the complaints lodged by Colombia against us." Arroyo said with a commanding presence. "If Colombia chooses to attack, perhaps they will meet the same fate as the Chiapas incursion."

Maribel looked down at the table for a second, "Um... about that... We have decided that we will not be party to that kind of violence, ever again."

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