[b]Guatemala City Summer[/b] For President Nathanael Blackwell, the last couple of weeks had been going well in his favor. Getting people more opportunities to work again and dealing the communist movement earned him a few additional supporters. However, it wasn’t enough. It was never enough for this country. Being the sudden successor of President Maroto was challenging, especially given his American background. After a few months of maintaining the country, he felt like things were somewhat controlled. The communists either were arrested, went into hiding, or fled out of the country. And the conservatives seemed to accept Blackwell as their leader. As for the liberals, they were sour over the signing of the Anti-Communist Law and limiting their rights; however, their political power was limited significant enough to be no challenge. He was back in Guatemala City to break ground on construction of a new stadium for the Central American Football Union (CAFU). There was a sizable crowd of journalists and reporters to capture the moment. Blackwell soon walked towards councilors, politicians, and the team manager of the CAFU to begin the moment in soccer history. Several shovels awaited the men as they gathered in front of them while the cameramen prepared to take pictures. After a moment of getting ready to throw the dirt into the hole, Blackwell was the first person to do it as he saw the cameras’ flashes. Then, the others went and got their pictures taken. And every one of them did it several times before putting them back into the pile of dirt. Now, President Blackwell began his speech with a thanks to the sponsors for funding the project and went on to show support for the CAFU. After five minutes of speaking, the team manager added in some words of his own for the sponsors, the team, and their loyal fans. Once the speeches were over, the manager allowed journalists to ask some questions about the stadium and anything related to the CAFU. President Blackwell stood to the side as he watched the journalists asking and the manager answering the questions. To be honest, it was boring as hell; but, he needed the manager’s support and money. So, he endured the standing around. Suddenly, he noticed a female reporter talking to someone before raising her hand in the hopes of being selected. She was. “Ariana Cicerón from the Free Press. I actually have a question for President Blackwel-.” “I told you no questions directed at the President.” the manager responded before she could finish it. However, Blackwell raised his hand and approached the podium lightly shoving the manager out of the way. “It’s fine. I am interested in what she has to ask.” She nodded before finally asking her question to the president. “Are you aware of the Spanish government’s response to the tape?” “No, are you talking about the interview?” he answered honestly confused at her question. “I am talking about the recent leaked tape where you said you were happy to kill ‘some Spaniards’ and burn down their palace for ‘extra brownie points.’” she clarified to Blackwell, which he clearly understood what she meant. He began to sweat nervously at the announcement and tried to respond back, but nothing came out. She continued with her question, “This leak angered the people of Spain to the point that there is a sizable crowd protesting the remarks at our embassy in Madrid. So far, the government hasn’t publicly responded; but, there are reports that the government is furious at you. Any comments about the situation, Mister President?” The manager shoved Blackwell as side and tried to redirect the topic to the stadium as two of Blackwell’s assistants rushed towards him to leave. As he was leaving, the reporters began to question the president about the breaking news. Cameras were flashing at him as he entered the vehicle and drove off the construction site. While on the drive back to the office, Nathanael was still in a state of shock as he was trying to process everything. The leak. The silence. The flashing. The car radio was on the new station and it was talking about the whole situation. However, he didn’t care about. He knew what happened. And everything he tried to work in securing power was going to fall. Once he returned to his office, Blackwell demanded an update on the leak and the details of it. A folder was already on the desk when he entered. It detailed the known information about the entire thing, but it didn’t help in providing who. The television was turned as it was on Central American National News (CANN) and it had been talking about the breaking news. With the folder and the broadcast, Blackwell’s shock was slowly getting replaced with anger. Who would leak it? Why would they? How did they get the tape in the first place? His train of thought stopped the moment one of the advisors said, “Mister President, we are here to advise during this dreadful situation. The National Security advisor, the Foreign Relations advisor, and the Economics advisor are here to help you out and give advice to your suggestions with dealing with the Spanish government. And I am the Governors Relations advisor. We are here to serve you.” “First things first.” He said and turned to the national security advisor before speaking once more, “I want the Central American Intelligence Force (CAIF) to bring the interviewer in for interrogation. Once he has answered our question, arrest him for leaking classified information and betraying Central America. Inform the military of the situation and tell them to come up with plans and operations for a possible hostile response for the Spanish.” Suddenly, one of the secretaries came in the office with a letter. “It’s for the Spanish government themselves, sir.” It was all she said before placing it on the desk and leaving. Nathanael looked at the letter and opened it. [quote][center][b]OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERATION OF CENTRAL AMERICA BY THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN[/b][/center] The Spanish Government wishes to address the leaked footage of President Nathanael Blackwell insulting our great country. Then, he processed to threat direct military intervention with the intent to assassinate King Carlos I of Spain and burn down our palace. These threats don’t help maintain the little peace we have in our world. Thus, we are demanding two simple things for the Central American government: [indent]1) An official apology over the remakes made by President Nathanael Blackwell. 2) The resignation of President Nathanael Blackwell because he offered both the citizens and the government of Spain.[/indent] We will not tolerate any form of insult regardless of status, gender, religion, and race. Failure to respond within twenty-four hours and if said response doesn’t satisfice us, we will reach out to the government and people of Central America one final time for a proper response. Beware that you will suffer the consequences of your president’s insults if you do not agree and obey our demands. Think carefully.[/quote] “What should we do, mister president?” asked one of the worried advisors. The president thought carefully before snapping his fingers and saying, “Set up a press conference and I will write up the speech.” [hr] [b]Panama Summer[/b] Ricardo Martí expected some backlash for the airing of the leaked tapes; however, he didn't think that Blackwell would go that far. A hour ago, it was announced that the remaining Communist and Socialist political members were arrested and both parties were deemed illegal. Now, his 'investigation team' were tasked to interviewing every political party in the country to determine who found and leak the footage. Thankfully, they were mainly focused with the left-leaning parties instead of the right. The interview was short and painless as they just asked a few questions and left. Now, he was watching the television for any updates regarding the leaks. So far, the reporters were talking about the growing protest at the embassy in Madrid. The crowd was charting anti-Central American rhetoric while waving around signs and the Spanish flag. Suddenly, it cuts to the briefing room as the group of journalists and reporters were getting ready. The news reporter began to talk about awaiting for President Blackwell to speak on the matter of the leaks. After a few minutes of talking, Blackwell soon emerged into the room of journalists and reporters as he waved at them. He began to speak to the crowd. [i]"I am here to address the recent controversy regarding the leaked tapes of my interview. So far, the investigation team is looking into the matter. And I have suspended both the Communist and Socialist political parties until further noticed. I am sorry for my offensive comments about the Spanish people and their leader. They were uncalled for and disrespectful. However, their other demand is too insane to follow through. They demanded that I resign from the office because of those comments. This letter from the Spanish government will be given to members of the media at the end as proof of their latest aggressive against a country. Tonight, I am declaring that I will refuse to resign my position because the Spanish government has no right to demand something for any nation in the world. I am afraid that if I were to step down, the Kingdom of Spain will not stop antagonizing the other countries in the Americas. I am even worried that they will eventually violate the Monroe Doctrine to achieve the status of great power. Today, I am here pleading to the governments of the world to stand against the Spanish aggression. We have let the Spanish get too confident with their power since the fall of Portugal; but, it isn't too late to fix it. Together, we can show the Spanish government that we aren't scared anymore. Thank you and God bless this Union."[/i] Once the speech ended, the crowd of journalists began shouting questions as Blackwell left the room. There was silence, however, at Martí's office. There were going to be consequences for openly denouncing the Kingdom of Spain like that. He knew that Blackwell's pleads went mostly unheard, but he appreciated the attempt to gather forces against Spain. Now, everyone in Central America wondered what was going to happen next. No-one knew what Spain was going to do or say next. However, Martí knew that something bad was going to happen and pulled out a card. The same business card that Rubén Espinosa gave to him months ago to be called if more funds were needed. However, he put it back in his pocket and went back to work as he finally turned off the television. [b]Madrid Summer[/b] The crowd of protesters grew overnight as they began their usual chants and insults towards President Blackwell. Now, they are demanding Blackwell resign over the remarks. Embassy security kept a close eye on the protesters in case someone tried something. Meanwhile, Ambassador Alfonso Feo was finishing up work while his family was packing up. With the crowds and threats of attacking the embassy being made, Alfonso requested that his family return to Central America. Alfonso, himself, planned on staying in Spain in an attempt to smooth things over with the government. His wife suddenly appeared with her suitcase in one hand as she placed the other on his shoulder. "You don't have to stay here." she silently pleaded with him without getting the kids even more worried. "I can't leave yet. There's still a chance." he said. Meanwhile, Nico Villalta, the head security, entered the office with Alfonso's seven month old daughter. The mother thanked Villalta before picking her up from the baby carrier. Then, he processed to start talking about the plan for his family. It was simple enough: get them out of harms way and have a plane ready to leave for Central America. Villalta had some of the guards assigned to drive them to the airport and protect them until they board a plane. However, Villalta planned on staying with Alfonso to keep him safe until he was ready to go. If the embassy was under attack, then they had only two options: drive to the nearest airport or drive to France. He was sure that the police and army weren't going to protect them from the angry protesters. "Please be careful and return home safe." she said with a sad smile before rocking her baby, "For us." Villalta took the wife's suitcase and the baby bag as she placed the baby back on the carrier. The guards were the first ones to leave the office while she looked at her husband and whimpered, "Bye." When the door was shut, Alfonso looked at the photo of his new family at the beach and wept; however, the crowds' chants got louder.