ComradeMan
14th October 2011, 13:31
Okay, this is an idea for a "thought experiment" game so we can think about things like propaganda, history and apologism. I am going to give an "objective" fictitious situation below and then members post their own versions according to their political, apolitical, historiographical biases and we can see how the story would evolve, change. The only rule of the game is that before posting a version/response a member carefully reads the situation below and then states their "virtual role/position", i.e. apologist, propagandist etc.
"The state of Sperantina in South America was a stable economy showing signs of development in spite of a large IMF debt. Under the rule of president Raul Lopez, a hardline rightwing executive president who had come into power after a military coup in the late 60s, GDP had risen and foreign investment gradually increased. Lopez' rule was not without its critques. In particular press freedom was criticised by international human rights groups and several journalists were arrested, some beaten, and at least one disappeared.
In the jungles to the north of Sperantina there were at least three revolutionary groups operating. The Sperantina Communist Liberation Party (maoist), the Communists of Sperantina (marxist-leninist) and the eclectic People's Liberation Brigade of Sperantina (leftist, nationalist). In June 1976 Lopez was assassinated by a guerilla sniper in the capital and the country was plunged into disarray. Foreign intervention from the UN and an international peacekeeping and relief coalition exacerbated the situation with the the SCLP accusing the foreigners of trying to prop up the old regime. Some foreign reporters however suggested that the assassination was due to an internal power-struggle within Lopez' own government and ranks and some senior military officials were implicated.
With the total disintegration of the Lopez' state machine, in August 1976 a coalition of SCL under "General" Esteban Aguero, and CS marched into the capital, La Esperanza, and announced a revolutionary government. The PLBS under a mysterious leader known only by a moniker, "Commissar Falco" supported the government but refused to participate in the coalition because of ideological differences on isssues of indigenous rights.
In January 1977 the leader of the CS, Ramon Garcia, was killed in a car accident that many suspected had been orchestrated by the SCLP. The SCLP denied this and accused reactionaries from the former government of trying to destroy the revolution and arrested without charge all known members of the former government administration. The CS accused the SCLP of becoming "no better than Lopez" and this led to the split in the coaltion by the March 1977. Foreign investment had fled the country after the "fall of La Esperanza" and increasing austerity led to civil disobedience and people saying they "had been better off before" this in turn led to a hard crackdown on "counter-revolutionaries" by the government.
In April 1977 the PLBS formerly severed its ties with the SCLP and the CS accusing them both of manipulating indigenous peoples and of some atrocities committed against "class enemies" in the jungle highlands- reports that were either denied or fully supported by various persons in the outside world. In a desperate attempt to maintain some order the SCLP outlawed the PLBS and declared them "reactionary rebels being whipped up" by former government "terrorists" and "imperial interests". The CS under the new leader Pedro Garcia (brother of Ramon), already anxious, decided to anticipate what they felt was imminent and fled to the jungle areas to join the PLBS and by December 1977 there was a raging civil war with the SCLP government mostly controlling the urban south and the CS-PLBS- by then known as the "Revolutionary Organisation of Sperantina" (ROS) controlling the northern highlands and jungle areas....... "
Disclaimer: All characters, locations and events appearing in this game/thread are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
"The state of Sperantina in South America was a stable economy showing signs of development in spite of a large IMF debt. Under the rule of president Raul Lopez, a hardline rightwing executive president who had come into power after a military coup in the late 60s, GDP had risen and foreign investment gradually increased. Lopez' rule was not without its critques. In particular press freedom was criticised by international human rights groups and several journalists were arrested, some beaten, and at least one disappeared.
In the jungles to the north of Sperantina there were at least three revolutionary groups operating. The Sperantina Communist Liberation Party (maoist), the Communists of Sperantina (marxist-leninist) and the eclectic People's Liberation Brigade of Sperantina (leftist, nationalist). In June 1976 Lopez was assassinated by a guerilla sniper in the capital and the country was plunged into disarray. Foreign intervention from the UN and an international peacekeeping and relief coalition exacerbated the situation with the the SCLP accusing the foreigners of trying to prop up the old regime. Some foreign reporters however suggested that the assassination was due to an internal power-struggle within Lopez' own government and ranks and some senior military officials were implicated.
With the total disintegration of the Lopez' state machine, in August 1976 a coalition of SCL under "General" Esteban Aguero, and CS marched into the capital, La Esperanza, and announced a revolutionary government. The PLBS under a mysterious leader known only by a moniker, "Commissar Falco" supported the government but refused to participate in the coalition because of ideological differences on isssues of indigenous rights.
In January 1977 the leader of the CS, Ramon Garcia, was killed in a car accident that many suspected had been orchestrated by the SCLP. The SCLP denied this and accused reactionaries from the former government of trying to destroy the revolution and arrested without charge all known members of the former government administration. The CS accused the SCLP of becoming "no better than Lopez" and this led to the split in the coaltion by the March 1977. Foreign investment had fled the country after the "fall of La Esperanza" and increasing austerity led to civil disobedience and people saying they "had been better off before" this in turn led to a hard crackdown on "counter-revolutionaries" by the government.
In April 1977 the PLBS formerly severed its ties with the SCLP and the CS accusing them both of manipulating indigenous peoples and of some atrocities committed against "class enemies" in the jungle highlands- reports that were either denied or fully supported by various persons in the outside world. In a desperate attempt to maintain some order the SCLP outlawed the PLBS and declared them "reactionary rebels being whipped up" by former government "terrorists" and "imperial interests". The CS under the new leader Pedro Garcia (brother of Ramon), already anxious, decided to anticipate what they felt was imminent and fled to the jungle areas to join the PLBS and by December 1977 there was a raging civil war with the SCLP government mostly controlling the urban south and the CS-PLBS- by then known as the "Revolutionary Organisation of Sperantina" (ROS) controlling the northern highlands and jungle areas....... "
Disclaimer: All characters, locations and events appearing in this game/thread are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.