Martazuela

Martazuela, officially the Republic of Martazuela (Spanish: República de Martazuela) is a Presidential Republic in Southeastern South America. Martazuela is bordered to the east by the Atlantic Ocean,to the north by Brazil,to the west by Argentina and to the south by Uruguay. In recent years Martazuela has established itself as one of the most developed nations in South America and is currently a member of the Alliance of Independent Nations (AIN).

Martazuela was originally a colony of Spain and did not receive independence until 1905. Following the country's independence Martazuela established itself as a peaceful and wealthy nation with plenty of natural resources and a stable economy. When World War II broke out in 1939 the country's economy crashed and a group of revolutionaries stormed the nation's parliament and seized control over Martazuela. This event marked the beginning of a brutal communist regime that was led by ruthless dictator, Fernando Marcos. The Communist Era isolated Martazuela from the rest of the world and led to the loss of even the most basic human rights. In 1972, the country's communist regime was toppled and a new democratic government was established. Today, Martazuela is an active participant on the world stage and has been recognized for its high quality of living,healthcare and education.

Etymology
The origin of Martazuela's name is said to have been named after the small river, Río Marta which was used by Spanish colonialists to travel from Puerto España to settlements that were established further inland.The river was discovered during the first Spanish expedition to the country in 1770 and was named by the leader of the expedition, Martín Alvárez in honor of his daughter,Marta. The suffix of Martazuela's name -uela is used as a diminutive term to express a small size. Therefore, Martazuela can be roughly translated to "little Marta".

Founding and Colonial Years
Martazuela was first colonized by the Spanish in the late 1700s. The main explorer who led the exploration was a wealthy Spaniard, Martin Alvárez. The Spanish explorers landed at what is now Fuerte de las Americas on Isla Concepción. When they realized there was not much for them on the island they sailed onward and landed at Puerto España. They then developed Puerto España as the colony's capital and kept Fuerte de las Americas as their defensive fort. From this the Spanish began to develop the territory into a vital gateway to South America. As years progressed the colony began to prosper more and more and by 1812, thirteen thousand Spanish settlers were living in Martazuela. The prosperity only grew when gold was discovered in the Cortez Mountains in the Montañas region. When people heard of this miners and those seeking wealth flocked to the colony from places such as Europe and North America and other parts of South America. However, when this happened Spain became angered at how foreigners were coming into their territory and taking what was supposed to be theirs and in 1819 the Gold War took place. The war lasted little more than 3 months as the mighty Spanish Army drew the foreigners out and retook the gold mines. Following this Martazuela became somewhat more isolated than Spain's other colony's primarily due to the abundance of resources in the colony. In 1824, Simon Bolivar's liberation of South America and the Independence of Spain's colonies left Spain with only Martazuela,Cuba and Puerto Rico. At one point, the Portuguese attempted to take over Martazuela and make it part of Brazil but Spain firmly kept hold and by 1872 Martazuela was the last of Spain's North America's colonies. Spain's firm hold on Martazuela isolated it from other South American influences and the colony remained prosperous under Spanish control. In the late 1800's to early 1900's Spain began modernizing Martazuela as the population reached 1 million. They built additional towns and established a railway and road system.

Independence
In 1904, Martazuela realized that it was their time to achieve independence and a group of representatives went to Spain and demanded a peaceful independence. At first Spain denied their request but then realized as the world began to decolonize more and more they would soon lose the colony anyways. So in exchange for their independence the Spanish requested a quarter of their gold. The Martazuelans eagerly agreed and on January 20 1905 Martazuela achieved independence without any bloodshed. Following the establishment of the country's first president, José Ramos the new nation continued to prosper. This prosperity also continued under the presidency of the second president, Javier Ramirez. Ramirez brought many changes to the country. He established a number of coffee and tobacco plantations,created a new health and education system and moved the capital city from Puerto España to the central town of Valperegas located on the Rio Azul. The nation's prosperity grew and grew until the outbreak of World War 2. At this time the economy collapsed drastically as world trade became less demanding. To add to the falling economy revolutionaries seized the opportunity to take power and overthrew the Martazuelan president.

The Communist Era
Following the overthrow of the Martazuelan president the leader of the revolutionary group now known as ERM, Ejercito Revolucionario de Martazuela (Revolutionary Army of Martazuela) Fernando Marcos seized control and reformed the entire government into a totalitarian like regime. Marcos' regime proved horrific for the country. Industries and farms were controlled by the government,basic human rights were stripped away,work camps were established for those who opposed him and he also heavily isolated the nation from the rest of the world. As the years went on the dictator's regime resulted in Martazuela becoming an almost third world country. However, Marcos managed to build up what was at the time one of the largest armies in South America. Martazuela soon aimed to strengthen ties with the Soviet Union and other communist nations and did so by hosting a number of meetings and conferences. In 1964, Soviet engineers came to Martazuela to aid in the construction of new factories,apartment blocks,monuments and the country's first nuclear plant. In addition to these projects the Soviet government also wanted to build a missile base in the country and after much discussion the now abandoned La Cantera Missile Base was constructed.

Following the construction of the base a number of countries in South and North America expressed their fear over the base and believed that it would be used to begin a nuclear war.Over the years foreign governments sent spies into Martazuela to infiltrate the base and see whether it could be a threat to the world. After numerous failed attempts to gain information an American spy managed to enter the base and gain information. It was discovered that the base did not have the technology or weapons to pose any major threat. The base was later closed down by the Soviet government in 1969.

By 1970 a large network of underground pro-democracy groups came together to plan a revolt against the government. Following many failed attempts to assasinate Marcos the groups decided that the only way to seize control of the country was to storm the parliament by force. When Marcos died of old age on February 9 1972 the group saw their chance.

On February 10 1972, over 5000 rebels gathered in Plaza Indepencia in Valperegas and got ready to storm the parliament. When the government noticed their presence they called in police to stop them but it was too late. Armed with weapons the 5000 rebels stormed the parliament and after 9 hours of full out fighting the rebels captured high ranking government officials and imprisoned them in Martazuela's largest prison. At 12:00 am the leader of the rebels, José Martez took down the country's flag and stood on the balcony of the parliament shouting,"MARTAZUELA ES LIBRE!" (Martazuela is Free!)to the large crowd gathered in Plaza Indepencia.

Post-Communism Years
After the fall of the communist regime in Martazuela the country held its first democratic elections since the country first became independent from Spain. The winner of the election was naturally José Martez due to the fact that most Martazuelans saw him as a strong leader and the one who freed them from Marcos' brutal regime. Martez was officially sworn into power on February 25 1972 by the newly established government.

Martez almost immediately began to repair the nation by first aiding in the creation of a new constitution,ordering the removal of communist monuments,dividing up state owned industries,improving infrastructure and repairing foreign relations. After almost 15 years of work the country was well on its way to once again becoming a developed nation. Martez led the country until he died on June 25 1989. Upon his death the country went into a state of mourning and a huge funeral was held in Valperegas. Following his death an election was held and the new president, Julian Guerrero was sworn in.

Civil War
After the rebels removed the Communist Party from power almost all of its members were fired by the newly formed Republican Party and exiled from the political stage. With no job most of the former members turned to a life of crime that was fueled by the hatred of the new Martazuela. Some got involved in the drug trade and became members of the numerous drug cartels while others became fighters with the revolutionary army,ERM which at this point was now considered to be a guerilla organization. Once a prominent part of the Marcos government ERM now left the capital and headed east to the dense jungle and mountain regions of Montañas,Santa Maria and Norte.

ERM now became focused on once again retaking the country like they had done at the start of the Communist Era only now they were much more violent and corrupt. The army's corruption grew even more when it joined with the Paraquéz Drug Cartel (the largest in the country). In 1990,ERM launched a number of attacks across the country against the Martazuelan government. The attacks were often in the form of car bombings or shootouts in the streets however larger attacks often occurred as well.The dramatic increase of violence in the country sparked an increase in other criminal activity, most prominent was the drug trade. By the end of 1990 ERM and the Paraquéz Drug Cartel took control of the entire city of Paraquéz and turned it into their base of operations. Due to the number of bombings around the country and takeover of Paraquéz the national government intervened and declared war against the guerilla organization. This led to the beginning of the 5 year Civil War.

The start of the war was marked by the entrance of government soldiers and tanks entering the city of Paraquéz. Upon their approach to the city the soldiers were met with heavy fire and after a 2 day standoff the soldiers retreated. Now realizing how powerful ERM and the cartels had become, President Guerrero ordered the army to drive of the guerillas at any means necessary. Once again the soldiers returned to Paraquéz and this time armed with heavy artillery and fighter jets retook Paraquéz after a week of fighting and pushed the guerillas and cartels out into the jungles.

Although Paraquéz was retaken from ERM the government still faced major challenges. In retaliation, a number of guerillas went to Valperegas and launched a series of bombings throughout the city in 1992 which included one that almost completely destroyed the city's airport. The bombings resulted in the deaths of over 500 civilians.

Following the Valperegas bombings ERM once again retreated into the jungle where they overtook a number of small towns. Following almost 5 years of fighting the final standoff between the guerillas and the government took place in the town of Cateilla which is located in the middle of the jungle in Norte. For the past years ERM had made Cateilla their new base and caused heavy damage to the historic city. On February 10 1995, the Martazuelan Forces descended upon the town on all sides and trapped the guerillas to the confines of the town. By the end of the day the Forces managed to capture over 300 high ranking members of ERM including leader, Pablo Juárez. This led to the surrender of ERM and the end of the Civil War.

Today
Following the end of the war the Ministry of Justice led a huge campaign to capture and sentence anyone who was involved with ERM or the drug cartels. The campaign proved successful,the revolutionary army that was ERM was disbanded and the number of drug cartels in the country dwindled from 16 to 2,which now are thought to have fled into nearby Argentina or Brazil. Due to the national crackdown on criminal activity Martazuela has become much safer and after years of gaining a bad reputation was now being seen as a safe and wealthy nation. The tourism industry has grown rapidly and many are flocking to the country to see its countless landmarks,lush jungles and breathtaking beaches.

Railways
Rail transport in Martazuela is run by the national rail company,FNM (Ferrocarriles Nacionales Martazolanos). FNM is responsible for all rail transport and maintenance in Martazuela.

Sea
Due to Martazuela's location the country is a major center for shipping in South America. The port city of Puerto España is the main shipping hub for all cargo entering and leaving the country. Its location on the Atlántico River Delta also allows ships to travel upriver in Martazuela's interior. There is also a busy port in the city of Santa Valencia.

Passenger ferries are also used around the country for travel across lakes,rivers and also to the island of Isla Concepción off the coast of Martazuela.

Air
Martazuela has approximately 7 international airport and dozens of airstrips. The two largest airports are Valperegas-José Martez International Airport and Puerto España-Atlántico International Airport. These two airport act as international gateways to the country. Other airports such as Fuerte de las Américas-Federico Juárez Airport and La Puebla-Montañas Airport are much smaller and usually offer domestic flights and a handful of short international flights to Martazuela's neighbours.

The largest airline and flag carrier of Martazuela is Aerolineas de Martazuela.

Demography
The population of Martazuela has seen a rapid growth in recent years. In 2000,the population was around 15,263,120 and today is at over 21,600,000. The majority of Martazuelans live in western part of the country near the Atlantic coast while the eastern and northern areas of the country tend to be much less populated.

Ethnic Groups
Although the majority of its citizens can trace their routes back to Spain there are also large numbers of other ethnic groups as well; 37% Mestizo, 30% White, 15% Black, 15% Amerindian, 2% Asian, 1% Arab.

Language
The main language of Martazuela is Spanish.The Spanish spoken in Martazuela is strikingly similar to the Spanish spoken in Spain. However, over the years Martazuelan Spanish has developed a unique accent and additional vocabulary. The government also recognizes the 30 native dialects that are spoken throughout the country.

Religion
Although the Martazuelan constitution grants freedom of religion and religious equality the country remains predominantly Roman Catholic which is practiced by 89% of the population.The catholic church remains a predominant aspect in Martazuelan life and its churches are often large and ornately decorated. Other religions that are practiced in the country include; indigenous religion,Judaism,Islam and Buddhism. The remaining population states that they do not follow any religion.

Education
Following independence the education system in Martazuela was nationalized in an attempt to improve literacy rates throughout the country. Today, Martazuela has a literacy rate of 98%.

School attendance is mandatory between the ages of 5 and 17. The Martazuelan school system com prizes of seven year elementary school,four years of secondary school and one year of work/university preparation. Following compulsory education students can then choose to study at one of the government run, Universidades Públicas or one of the privately owned, Universidades Privadas.

Education in Martazuela is tuition-free with the exception of post-graduate studies.