Amazon's Coliseum III (ENG)

Chapter 46: Dio

Government Palace, State Capital

The governor rubbed her frown with her thumb and index finger as she sat at her desk; Armando was on the other side, with a determined and almost defiant face.

-Armando...

-I know that I am on "leave", but you know very well what we are risking if we let all that happen.

-Armando, we won't be talking about "leave" next time, there are people in the party who are even asking me to discharge you from the Attorney General's Office. Many people want you out, both here and in the Capital because they know everything you are doing.

-And why haven't you done it yet?

-Because I also want what you want...

-And then?

The woman sighs, and places her hands on the desk, interlacing her fingers.

-Look... since I came to power, I swore to remove corruption from this city, and if that meant removing all those who have dirty dealings with organized crime groups, whether they were Financial Messiahs or even politicians, from our party or from the opposition, I would do it. The problem is that the orders to remove you were not only from the President, who also thinks the same as me, but also because of pressure from the private sector.

-And since when the President decided to give in to the private sector?

-Because, after all, they helped both the country and the state to mitigate the flames of Balkanization and saved us from the Post-Pandemic economic crisis; if it wasn't for them, our country would've been doomed and not even the United States would've been able to help us.

-And why didn't they decide to stop me before?

-Because all of them had already been approached by the Navarez and their partners before. The fact that you were behind Chocolate was seen as your personal agenda, but now that you are touching those who are endorsing many businessmen, tycoons and politicians... they decided to remove you.

-So now everyone has become allies of the Navarez? Jesus fucking Christ! It seems that after all we lost the war against corruption.

-Armando, I want you to understand that we are in one of the worst crisis in our party: many of our governors and senators were seduced by those people, but we cannot give ourselves the pleasure of showing our rivals that our movement has rotted.

-So it is better to live in a lie, governor?

-It's pragmatism.

-Ah... pragmatism... How pragmatic would you be if you found out that someone "outside the law" had just confessed to me certain information that supports everything I am telling you?

-How so?

-Well, I had to trust a source that is a bit shady, but honest, within its own illegality: the Navarez don't give a damn about the party and the president.

Armando shows a series of documents to the governor, who reads them.

-... this is...

-Ah, do you think the Navarez care about the Officialism? No, they prefer someone who gives them everything they want, not just little concessions; and that's right in the opposition. Or were you thinking of giving them everything they wanted?

-Of course not... and the president won't accept it... it would create a schism within the party.

-That's right, and Bernardo Navarez knows this: he'll make sure that his allies come to power in the next elections; first in the State, which are just around the corner; then in the Country. Then in the Economic Federation; in the end, the OAS won't be spared either. Do you know what I'm talking about?