Ricardo Cornelio

Eternal General Secretary Ricardo Cornelio
Head of State of Rakeo
In office 8 November 1960 – 2 September 1974
Preceded by	Mateo Jozefo
Succeeded by	Unknown
Personal details
Born	5 April 1918 Olino, Rakeo
Died	2 March 1980(1980-03-02) (aged 61) Rakeo
Nationality	Rakeoian
Political party	Stratocratic Authority
Occupation	Military officer, politician
Military service
Allegiance	Rakeo
Years of service	1938–1974
Rank	Eternal General Secretary
Battles/wars	Rakeoian Civil War Surian Fishing War

Ricardo Cornelio (5 April 1918 – 2 March 1980) was a Rakeoian politician and military officer.

Early life

Ricardo Cornelio was born in Olino on 5 April 1918. Having done well on his entry exams, and being born into a rich family, he began attending military academy at age 16. He became a lieutenant in the rapidly assembled Rakeo Expeditionary Support Force in 1938.

Military career

From the beginning of his military service, Cornelio leveraged his unwavering loyalty to his superiors to secure promotions, allowing him to dodge the reputation of treasonous activities associated with the Olino Garrison.

Recognizing his political astuteness, high command assigned him to work as an envoy to coordinate with the Romerists in Creeperopolis, but when he was recalled, alongside the rest of the army, to put down the revolts breaking out around the country, he joined the officers' mutiny.

He was tasked by General Mateo Jozefo to act as a military ambassador to community militias that had risen up throughout the Menora of Olino, where he excelled, bringing up an additional 30,000 soldiers, as well as creating an anti-partisan force that quickly put down Republican infiltration and sabotage efforts.

General Secretary

After Jozefo, who became de facto leader of Rakeo, was killed in the 1960 Grand Station bombing, Cornelio created a new position for himself as General Secretary of the Stratocratic Authority, making himself the sole executive power in the country. Areas believed to be strongholds of groups like Red Eagle were subject to population transfers of people deemed unloyal from elsewhere in the country, who were selected as forced government labor for the construction of both public works and military installations.

As the economy continued to faltered under strict isolationist policies instituted by his predecessor, Cornelio established a number of youth groups to target his political opponents in civil society as well as government. The largest of these groups, The League for a United and Prosperous Rakeo commanded over 8,000 members. Cornelist militias were designated as a vanguard against perversions of culture, leftism, and internationalism.

The extreme behavior of the General Secretary made a number of enemies, who, in 1974, secretly deposed him in a coup d'état. Cornelio was removed from office and put into house arrest until his reported death from natural causes on 2 March 1980.

See also

• List of heads of state of Rakeo