2003 Creeperian coup attempt
| 2003 Creeperian coup d'état | |||||||||
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| Part of the Creeperian Conflicts | |||||||||
 The military leaders of the coup. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Creeperian Government |
Creeperian Armed Forces Supported by:  Quebecshire (alleged) | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Alfonso VI † Armando Figueroa Molina † Rubén Franco Alcabú  Carlos Menem Menem |
Alexander II Augusto Cabañeras Gutiérrez Edmundo González Robles Arturo Merino Núñez Gerardo Barrios Dueñas Martín Gutiérrez Sánchez Venancio López Requena | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 650 soldiers | 102,180 soldiers | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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459 dead 66 executed 125 imprisoned | 138 dead | ||||||||
| 597 military dead, 19 civilians dead, thousands missing | |||||||||
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The 2003 Creeperian coup d'état (Creeperian Spanish: Golpe de Estado Creeperiano de 2003), also sometimes referred to as simply The Coup (Creeperian Spanish: El Golpe) or The Restoration (Creeperian Spanish: La'Restoración), was a military coup d'état in Creeperopolis that deposed the totalitarian government. On 18 June 2003, after four years of totalitarian rule, overt government corruption, political unrest, severe hyperinflation, and surging crime rates, the Creeperian Armed Forces, lead by Chief Field Marshal Augusto Cabañeras Gutiérrez, Chief Admiral Edmundo González Robles, and Chief General Arturo Merino Núñez, seized power in a coup d'état. and established a short-lived military junta.
During the coup, the army, navy, and air force attacked the Council of Mayors building in San Salvador during a meeting of Alfonso VI with his government ministers and high ranking loyalist mayors. Many were killed or later executed. The San Salvador Imperial Palace and other important government buildings were secured by the armed forces with little to no resistance from imperial guardsmen.
The armed forces established a military junta and initiated large-scale purges of political and military officials. Cabañeras Gutiérrez gained significant power following the coup and is considered to be one of the most powerful people in Creeperopolis. The military proclaimed Alfonso VI's second and oldest surviving son, Alexander II, as the new Emperor, but the military held absolute authority and control until he was coronated on 15 September 2003 and the junta was officially dissolved.
The coup marked a watershed moment in Creeperian history and began the true modernization of the nation and the resurgence of its economy. The coup has been proclaimed by Creeperian propaganda as an event which saved the nation from its impending demise.
Contents
Background
Political and Military Situation
On October 16, 1999, Emperor Romero III died without an heir. This left his younger brother, Alfonso VI, to become Emperor. Alfonso VI took the absolute nature of the monarchy to an extreme and ushered in an era known in Creeperian history as the October 16 Regime. The regime was known for its totalitarian nature. Alfonso VI cut funding and numbers to the National Intelligence Directorate (abbreviated DINA, the Creeperian secret police) and also reduced funding to the three major brances of the Creeperian Armed Forces: the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The cut funding went to his own private spending and to the Creeperian Imperial Guard as a way to assure himself a long, comfortable, and luxurious reign with no fear of being toppled or assassinated.
The massive cut in funding angered all three major branches of the Creeperian Amred Forces. Emmanuel Cabañeras Videla, the Chief Field Marshal of the Army, the Minister of Defense, and the Chief of the DINA (all since 1976), was the most enraged of the three commanders, the others being Chief Admiral José Guerrero López of the Navy and Chief General Felipe Cambeiro Cavallería of the Air Force.
Alfonso VI saw that his Minister of Defense, his second-in-command and right hand man, was showing several signs of disloyalty and anger with his regime. Wishing to eliminate any possibility of a coup, Alfonso VI began planning the removal of Cabañeras Videla. On October 22, 2002, Emmanuel Cabañeras Videla was found dead in his mansion which was inherited through his father, Alfonso Cabañeras Moreno. The official autopsy found that Cabañeras Videla had died of a heart attack. However, many believed that he was, in fact, assassinated on orders of Alfonso VI as a way to eliminate any chance of a coup. (After the coup, the government officially labeled Cabañeras Videla's death as an assassination by cyanide poisoning.)
With his greatest potential rival and threat eliminated, Alfonso VI elevated his former Minister of Defense's son, Augusto Cabañeras Gutiérrez, as the next Minister of Defense, Chief Field Marshal, and Chief of the DINA. Alfonso VI believed that Cabañeras Gutiérrez would be more loyal than his father and predecessor as he had given him vasts amounts of bribes in the form of direct cash, luxurious vehicles, and even gold from the treasury. He gave the same bribes to Guerrero López and Cambeiro Cavallería to keep their loyalty.
Meanwhile, the Chief Guard of the Creeperian Imperial Guard, Armando Figueroa Molina, was showered with the greatest bribes, riches, and rewards for his constant loyalty to the regime. From 1999-2003, the Imperial Guard, which had always been regarded as the least important of the four branches of the armed forces, had begun to grow in power and influence in the government, in tern, diminishing the power of the army, navy, and air force over time.
Planning the Coup
Beginning in February 2003, Cabañeras Gutiérrez, Guerrero López, and Cambeiro Cavallería began meeting in secret to discuss a possible plot to overthrow the regime. The three knew that there were three major problems standing in the way of a successful coup. The first was the Imperial Guard, but it was regarded as a non-factor in the end as they know that a coup against the Imperial Guard is possible as it has been accomplished multiple times (ie. 1550 Creeperian coup d'état, Monarch's Revolution, Revolution of 1833, etc.).
The second major problem the conspiracy faced was the reaction of the State of the Church and the Pope, at the time Juan Pablo II. The three did not want to lose the trust and support of the Creeperian Catholic Church as the body has a massive influence over Creeperian culture and society in general. Upsetting the Church was an easy way to lose faith with the people and possibly put the conspirators at risk of being overthrown themselves or beginning a second civil war. Creeperopolis was already unstable enough as it was at the time and the three did not want to make the situation worse.
The third, and probably the greatest threat to the plot, was the people of Creeperopolis. The three men had no idea how the Creeperian people would react to the overthrow of their government. The three believed the regime to be unpopular, but there was no real way to find out at the time. They, however, knew how to gain the support of the people.
The three approached the eldest son of Alfonso VI, Grand Prince Alexander Martínez Hernández, and asked him if he wished to join in on the plot to depose his father. After a large bribe and promises of power, Alexander Martínez Hernández joined aboard the plot.
With the likely approval of the people secured, the comspirators needed the approval of the Church. The three approached Juan Pablo II and pleaded their case against Alfonso VI. They presented evidence of totalitarianism and used evidence of their own war crimes, but labeled as the crimes of the regime itself, as evidence against Alfonso VI. After a month of appeals and persuasion, the conspiracy recieved the support of the Church in late May 2003.
With all the support they need, each commander spoke to their respective soldiers to recruit them to the coup. After the military itself was brought onboard, a date was scheduled: June 18, 2003, would be the day the Creeperian Armed Forces overthrow the government of the Holy Traditionalist Empire of Creeperopolis.
Coup
Conspirators
Army
The coup to topple the totalitarian regime of Alfonso VI began on the command of Augusto Cabañeras Gutiérrez at 9:11am, San Salvador Time (SST), on June 18, 2003. The coup started with the I and II Creeperian Army Corps moving into positions to surround the city of San Salvador to prevent Alfonso VI escaping via land, followed by the III and the IX Creeperian Army Corps setting up offensive positions in the city near the San Salvador Imperial Palace. The VII Creeperian Army Corps was stationed at the Alfonso I Martínez International Aiport. The División Negra, the elite of the Creeperian Army, was ordered to surround the Imperial Palace and to prepare for a storming of the Palace.
The III Creeperian Army Corps was ordered to begin the artillery shelling of the Imperial Palace at 9:58am. At 10:00am, the Army siezed a radio station in San Salvador and sent a broadcast to the nation saying:
"Do not fear faithful Creeperans. This is not a malicious nor foreign nor [Senvarian] takeover of the Fatherland or toppling of the government. Instead, the Armed Forces of the [Creeperian] Fatherland and the [Creeperian Catholic] Church have witnessed the totalitarianism of the regime of Alfonso VI. Under the guide of the Lord God, we are removing this wicked government from power and are installing a truthful, honest, and benevolent government, a new Emperor on the Imperial throne from the line of Martínez. Long live Creeperopolis! Long live the Fatherland! Long live God!"
The Army was then ordered to storm the Palace and to offer no quarter to the Imperial Guards who have "betrayed the Fatherland" (after the Air Force and artillery completed bombing the Palace). The guards were ruthlessly massacred by the Army, with an estimated 300 guards being slaughtered.
The day before the coup, Guerrero López quietly, without the knowledge of Alfonso VI, moved 50 warships to Lake San Salvador to prevent any possibility for the Emperor to flee via the lake.
Air Force
The Air Force, under orders of Cambeiro Cavallería, captured the four major airports of San Salvador to prevent Alfonso VI from escaping via the air.
Then, the Air Force began bombing the Imperial Palace to damage any possible defenses and to kill as many guards as possible before it is stormed by the Army.
Alexander Martínez Hernández
The day before the coup, Alexander Martínez Hernández left the Imperial Palace to Zapatista under the guise of inspecting Army positions in the area in preparation for an operation against Mara Salvatrucha in the Mara War. After leaving San Salvador, Martínez Hernández met up with Cabañeras Gutiérrez to prepare for the coup.
Throughout the coup, Martínez Hernández did little and was merely and observer in his rise to power.
October 16 Regime
Imperial Guard
The Imperial Guard was caught completely off guard by the coup. Of the total 70,000 Imperial Guards enlisted at the time, only 300 were at the Imperial Palace and ready to defend the Emperor.
Chief Guard Armando Figueroa Molina remained loyal to Alfonso VI and swore to defend the Emperor until the end. When the assault began with the bombings and shelling, several guards were killed and wounded. When the División Negra initiated the storming, all the guards were massacred, including Figueroa Molina.
The remaining guards were forced to surrender and pledge allegiance to Alexander II following the coup.
Alfonso VI
Alfonso VI was taken completely by surprise by the coup. He knew that he had not kept the loyalty of the armed forces and that he will either be killed or imprisoned. When the shelling and bombing began, he moved to the bunker below the Imperial Palace.
As the soldiers were storming the Palace, he committed suicide to prevent capture.
Aftermath
Casualties
Following the coup, the conspirators assessed that 17 of their men died in the storming of the palace. Meanwhile, all 300 of the Imperial Guards and both Alfonso VI and Figueroa Molina were either killed or committed suicide.
The death of Alfonso VI allowed his son, Alexander II, to ascend to the Imperial throne of Creeperopolis.
Alexander II
After the success of the coup and the death of his father, Alexander II rose to the Imperial throne and became the Emperor of Creeperopolis and the Creeperans, Holy Protector of the State of the Church, Emperor of El Salvador, King of Senvar, King of Atlántida, and King of Castilliano.
Pope Juan Pablo II expressed his approval and support of the coup and coronated Alexander II on September 15, 2003, in accordance with Creeperian tradition.
DINA
After the coup, the DINA's funding was increased and it was restaffed to the point to where it was before Alfonso VI took power.
Purges
During Alfonso VI's regime, he installed many cronies and loyalists into positions of power. As Chief of the DINA, Cabañeras Gutiérrez used his powers in the secret police to arrest more than 80,000 people, with 5,200 to 8,200 being executed, and tens of thousands more being tortured.
The purge was the largest purge in Creeperian history.
Creeperian Initiative
When the Initiative of Creeperopolis found out about the coup as it started, the leadership condemned the coup, as the leadership of the Initiative was full of Alfonso VI loyalists.
After the coup, Initiative leadership was purged and restaffed with loyalists and supporters of Alexander II.
Legacy
The 2003 Creeperian coup d'état marked a watershed moment in Creeperian history and began its true modernization. Following the coup, the Creeperian economy experienced a massive boom known as the Miracle of Creeperopolis.
The coup is celebrated in Creeperopolis every June 18 with military celebrations. The coup is portrayed as a beacon of freedom and the beginning of liberty, prosperity, and success for Creeperopolis and the Creeperans.
The coup is often compared to the Revolution of 1833 by Emperor Adolfo III.
See also
- Alexander II of Creeperopolis
- Augusto Cabañeras Gutiérrez
- José Guerrero López
- Felipe Cambeiro Cavallería
- Creeperian Armed Forces
- Creeperopolis
- Revolution of 1833
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