Part 5 - La Prima Riunione a Quattro
Luquillo (Puerto Rico)
Sebastián Rubio, or as they called him, Il Predestinato, was driving to the designated meeting place listening to the radio. The island of Puerto Rico had been chosen by Jean-Claude Juncker as the venue for the first meeting of The Great Three with their candidate to become the newest Spanish President. Suddenly, the radio started to play the song NUEVAYoL, by the famous Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, and Sebastián began to sing: «Si te quieres divertir, con encanto y con primor, solo tienes que vivir, un verano en Nueva York». Just after the song ended, the radio gave Saturday's news, with Nofoaga being the main headline. "We rather rush all of this and get the Nofoaga affair done, or this ship is going to sink faster than the Titanic", thought Il Predestinato.
On the other hand, The Great Three had just parked in front of a typical Puerto Rican restaurant that was nearly full. «Over my dead body», warned Donald Tusk, who was the co-driver. Jean-Claude Juncker, who was driving, replied back: «C'mon Donald! It will be fun, and no one will realise about what we are discussing as there will be a lot of noise. By the way, I am really hungry, and I have told Il Predestinato to meet us here, so you have no other choice. Jesús, what do you think?». Jesús Aguilar was seating in the back seat, answered: «Well, I would love to know why I am in the back seat, but overall, this is risky».
«Cowards! That is what you two are! Donald, send a message to the kid and ask him about the food. You should be thankful that I told him to bring something as it was his first meeting with us!», cried the former Premier Commissioner. «He says he is bringing it, no worries. In the meantime, I have a question for you, Jesús: why do you say we cannot backstab Alberto? That was what we agreed on...», Tusk told the other two politicians in that car.
«You two remember we were the ones that encouraged him to run for the party's presidency, right? He did not want to leave Galicia, he wanted to retire there, and you Jean-Claude were the one to tell him 'Alberto, this is the chance that you were waiting for. You deserve it'. Is this even moral? Ethic? Is this the way you treat your friends? Forgetting about what they have done for you in the past? Because if those are our values, then I am sorry but do not count on me for this», Aguilar pointed out.
Tusk and Juncker were speechless. Jesús was right, they both knew it; and Donald felt increbibly guilty after the former President called them out: «You are right. We cannot backstab Alberto, it would not be morally correct to betray him the way we intend to», the Council Speaker added. Juncker reacted in a serious way: «What do you want us to do, Jesús? Put him in the Cabinet? There are no good destinations for him! Unless... Donald, didn't Ana want to retire and leave politics to make a career in the pricate sector?».
«She did indeed, Jean-Claude. Why?», inquired Donald. «I have got an idea... let's give Feijóo the Presidency of the Congreso de los Diputados! That's it, problem solved! He becomes the 3rd authority of Spain, gets a job, barely does anything at all... It is the perfect job, ideal for forcibly-retired politicians that no one wants in their Governments and that have no other choice. Obviously Europe would be the obvious place to go for him, that is where all that people end up at...», announced Juncker, who seemed to be realising about the fact that Donald and him were sent to Europe by Aguilar. Both the Speaker and the former Premier appeared to be thinking the same, and looked to the back seat, where Jesús was.
«I know what you are thinking, but I swear to God that is not the reason why I sent you two to European politics. I sent you because you are experts, that's all -Jesús explained rapidly, seeing how his friend's faces had changed in seconds- By the way, I believe that proposal is perfect, and certainly what we have been looking for». Juncker and Tusk decided to believe him.
Just as the three agreed on the new plans for Feijóo, Il Predestinato shew up in the parking lot and knocked at the car's window: «are you three planning to stay there for the entire day or what? C'mon, get out and let's go to a place I have discovered». After greeting him, the four made their way to Punta Bandera, a few hundreds meters away from where they were.
Punta Bandera, Luquillo, Puerto Rico
When The Great Three and Il Predestinato arrived in Punta Bandera, Sebastián Rubio gave his masters a menu from the fast food chain Burger King. «Jean-Claude, will you bring food the next time?», Donald asked his friend. «It is up to Christiane... remember I do not know how to cook, Donald!», the former Premier Commissioner laughed. «I think Sebastián needs to learn how to cook, because his first meal has not been as good as I would have expected. Yet, he saved the day, so I will not complain at all», commented Jesús. «You three should be more thankful - you would not be eating right now if it wasn't for me!», remarked Rubio.
Once they finished their meals, time they spent speaking about their lives, the four got down to business. Jesús Aguilar was the first to speak: «Okay, I believe we are good to go. Firstly, I would like to welcome you, Sebastián, to our private meetings. I will be very honest with you: we would have preferred this to happen later, but certain unpredicted events have forced us to act faster. During the last 4 days, we have been preparing part of your Cabinet. We want you to respect the current's Government Ministerial distribution, that is, same amount of Ministries, same Ministries; but not the same Ministers. Donald, do you have the list of confirmed members?», Aguilar inquired the Council Speaker.
«I do, Jesús. -Donald answered- Marta Merino will be the First Vicepresident and the Minister of the Presidency and Relationship with the Cortes; Roberta Metsola will be your Second Vicepresident and Minister for Territorial Administrations. Your Foreign Affairs Minister will be your great friend Gabriel Attal, the Ministry of Justice will be held by Cayetana, Penny stays at Defence, as Bravo, Bendodo, Mariastella, Anja and Pablo do in their Ministries. Last, but not least, Jenniffer Grandholm gets Energy. You get to choose the rest of your Cabinet», explained Tusk, who gave the paper with the empty Ministries to Il Predestinato.
«I am thankful to you guys for your help. I want Fátima in employment and Borja in Education. That leaves us with Agriculture, Environment and Health. Ester Muñoz will be my Health Minister, as she has huge knowledge on that area. On the other hand, Rafael Hernando in from Almería, which makes him the perfect profile for Agriculture. Finally, Luís Montenegro has suggested me to choose Marcelo Rebelo da Sousa for Environment; which completes my Cabinet. Then, we just need to get Alberto out and that would be it!», explained Sebastián.
«That is not the end of it, Sebastián. Of course, Alberto needs to accept he has to leave, and the new position we are offering him. Yet, we need to deal with the annexation of an island that we already control: Nofoaga. Concerning this Caribbean island, I have made a plan to make the annexation progress fast and easy: Marián Fonseca, the Spanish representative in the Nofoagan majority, will proclaim herself as the leader of the Republic's salvation Government, due to the inactivity of Lula's cabinet. Meanwhile, the Spanish military will back up Fonseca's claims, recognising her as the leader. As we hold a monopoly over the use of force in the island, there will be no powerful opposition to our moves, not even politically, as Lula dealt with that. Speaking of whom, she and all our friends will be brived, and will come out supporting the annexation. About civil unrest, we will obviously address it proportionally: if there is violence, there will be arrests. However, a referendum will take place, and considering we have been controlling the island from the shadows for a long time, that Nofoagans are as poor as rats, and that the political class will support becoming a Spanish Overseas Territory, they will massively vote yes. One month of pure political games to get a nice island in the Caribbean, and making people forget about... what was his name?», Juncker told the others.
«I thought that when you told me you were going to work on a plan concerning Operation Turtle Beach you were being sarcastic. This is simply amazing. Congratulations, Jean-Claude», said Jesús, who was surprised about Juncker's work. Suddenly, Il Predestinato interrupted them: «That is a nice plan, I must confess. Nonetheless, you seem to be forgetting the most important thing of this plan: how do we get rid of Alberto? If I remember correctly, you were planning to backstab him until a few days ago, when you changed your criteria. Now, what is the plan? We need him to accept that new job you were talking about!».
«You are just too worried about it all, relax!», Donald added. The Councillor for Spain then proceeded to describe what the plan concerning Feijóo was, shortly after he gave Rubio a paper with a poll on it. «What is this? A poll? How is this going to help us?», Rubio protested. He did not understand what Donald Tusk was trying to tell him with that paper. «Look at the results. If you analyse it carefully, you will realise that the Partido Popular does not have an absolute majority. In other words, we would lose power. So, all we have got to do is sending this poll to a newspaper, make them post it, and then talk to Alberto and convince him of leaving while he designates you as his successor. Easy!», Tusk exclaimed.
«Hang on for a minute... are you telling me the poll is not true? You have made these numbers up?», Rubio insisted, seemingly concerned. «No, these are real numbers, this is real data and those are the real results. If Feijóo decided to hold elections today, we would not remain in Government», added Aguilar. «Then, he will go. He will not be an obstacle to our aspirations concerning the next General Election», Sebastían concluded.
«If I were you, Sebastián, I would get your debate speech ready. Oh, and I would prepare another for when you take over the Party's presidency. Things are going to spice up next week, I assure you», Jean-Claude pointed out. «Concerning you two, we do agree that the Three of us will visit our dear friend when things begin to look bad for him; and convince him of retiring, do we?», he questioned Jesús and Donald, who agreed. «Fine, then we will meet in Madrid the next time...», continued Juncker.
«Not really... Before that, Mario has insisted on meeting again in Manarola. He wants us to attend, and for some reason he did not tell me about, he does not want the kid there. Rumours say he plans to gather all the regional leaders to convince them about the convenience of choosing Il Predestinato over Alberto, yet he did not confirm this», Tusk said. Juncker was just about to lose his temper, but controlled himself: «I hope he does not become another obstacle in our way», he exclaimed.
«Then I will see you in Manarola. Oh, and Seb, remember: do not talk to anyone about this. Operation Turtle Beach does not exist. Am I clear?», Jesús insisted. «Clear enough, Jesús», Il Predestinato answered back. The four politicians left the place. Countdown had started. The final days of Alberto Núñez Feijóo as the President of the Kingdom of Spain had begun.
