Cruz Corporate Empire

The Cruz Corporate Empire (Spanish: Imperio Corporativo Cruzado; abbr: Cruz or ICC) is an aggregation of nation-states spanning central and south America that have ceded the functions of government to a transnational corporate conglomerate that connects them together and directs the policies, freedoms, and restrictions that govern the day-to-day lives of their citizens.

History

The Cruz Corporate Empire emerged 241 years before the start of the Galactic Era. Three key factors influenced this power shift: corrupt or indifferent local governments, the social and political collapse of the United States, and the economic boom created by the spike in global dependency on seaweed and algae.
Around 320 years before the start of the Galactic Era, water shortages and deadly heat waves in the southern United States aggravated the political polarization that had already begun decades prior. Eventually the paralyzed and ineffective government of the United States simply collapsed under the strain, leading to brutality and chaos across the North American continent and triggering an accelleration of political radicalization in Europe as well. Europe adapted to its social and economic stresses with the formation of the Transeŭropa Demokratia Reto in -292 GE.
In the year -285 GE the marine ecosystems reached a tipping point, and more than 95% of wild seafood species went extinct. With the United States gone and most of Asia deteriorating, algae and seaweed farms in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil became the world's only alternative to mass starvation. Money came pouring into the region as countries that had relied on fishing for either revenue or nutrition turned to South America for survival. The handful of private corporations in South America involved in the manufacture and distribution of seaweed and algae immediately recognized the massive opportunity they were facing. Regional governments were generally weak and plagued with corruption, so no moves were made to stop the companies as they consolidated into a single conglomerate and diversified into energy, transportation, medicine, and every other aspect of people's day to day lives. The long-term global contracts and massive volumes of money pouring into the region allowed the conglomerate to provide stability for the people in a way that governmental systems simply could not. People had no love or trust in governments generally, and saw that governments across south Asia were collapsing, unable to deal with cascading ecological disasters and the riots that followed. So in -241 GE, when the contracts were drawn up that effectively consolidated all of the operations of government into the Cruz multinational corporate conglomerate, more average citizens believed it to be a change for the better and an promise of stablity.

Structure

The power structures of Cruz are modeled after the presidential constitutional republic of Brazil, which has formal treaties with each of the other nation-states in which they officially acknowledge their role as constituent states under Brazilian control. This political structure is, however, "on paper" only and primarily was created for the sake of legal and judicial continuity. In practice, the President of the capital Nation-State Brazil is always the CEO of Cruz, so there is no distinction between being the leader of Cruz as a corporate entity and being the leader of Cruz as a geopolitical empire. Both Senate and Chamber of Deputies exist as legislative bodies in Cruz, and the constituent nation-states each have their own legislative bodies as well. All of these groups operate, however, as corporate divisions that ultimately report up to the CEO of Cruz.

Culture

The Cruz conglomerate is the largest and most stable employer throughout all of south and middle America, making the ascendence of the Cruz Corporate Empire a net positive influence on most people's lives. The reality of their corporate government is well known but not challenged or discussed publicly. The population is largely cynical, viewing their "for-profit government" as a corrupt but inevitable outcome of human nature. The Corporate Empire was careful to leave most local customs and laws up to local management, so for most employee-citizens there is no visible impact of the Corporate Empire structure at all.
Even before the start of the Galactic Era, the Cruz conglomerate saw the possibility of space exploration as a good investment opportunity, in addition to being a good way to build pride, love, and loyalty for the empire.

Founded: -241 GE

Nomenclature

Alternative Name(s)

Imperio Corporativo Cruzado

Short Name(s)

Cruz (English)
ICC (Español)

Demonym(s)

Cida funios

Official Language(s)

English
Español
Português

Power Structure

Government System

Corporatocracy

Internal Organization

Unitary state

Economic System

Market economy

Capital

São Paulo, Brazil

Notable Properties

Controlled Spaceships

• Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None

Alliances

Alliance

Cruz Corporate Empire

0

Zhongguo Corporate Empire

0

For more Information see:
Zhongguo-Cruz Corporate Empire Alliance