The Republic of O'Equador (political brain teaser)

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 * Note: The Republic of O'Equador is a fake island nation I created to raise some questions on dealing with the 3rd World and de-colonisation.

Location
It is twice the size of all of Mauritius combined and lies on the junction of the Greenwich Meridian and the Equator.

Geology
The rich volcanic soils proved well suited to for agriculture. The coastal mountains are made of mostly Basalt, Scoria and pumice. Corroded phenocrysts of biotite and hornblende are commonly found in the central section of the mountains; they are surrounded by black rims of magnetite mixed with pale green augite. Most of the beaches are black due to mineral rich sands.

Pre-independence
The islands of O'Equador was uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived in 1475. The island was discovered by João de Santarém and Pêro Escobar. It was exsploered and thought to be good locations for bases to trade with the mainland.

The sugar industry started in 1502 the Prince of Portugal charged duties on the island's sugar crop.

French Buccaneers, British privateers, Spanish pirates, the Spanish navy Dutch traders, the French navy and the Portuguese navy fought over ownership of the island between 1750 and 1755.

Coffee and cocoa were introduced as new cash crops in the 1850 and soon extensive white run plantations (known as "roças") that soon smothered all the good farm land. By 1908, it had become one of the world's largest producer of cocoa. It remains to this day, the country's most important crop, alongside coffee.

Although Portugal officially abolished slavery in 1876, the roças system was often abused by land owners an the practice of forced paid labour continued.

The Pal Mall Gazette newspaper and Scientific American magazine revealed in in words and pictures the continued use of slaves in the March of 1897.

By the late 1950s, when other emerging nations across the African Continent demanded their independence, a small group of O'Equadorien dissidents joined the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP), both of which eventually established its base in nearby Gabon.

Post-independence
The separatist cause began picking up momentum in the late 1960s, events moved quickly after the burning down of several land owners houses in 1972 and became independent after 2 days of separatist riots in the capital a few week after the overthrow of Portugal's Caetano dictatorship in April 1974. The Marxist separatist leader Dr. Bruno Pinto took over 2 days later as president.

There was a short civil wars in 1977 and 1982, between which the pro-American Dr. Juan Sonríe ruled as the island became the eye of a political storm.

Life today
Democracy was restored in the 1991 elections when the pro-Portuguese Luis D'Souza won the election. He sold off the state agricultural enterprises to various EU, Swiss, Brazilian and American firms. This raised $550,000,000 over 3 years and created 1,000 new jobs. Most of the money was spent on flood defences, roads, a new airport, a new sewerage works and a new heliport.

Luis D'Souza was re-elected in 1996 and 2001. He retired and was replaced by his deputy, Marco Pax in 2006.