Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 320 Military Coup
Milton spoke in a calm tone, but to Eunice, the threat was palpable—those knives that Arsus couldn't finish eating would be eaten by the old forces that were still putting up a last stand.

If you don't want to be tortured by Milton, then surrender now.

Eunice unconsciously placed her left hand on the back of her right, and even her usually composed smile could only be barely maintained: "I... I thought that even if we weren't friends, we weren't enemies either..."

“The fact that you can sit here and hear me... proves that I don’t consider you my enemies yet,” Milton said bluntly, then pointed downstairs and at Arsu, who stood on the podium looking bewildered. “My enemies are right there.”

At this point, the waiter had already brought out the simple appetizers.

“You…” Eunice had no appetite at all. She watched Arsus deliver his speech with trembling hands, and finally sighed helplessly, “What do you want?”

“All ports will be nationalized.” Milton held up one finger. “Owners of certain industries should not have any illusions. Their illegal and gray industries will be completely confiscated, and everyone associated with them will face a huge fine. Those who are relatively honest will receive a tax payment list, and they will have to pay back every penny of the taxes they have evaded over the years.”

"If they can pay their taxes, they can continue to operate their businesses."

"If you cannot pay the full amount..."

Milton didn't finish his sentence; he simply turned his head and continued to watch Arsu's final, death throes.

Downstairs in the municipal park square, Arsu was speaking to the audience with a trembling voice, holding a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Guatemalans... Today, I stand here not as a loser being judged by the victors, but simply to fulfill the duties of a president."

"Does the outbreak of war within the country mean I must immediately surrender, or else I'm committing a war crime?"

“I failed, but I was essentially proving to Milton whose path was right and who could bring prosperity and freedom to our country. I may have taken the wrong path, but I did not commit war crimes. Milton and I are actually the same! We are both patriots!”

"Those who sacrificed their lives were simply defending the path they chose... Now that the war is over and peace has arrived, there is no need for further bloodshed, no need for further hatred. Let us leave our children and future generations a society of mutual understanding, not mutual hatred..."

Arsu seemed to believe his own words, and he was about to squeeze out two tears.

Suddenly, a woman in the audience, holding an urn containing ashes, said coldly, "But I have no more children, sir."

Arsu was speechless.

"This one……"

"You, you and your husband can still..."

The woman interrupted coldly once again, saying, "This urn also contains my husband's body."

Not only this woman, but also many other people were standing nearby, some holding urns containing ashes, others holding dog tags, and still others waving flags.

No one was swayed in the slightest by his speech.

Arsu fell silent again, took a deep breath, and said, "I believe they will be very pleased to see the country now at peace."

“My child went to the battlefield because you kept delaying the payment of his pension. Our family was about to go bankrupt, and he had no choice but to go to the battlefield to earn his military pay.” The woman spoke slowly and deliberately, and for every sentence Arsu spoke, she would interrupt him with, “My child also died, and he didn’t receive any pension either.”

Arsu watched as those ants, whom he would normally not even bother to glance at, gathered into a sea of ​​people, glaring at him angrily, and for the first time felt their power.

Not long ago, Arsu could take the life of anyone here with just a word, and force anyone to the battlefield to die for him...

But now, these people are all standing below the stage, coldly watching him, listening to his feeble excuses, waiting for the time to come to pounce on him and tear him to pieces...

Arsu finally regretted it.

If the conscription process hadn't been so harsh, if he had been more willing to spend money and provide full compensation to the soldiers' families, if that pointless mobilization hadn't been carried out...

Would he still face such overwhelming hatred when he stands here today?

But... Arsu didn't want to die. He still had that standard politician's smile on his face: "Now Milton's new government has replaced the old one. Believe me, if I win, I will still be in charge of the finances, and you, your children, and your husband will definitely receive a pension."

"You've come to the wrong person. You should be looking for Milton..."

The woman's face grew even colder: "They've already given it to me. Soldiers who fought for their country died, and the compensation is being paid by the 'enemy army.' We all know that the government forces carried out a massacre against them not long ago... Arsu, the 'hatred' you speak of, I only see in you."

“But the ‘forgiveness’ you mentioned, I saw in the so-called ‘enemy’.”

“From the beginning until now, you haven’t thought you’ve done anything wrong, not even the slightest bit. Your regret is probably just that you didn’t kill us all back then.”

Arsu looked at his heartbroken mother and finally fell silent: "I..."

"Arsu! When you fled from the presidential palace, you ordered the crowd to be opened fire... My father, he lost a leg in the war, all he wanted was the pension you promised! And what did you do? You called them soldiers who defended their country, and you opened fire on them with machine guns!"

"You damned bastard! Scum! While I was away fighting, your damned men killed my wife and daughter... Are you even human?! Has Milton's army done anything like this since they came in?!"

"Damn it, I'm fighting on the front lines and you've sold my daughter to 'Madam Shi'! Fuck, fuck!"

"..."

Hearing the angry shouts and seeing the surging public opinion below, Arsu felt the fear of death. He raised his voice: "I've already reached an agreement with Milton! He... he's no longer pursuing my responsibility, so what right do you have to pursue it? You..."

But no one listened to his excuses anymore.

Because it's time to vote now.

Everyone in the park lined up and threw their ballots into the ballot box—this event was being counted in real time!
To provide voters with energy and to give minors who couldn't get into the inner circle something to do, a large number of food and beverage stalls were set up near the park.

Soon, the vote counting began.

The number of votes choosing Arsu as "guilty" was almost overwhelmingly high!
It's not that no one wanted to vote "not guilty," it's just that there were too many people around them whose loved ones had died tragically, and their hatred was too intense, so even if they wanted to vote, they didn't dare to.

As the votes rose little by little, Arsu felt immense torment. Every time the number of votes declaring him "guilty" increased, he felt as if a knife was cutting into his flesh.

Ten minutes passed, and the voting was still going on, but everyone knew that the voting had already ended.

People are still taking turns stepping forward, using their votes to express their hatred for the former president.

Arsu didn't know what would happen after the voting ended, but he knew that something bad was bound to happen—the police officers and soldiers around him were just maintaining order and didn't seem to have any intention of getting involved.

"You, you..."

"As law enforcement officers, how could you just stand by and watch all this happen? Is this legal?!"

"Is there any law left in this kind of trial?"

"Even if I am guilty, I should be brought to court!"

A police officer raised his hand, his tone icy: "Sorry, Mr. 'Godfather' has agreed that the new government will not pursue any further action against you." "Then you should protect me! This kind of execution is clearly illegal!"

The officer gave a mocking look: "I'm sorry, but the Constitution is currently repealed, and other laws have also been repealed and revised accordingly... In the next few days, we can only exercise our discretion to try to maintain order. We cannot meet your request at the moment. If you need anything, please call xxxx and wait for further notice."

"?"

"You... Milton! Damn it, you deserve to die... You actually watched me die?!"

"How could I..."

"Get out of here, you damned scum! What are you without Milton?!"

Arsu was filled with fear and anger. He turned around abruptly and rushed toward the roadside, but he was caught after only a few steps and dragged back to the podium.

A woman walked up, placed the urn beside her, and picked up the knife that was lying next to her.

"Does this sound familiar? Arsu..."

"It was the same when your recruiter dragged my husband and my children to the battlefield."

"go to hell!"

Swish! A small piece of bloody skin was cut off from Arsu's arm!
Arsu let out a deafening scream: "Ah!!!"

Under the arrangement of the on-site staff, the park's order was not disrupted. After the woman left with the urn, a disabled soldier took the knife and unceremoniously inserted the tip of the knife into the nail of Arsu's left index finger. With a forceful pry, he pried the nail off!
"Imagine the pain of fighting for you while having to pay for your medical expenses, and then having to have your limb amputated due to the prolonged illness!"

"This knife was for my daughter..."

"This strike was for..."

"what!"

"what--"

"what……"

"..."

With each slash, Arsu's screams were gradually drowned out by the sea of ​​people.

The lights of Guatemala City stayed on all night, and the municipal park was bustling with activity as everyone prepared for this large-scale event following the peace...

……

The next day, during the day.

Honduras, Military Council.

"Can't wait any longer..."

General Augusto Ramirez Ojeda, the leader of the Honduran military, sat in the conference room, surrounded by a circle of high-ranking Honduran officers.

News of Arsu's fate reached them this morning, instantly waking them up—the former president was surrounded by a crowd and slowly "cut" to death, slice by slice!
It is said that Arsu was no longer recognizable as a human before he breathed his last... such suffering was truly horrifying.

Meanwhile, the Honduran officers were extremely uneasy.

An army was completely wiped out on the battlefield in Guatemala, and its strength and prestige have been severely weakened. Now the domestic situation is extremely precarious.

“Milton is about to establish a new government... We must find a way, otherwise our fate may not be much better than Arsu’s.”

"Don't rush. There's still a bunch of useless people in Guatemala clinging to life. We... we still have some time."

"We can't defeat Milton on our own. We need to unite, we need to find allies... Who can be our allies?"

"Was it useful? Mexican drug cartels banded together, joined forces with Arsu, and formed the 'Anti-Milton Alliance,' and what happened?"

"Then let's form an even bigger, stronger 'Second Anti-Milton Alliance'!" General Ramirez slammed his fist on the table. "Now, I want methods, not complaints! Milton, that madman, must die, he must be completely crushed!"

"Don't think this has nothing to do with us... Milton has huge ambitions, and his goals are definitely not limited to Guatemala. If he is allowed to act recklessly, the whole of Central America will fall into an uncontrollable situation!"

"Don't even mention our drug trade, our human trafficking industry, our wealth... we'll lose our lives!"

"What is a person who is not greedy for money or women, who doesn't like mansions or luxury cars, who values ​​public opinion, and who doesn't even care much about administrative power, going to do? Such a person should absolutely not exist, absolutely should not exist in Latin America! If he lives, we can only die!"

One aide sighed: "First, the United States and the U.S.-led Organization of American States (OAS) will put pressure on them, which is our biggest asset. El Salvador is an ally of the United States and should also put pressure on Milton. It won't be long before the first phase of economic sanctions begins."

"In Mexico, I heard that a final battle is about to break out in the political arena. The president who refuses to step down is embroiled in a power struggle with other political forces and has no time to deal with drug traffickers. Some people are even trying to win over drug traffickers... I have received information that Joaquín Guzmán is about to be released from prison. He will reunite the drug cartels and continue to put pressure on Milton."

“Those warlords who haven’t been completely wiped out by Milton can become our allies and will receive more aid from the United States.”

"..."

"Our enemies could be the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua, or covert aid from Cuba; they are all mortal enemies of the United States."

"But in any case, our advantage is still very, very large. At least I believe Milton wouldn't dare to directly announce an alliance with Cuba..."

"..."

Ramirez listened, but he didn't seem particularly happy. He looked at the map, thought for a long time, and suddenly said:

"But I feel like Milton is about to turn this game around. If he defeats the 'Second Anti-Milton Coalition,' wins over our country's civilian government that we hate so much... defeats El Salvador, supports an anti-American government, and includes Cuba and Nicaragua, a land route for the United States to move south will be completely blocked."

"Given how things have developed, what will Panama's stance be?"

What will be the attitude of the southern states of Mexico?

Will a Latin American alliance like the European Union be established? Will it spread to South America?

"No matter how powerful the United States is, if it wants to deal with Milton and such an alliance, economic sanctions are ineffective, and it may only be able to take the most direct military action."

"..."

The aide swallowed hard, thinking the general was overthinking things and imagining Milton to be far too powerful: "It shouldn't be that bad, right?"

“Such a future is terrifying…even if there’s only a sliver of a possibility! No, we must take action.” Ramirez stood up, his expression extremely tense. “Immediately prepare a plan for a military coup; we must seize power in the entire country!”

(End of this chapter)