Chapter 409: Chapter 219: Centrist Plan (Part 3)
Ladies and gentlemen, before we gauge public opinion, I hope everyone can keep this strictly confidential. This matter concerns the entire Cabinet Government, and I don’t want any news to leak beyond our plan."
As he spoke, Duke Serrano glanced at the several Cabinet Ministers from the Liberal Party and Progressive Party, and the meaning behind his words was already quite clear.
In the cabinet departments, both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are from the Conservative Party, so there is only concern that the Liberal Party and Progressive Party might leak information.
As for the Conservative Party, only a fool would voluntarily leak information. After all, both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are from the Conservative Party, creating trouble for the Cabinet Government would be tantamount to creating trouble for the Conservative Party.
Noticing Duke Serrano’s gaze, several Cabinet Ministers from the Liberal Party and Progressive Party quickly nodded, indicating that they would strictly maintain confidentiality.
Although Duke Serrano’s position as Prime Minister is more symbolic, the one truly responsible for cabinet work is Deputy Prime Minister Canovas.
But no one dares to ignore Duke Serrano’s opinion; aside from Duke Serrano being highly valued by Carlo, another reason is that Duke Serrano serves as Minister of Defense and holds military power.
Though Duke Serrano’s influence in the political arena doesn’t match former Prime Minister Prim’s, Duke Serrano’s resume is equally glorious.
Prime Minister Prim served as Governor of the Colony, and Duke Serrano likewise served as Governor of the Colony. Both are from a military background with equally impressive military records.
Moreover, Duke Serrano and Prime Minister Prim are actually the creators of the current Spanish Government; they led troops to overthrow Queen Isabella’s rule.
With Duke Serrano still holding military power, other cabinet members dare not ignore Duke Serrano’s opinion.
At this moment, Carlo suddenly coughed a couple of times, then rarestly expressed his opinion in the meeting: "I also think Minister Canovas’s proposal is good, let’s do it."
Since Carlo has expressed his opinion, other Cabinet Ministers naturally have no further suggestions. No one is foolish, everyone knows who is really in charge of the current Spanish Government.
Carlo does not easily make decisions, but once Carlo decides, even Duke Serrano and Minister Canovas cannot prevent it.
A king who controls the Senate holds considerable power. Not to mention that Carlo also obtained military power by establishing the Spanish Military Committee, with military power in hand Carlo has completely acquired authority, saying that he holds absolute power is not an exaggeration at all.
The discussion in the Cabinet meeting ended just like that, but Carlo is quite satisfied with the direction of development.
Carlo wasn’t thinking of immediately abandoning the Cuban Colony; having Minister Frank express views on abandoning the Cuban Colony was actually to give Cabinet Ministers a heads-up.
The Cuban Colony is bound to be abandoned soon; Cuba, separated by the Atlantic Ocean, is not in Carlo’s plan.
Spain will focus more on expanding into Africa in the future, especially in Northwest Africa and near the Congo Territory, these two areas are the lands Spain truly intends to expand into.
If the remaining lands can be exchanged for equivalent benefits, Carlo is not against the idea of swapping them.
In the future, lands like Morocco can be localized, meaning these are lands Spain can permanently control.
As for Cuba, these lands are bound to gain independence sooner or later, because even if Carlo replaces Cuban residents over and over, the concept of Cubans will never disappear as long as there are residents born in Cuba.
Rather than that, why not squeeze the last bit of benefit out of Cuba, then sell it to other powers to cause some trouble for Americans.
At this time Hawaii has not yet been annexed by the United States, it can similarly be used to trip Americans up.
If the United States can create conflicts for Spain in Cuba, Spain can equally create problems for the United States in Hawaii.
Anyway, Spain doesn’t need to worry about threats from the United States at this moment; the United States doesn’t have the capability to cross the ocean and attack Spain.
The American Civil War ended less than 20 years ago, and the divide between north and south hasn’t been resolved within the United States.
Although the Civil War freed a large number of plantation slaves in the United States, these black slaves, even after gaining status as free people, have not significantly changed their positions.
Racial discrimination still exists in later generations, let alone 1877, over a hundred years ago.
At this time, the United States still practices racial segregation; African Americans could not possibly enter white cities.
African Americans can never find easy work that whites can find; the jobs they do are low-level, with not only tiring work but also much lower pay compared to white workers.
African Americans can only serve as policemen in African American cities, and cannot get promoted. White policemen can handle African Americans at will, just as long as there’s a seemingly reasonable excuse.
However, when African American policemen face white criminals, even if the criminals have committed an enormous crime, African American policemen have no authority to arrest them.
In fact, African American policemen can’t even enter areas inhabited by whites, and such disparities in treatment constitute a latent issue for the United States.
Frankly, the United States is merely masking domestic issues with rapid development. Domestically, problems abound and may be even more serious than Spain’s.
Spain’s population is entirely white, and those with lower recognition of Spanish nationality, such as Catalans and Basques, make up a small percentage.
In contrast, the United States is a country with three races: black, white, and yellow. The vast number of African Americans in the U.S. are likewise factors of instability.
Unless the United States can completely resolve issues between African Americans and white Americans, or resolve one of these groups entirely, domestic problems will perpetually exist in the United States.
In periods of peace and prosperity, these issues certainly don’t matter, and might never cause national chaos. But during some unstable times, these problems become fatal to the U.S., potentially leading to division and civil war.
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