Kalistani Major History

[Doc]

President to Suspend Embargo
Opts not to extend Letters of Marque
Kaliburg, Ananto
May 21, 3928


President Smith addresses a stunned crowd, announcing the end of the Embargo

The President of the Republic, Delia Smith-Phillips shocked Kalistan today as she delivered the following address regarding the Embargo of Vanukean Shipping in the Anantanese Sea

Kalistanis, I humbly come before you today to announce that the Embargo of Vanukean shipping, which has brought sea-based surface shipping to a complete halt, has reached a natural end, and, upon recommendation of the Foreign Minister of Kalistan, the Government of the Imperial Republic of Kalistan will not be extended after Letters of Marque expire on June 1 of this year.  All of the Socialist Party's Privateers have been recalled from International Waters overnight, and any action of former privateers after the expiration of the Letters of Marque will be deemed piracy and will be prosecuted as such by the Minister of Justice, in accord with the Laws of Kalistan and the rights of Defendants.  No actions occurring and sanctioned under the letters of Marque, unless it is judged to have been treacherous and deleterious to the interests of Kalistan, shall be prosecuted.

The Government of Vanuku, and all vessels belonging to it, will remain barred from Kalistani Ports and Kalistani Markets.  All third Parties attempting to ship things made in or shipped through Vanuku will be denied access to Kalistani Markets.  Kalistan will also not sell anything to those countries which insist on maintaining commercial ties with that Country.  We reiterate-  we want a settlement on the question of the murder of our President by agents from the government of Vanuku, and we will not do business with Vanuku or their allies until this matter is settled.  We will also refuse to receive or send out diplomats from Vanuku or their allies, unless the matter is specifically related to settlement of this issue.

We are taking this necessary first step to demonstrate Kalistani willingness to avoid any sort of open conflict with other sovereign states on the High Seas.  We are committed to peaceful negotiations, and as long as the Embargo is maintained, this cannot happen.  But our position vis-a-vis Vanuku has not altered, one iota. Nor will it as long as Vanuku refuses to accept the responsibility for their part in the death of the Kalistani President and bring the perpetrator of this crime to justice, in a public fashion.  Nor has our opinion of those who continue to succor the criminals in other countries changed.  If you assist Vanuku in hiding its dastardly deeds, you can count yourself as among them, as far as Kalistan is concerned.  We repeat, we do not want war.  We seek to have peaceful and prosperous exchanges between ourselves and our neighbors and friends across the world.  We want to sell our national products to the world and buy the wonderful things everyone else has to sell us.  We love cultural exchanges, and we, even to this day celebrate our openness to the world.  And yet- we cannot allow this injustice to stand, not when the key to the matter is right in front of us all.

The President then left the stage.  The crowd was reportedly subdued and stunned, and few sounds, but certainly no cheers, were heard as the President departed without a further word.  Though the policy had ground Kalistani commerce to a halt over the past two years, along with all other trading, it was an incredibly popular nationalist policy among the majority of the country.  The effectiveness of the policy was said to have dwindled to almost nothing along with the tonnage captured by privateers over the last year, and the number of privateers still active on the Anantanese Ocean is thought to be less than 50, as most have drifted back to their normal lives in other fields.