Nuovatoscana

Nuovatoscanan Republic of Guiana Repubblica Nuovatoscana di'Guiana
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Caiena
Official languages	Italian
Recognised regional languages	Sranan Tongo, Macaronico, Spanish, Portuguese
Government
• President	Alberto Franceschi
Area
•	462,636 km2 (178,625 sq mi)
Calling code	+592
Internet TLD	.gy

Guiana, officially called the Nuovatoscanan Republic of Guiana, is a country in northern South America, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the north, Brazil in the south, and Venezuela in the west. It's capital and largest city is Caiena. It is the only Italian-speaking country in the Western Hemisphere.

Guiana was first settled in 1609 as Nuovatoscana under the aegis of Ferdinand, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Despite repeated attacks by the Dutch, English, and French navies, Spain and Portugal recognized Tuscany's right to the colony. Heavy settlement by Tuscan and other Italian people followed despite the difficulties in settling the country. In 1801, it passed under the rule of the Napoleonic Italian Republic, but in 1805, France declared the annexation of Nuovatoscana along with the now captured Dutch colonies in the west, triggering a war of independence that lasted until 1815, when the Congress of Vienna recognized the loss of the country and the annexation of Dutch and English Guiana to the Nuovatuscan independence movement. The Nuovatuscan Republic of Guiana despite border clashes with Venezuela and Brazil it was recognized as independent ever since. Like the other South American countries, it has experienced military coups, the most recent in 1978.

The country is a founding member of the United Nations and MERCOSUR.

Etymology

The name Guiana meant "land of many waters" in indigenous Guianan language. Previously, the name Nuova Toscana was applied to the Tuscan colony nearby; while Gianni Castelli proposed to rename all the Guianian territories as Nuova Toscana, he decided against it though he still named the country "Nuovatuscan Republic of Guiana".

History

Before European colonization, Guiana was inhabited by indigenous peoples such as the Arawak. It was hinted that the tribes of the northern Amazon were related to the indigenous groups in the Carribean. It was theorized that the Arawaks and later the Caribs emigrated from the Orinoco and Essequibo basins in Venezuela and Guiana to the northern Carribean islands.

Over centuries, the mingling of the ethnic groups, some through trade, others through war, created a hybrid culture in Nuovatoscana.

European colonization

Christopher Columbus first sighted Guiana in 1498, but active interest in exploring the then "Wild Coast" did not begin until the end of the 16th century. English explorer Walter Raleigh began searching for El Dorado, also called "Manoa". He described the city of El Dorado as a city near Lake Parime in the Orinoco River. After the publication of his exploits in 1606, other European explorers followed. The Dutch under Jacob Cornelisz already surveyed the area in Guiana in 1597, and later established coastal settlements in the meantime.

The French later established colonies in the Sinamary River. Due to hardships in settling the country, the French were unable to properly establish its colony, though it persisted until its conquest by Nuova Toscana.

Guiana in the 16th century.

Nuova Toscana colony

Fernandino I of Tuscany.

In 1608, Duke Fernandino II of Tuscany authorized an expedition into what is now called Nuova Toscana. The expedition, led by English captain Robert Thornton, returned to Livorno without a single loss of men. Though Thornton found Duke Fernandino almost dying, the latter approved of Thornton's vivid descriptions of the country in question and later though with great reluctance, Fernandino's son Cosimo authorized settlement. Despite numerous setbacks and diseases among the settlers, the settlement, called Nuova Toscana, persisted and not only the Spanish and the Portuguese tolerated the colony, they also helped it defend it from French, Dutch, and English incursions. The French attempted to captured Caiena in 1659 but were repulsed.

Tuscany also recruited settlers among the other Italian states as well as Spain and Portugal in which many accepted. By 1800, the Tuscan colony in Guiana is the most populated in the Guianas, with the estimated population of 80,000. Many were brought as penal colonists from Tuscany, the Italian states, Spain, and Portugal.

Independence

Signs of yearning for independence in Nuovatoscana persisted, and many people in the region claimed that it didn't deserved to be a wasteland. During the dissolution of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, it passed under the control of the Kingdom of Etruria, and later sold it to the Napoleonic Italian Republic, which mollified the independence leaders. When the Napoleonic Italian Republic later became a kingdom and ceded Nuovatoscana to France, the French later attacked Dutch Guiana as well as Nuovatoscana. It enflamed the Nuovatoscan independence leaders and a guerilla war erupted in 1805. Contact with other South American independence leaders like Simon Bolivar, Jose San Martin, and an Nuovatoscan-Argentine named Juan Castelli, later known as Gianni Castelli, later became the most prominent leader of the Guianan Resistance, as it was called. Castelli's leadership ensured that not only Nuovatoscana regains independence, but it also managed to defeat and conquer French Guiana and Suriname. Castelli, influenced by British abolitionists, declared that Nuovatoscana will have no slaves, all former slaves will be considered free without exception. Castelli also rebuffed a British and Portuguese invasion force and colonization attempt in 1809-12 thanks to United States help. By 1814, the Congress of Vienna was forced to accept the loss of Nuovatoscana, and the original British, Dutch, and French colonists were expelled to Trinidad, Tobago, and Martinique respectively; only a few of the original inhabitants were left. Thus the country was renamed the Nuovatuscan Republic of Guiana. However, Castelli failed to see his country officially recognized, for he died in 1814 due to cancer. His successor, Carlo Castelli, not related to him, though "Gianni practically adopted Carlo Castelli as his brother", was the leader of Nuovatoscanan Guiana and devised its first constitution. He fought to secure Nuovatoscan Guiana from foreign rule and welcomed exiles from failed Italian uprisings. In 1815, from a population of 280,000, the country experienced sustained immigration from the Italian states, about 600,000 from 1815 to 1860. Due to this, it was dubbed as the "only free Italian republic" in the world. In the intervening years, emigration from Italy after its unification intensified, and a switch of dominant immigrants from northern Italy to southern Italy occured. Emigration from Spain and Portugal and other countries also intensified, due to more relaxed political situation than in the other South American countries. By 1900, the population of Nuovatuscan Guiana stands by 2,900,000 as of its census. The "conquest of Guiana" as it was called was said to be controversial, due to rather mediocre to poor social standing of blacks (Marroni), Amerindian (Rosso), and Indian (Indiano). However, Nuovatuscan Guiana also accepted Chinese and later Japanese and Korean immigrants starting from the 1880s to work at the sugar plantations.

In 1895, border clashes between Venezuela and Guiana occured; Britain saw it as chance to take over the disputed Guiana Essequiba region, due to its ships impounded by both Venezuelan and Guiana authorities, but the United States intervened on the behalf of both countries, and Venezuela agreed to cede its claim of Essequibo to Guiana.

1978 coup and Capellini's regime

Guianan Army burning books deemed communistic.

During the Villa Jones massacre in 1978, President Fabio Burnham was increasingly scrutinized for tolerating a religious cult. Fearful that a "communist cult" has taken over parts of Guiana, Air Force General Giosue Capellini launched a coup on 22 November 1978, in what was offically known as the "Sweeping Coup". With the approval of other South American countries, Giosue Capellini personally executed Burnham "for embracing communism, bringing refuge to communists, bringing economic ruin to Guiana". Capellini and his junta joined Operation Condor and rounded up much of the left-wing opposition; as much as 9,230 were killed and 12,034 were believed to be "liquified", a euphemism for forced disappearances. Capellini, in an attempt to ingratiate himself to the United States, retired in 1980 as commander-in-chief but became President. Enacting forced industrialization, Guiana's economy grew at the expense of the environment and worker's rights. While compared to South Korea's and Chile's economic boom, it was said to be unsustainable as Capellini relied on exports of manufactured goods and high techonology. Both Italian and local Mafia families were tolerated by the government and were able to present themselves as legitimate conglomerates. The Sicilian Mafia were able to insert themselves into Guianan society and it was known that Capellini used their services to eliminate far-left dissidents. The intertwining of state and criminal enterprises were so great that Guiana was called the first true "mafia state" by the media.

Modern History

Foreign pressure to democratize forced Capellini to hold a snap election against Valeria Paolo-Hart, an indigenous politician from Essequibo and once led an abortive rebellion. Massive electoral fraud, with international opinion favoring Paolo-Hart, caused an attempted coup-de-etat by Desiderio Buterse, an Afro-Guianan Army Colonel decrying the racism against black Guianan officers in the military. While the coup nearly failed, protesters rallied to the streets to denounce the election; however, the Guianan Army defected to Paolo-Hart, causing Capellini to go to exile to Italy.

Geography

The Guianian highland is formed by a flat basement on the coast, which constitutes the agricultural area where most of the population is concentrated. Hills and jungles abound in the interior of the territory, in the south and west there is a large region of mountains and savannas . The most important relief in the country is the Pacaraima mountain range, which culminates in Mount Roraima, 2,810 meters above sea level, located on the border with Venezuela and Brazil.

Politics and government

The country is a unitary presidential republic.

Demographics

Religion

Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, 2019

Nuovatoscanan Guiana is a historically a majority Catholic state; 83 percent of its population are adherents of the faith. However, since independence, Nuovatuscan Guiana proclaimed the separation of church and state in its constitution and other religions flourished ever since. The second largest religion are various Protestant sects, with 6 percent of the population.

In the rural parts of Guiana, there are syncretist faiths among the Marrone and Indigenous communities, and festivals often incorporate such mixture of symbolism.

The Protestant community existed even before the conquest of Dutch Guiana; several Waldensians also established remote communities in the Guianan jungle and also converted many indigenous tribes. Later, the Dutch Reformed Church also has many adherents, mainly from the black community. Other sects such as the Latter Day Saints, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others also made inroads.

The Jewish community started with both the Portuguese Jews in Surinam Province and Italkims from Caiena Province. Jews total 12,000 of the population and is mostly concentrated on Caiena and other major cities.

Islam is introduced among Indian laborers imported from Trinidad, and made converts among the rest of the population. An estimated 102,000 people in 2019 are said to be Muslim, mostly those of Indian and African descent.

Culture

Sports

Football (Soccer) is considered a national sport in Guiana. It participated in several Football World Cups and won one in 1994, in what was called "The Miracle of Pasadena".