Cárlos Tobón
Cárlos Tobón NA | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2021 | |
 37th President of Carloso | |
| Assumed office 11 February 2011 | |
| Deputy | Jorge Spalderán (2011-2021) Estebán Santander (2021-present) |
| Preceded by | Montero Irisar |
| Secretary-General of National Salvation | |
| Assumed office 7 September 2010 | |
| Deputy | Jorge Spalderán (2010-2020) Estebán Santander (2020-present) |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 11 February 2006 – 5 September 2010 | |
| President | Montero Irisar |
| Preceded by | Tomás Berrocal |
| Succeeded by | Matías Couturier |
| National Assemblyman for Madrigal | |
| Assumed office 11 February 2001 | |
| Constituency | Madrigal-21 |
| Metropolitan Assemblyman for Firosa | |
| In office 19 May 1997 – 11 February 2001 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cárlos Montoya Tobón 7 November 1968 Madrigal, Carloso |
| Nationality | Carlosian |
| Political party | National Salvation (2010–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Conservative (1990–2010) |
| Spouse | Nicolasa Mendosa (m. 1995) |
| Relations | Facundo Tobón (brother) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Sebastián Tobón (father) Catalina Prohens (mother) |
| Alma mater | University of Madrigal (LLB) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Barrister |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Carloso |
| Branch/service | Carlosian Army Carlosian Army Reserve |
| Years of service | 1987–2001 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Battles/wars | Bourgougian Blitz |
| Awards |  Blitz Campaign Medal Service Medal |
Cárlos Montoya Tobón NA (born 7 November 1968) is a Carlosian statesman, barrister and Army veteran who has served as the 37th President of the Executive Council of the Federal Republic of Carloso and commander-in-chief of the Carlosian Armed Forces since 11 February 2011. He is also the current leader of the National Salvation party and a former member of the Conservative Party. Tobón has served as a National Assemblyman for Madrigal's 21st constituency since 2001.
Born and raised in the suburb of Firosa, Madrigal to a largely Hispanic family, Tobón served in the Carlosian Army during the Bourgougian Blitz. After the war, he studied Law at the University of Madrigal and became a member of the Conservative Party. After being called to the bar, he worked as a junior counsel for several years. Deciding to enter politics, Tobón was elected to the Madrigal Metropolitan Assembly in 1997. He was elected as a National Assemblyman for Madrigal-21 at the 2000 general election. Tobón quickly became a noted figure within the traditionalist wing of the Conservative Party and became allies with fellow Blitz veterans including [[Jorge Spalderán] and Estebán Santander. When the Conservatives and Democratic Party formed a coalition after the 2005 general election, Tobón became an outspoken opponent of cooperation with the Democrats. In an attempt to pacify dissent within the Party, President Montero Irisar appointed Tobón as Minister of Finance in 2007.
As Minister of Finance, Tobón tried to introduce sweeping monetary and fiscal reforms to reduce the national debt and restart economic growth. These were repeatedly blocked by the economically liberal Democrats. At the same time, the Democratic agenda of social reforms; which was agreed upon as part of the coalition agreement, saw many, more moderate members of the Conservative Party look to Tobón and Jorge Spalderán for leadership, rather than President Irisar. When the Democrats began to push for the legalisation of same-sex marriage and abortion in the run-up to the 2010 general election; eventually leading to President Irisar announcing that a referendum would be held on abortion that year, Tobón and like minded Conservative politicians formed an organised faction within the party to oppose the referendum, calling it the Alliance for the National Salvation of the Fatherland. In the aftermath of the Attorney General v. Q case, the destruction of the Supreme Court and mass rioting in the streets of major Carlosian cities, Tobón led a wave of mass resignations from the Conservative Party, co-founding National Salvation with Spalderán to contest the general election and becoming a key figure in the violent Corrective Revolution.
A combination of the defections of many key Conservative figures, a military intervention led by General Moran and an attempt to flee the country by President Irisar caused Conservative support to implode, losing well over half their seats in the 2010 election, with the Democrats suffering similar loses. National Salvation achieved a shock plurality of the vote, entering into a coalition with a group of rural independents and military veterans to form a government. Tobón was elected President of Carloso, taking office on 11 February 2011, with Jorge Spalderán as Deputy President. He immediately began the process of overhauling the Carlosian economy and rolling back the social policies of the previous government, beginning a programme of reindustrialisation, implementing a distributist economic model, reintroducing the ban on divorce, stopping the state's recognition of same-sex civil partnerships and reinforcing the constitutional ban on abortion. Within a year of taking office, Tobón ordered the withdrawal of Carloso from the World Assembly (WA) after a hotly contested referendum returned a result in favour of leaving. Carloso would go on to join the International Freedom Alliance (IFA); later the International Freedom Coalition (IFC), in 2014. He inititated a wide range of administrative and legislative reforms, returning many powers to the provincial assemblies and local government, including greater responsibility for healthcare, housing and planning permission. Penalties for especially heinous crimes were severely increased under Tobón, including the introduction of capital punishment for a wide range of offences, including murder, rape, execution of an abortion and drug dealing. A total ban on the construction of land-based industrial wind turbines was also introduced.
Tobón led National Salvation to achieve a parliamentary majority in the 2015 general election, beginning his second term as President of the Executive Council. His cabinet remained largely unchanged. The first few months of his term were preoccupied with largely foreign matters, dealing with factional divisions in the IFC. He eventually ordered the withdrawal of Carloso from the organisation in March 2016, declaring the country to be neutral. At the same time, Tobón began cultivating links with members of the Santiago Anti-Communist Treaty Organisation (SACTO), including Nifon and Inyursta. In 2017 Shogun Maki Kojiro made a highly publicised state visit to Carloso, a first for a Nifonese leader. The country then became a party to the COSTAL Accords, redefining Carloso's maritime boundaries. Carloso eventually joined SACTO on 20 May 2017 after being invited by the Nifonese government, sparking international outrage. In late 2018, Tobón scored a major victory in winning a referendum on the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Carloso, making Christianity the state religion of Carloso with the backing of 57.72% of the electorate. After the outbreak of the deadly CaBI19 disease throughout the Southern Furukuran Sea region in early 2020, Tobón issued a directive banning travel to and from heavily affected areas, in addition to implementing heavy restrictions on all foreign travel into Carloso.
In 2018, Tobón had stated his intentions to step down as leader of National Salvation by late 2019 and not run for a third term as President, however he later reversed his decision. Following the 2020 general election, he was re-elected to a third term on 11 Feburary 2021, becoming the first individual in the republican history of Carloso to achieve this. In 2024, he announced his intention to continue as President following the 2025 general election. On 2 March 2024, he became the longest serving President in Carloisan history.
Tobón has been broadly described as a staunch conservative and nationalist. Since the beginning of his second term, many critics of the Carlosian government have referred to Tobón as an illberal, and authoritarian. Tobón has been accused of being a demagogue and has been blamed for the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of suspected drug dealers and sex offenders by Carlosian authorities. Carloso's shift towards SACTO in foreign policy received widespread condemnation, both domestically and internationally. Despite these claims, Tobón remains a popular political figure in Carloso, with an approval rating as high as 72% as of early 2024.
Early life
Cárlos Montoya Tobón was born on 7 November 1968 at Madrigal Metropolitan University Hospital – Saint Vincent's to Sebastián and Catalina Tobón (née Prohens). Sebastián's ancestors were a mix of Portuguese and Spanish immigrants to Carloso, who served as venecedors in the War of Independence. Catalina was largely descended from Scottish and English immigrants who arrived in the eighteenth century. He was raised as a Catholic, though his mother Catalina was born into a Presbyterian household and converted to Catholicism in order to marry Sebastián. Sebastián Tobón fought in the Emergency War as a soldier in the Carlosian Army's IV Infantry Division, taking part in the Battle of Madrigal, Second Battle of Secano and Exercise Revelation. The couple met in 1959 at a dance and went out for four years, marrying in 1963. Cárlos was their second child, his older brother Jair being born in 1965.
Bourgougian Blitz
Legal career
After leaving the Carlosian Army in 1990 with the rank of Sergeant, Tobón, as with all Carlosian soldiers who served with distinction in the Blitz, received a scholarship to study law at the University of Madrigal. He left active service in 1989 and joined the Carlosian Army Reserve, retaining his rank of Sergeant. Tobón graduated with a first-class honours degree in 1993, successfully taking the entrance exam for the Imperial Inn and subsequently qualifying to practice as a barrister. While in university, Tobón joined the Conservative Party, though was not particularly active. After considering returning to university to pursue an academic career or alternatively rejoining the Army as an officer to work in the legal service, Tobón opted to continue working as a barrister, being called to the bar following a year of deviling in 1995. He served as a Junior Counsel, quickly making a name for himself in Madrigal as a formidable advocate with an aptitude for oratory.
Political career
Early career
Seeking election to the Madrigal Metropolitan Assembly, Tobón benefitted from a selection process implemented by President Tómas Contador and continued by Adán Spalderán which favoured Blitz veterans as Conservative nominees for elections. In 1997, Tobón was chosen as the Conservative candidate for one of three seats in his home constituency of Firosa. Winning by a comfortable margin, he took his seat on 19 May 1997.
Tobón quickly became a popular figure in his constituency. He was then selected as a candidate for Madrigal-21 in the 2000 general election.
First years in the National Assembly (2001–2006)
Concerns about slowing economic growth and infighting between President Spalderán and more liberal members of the party proved calamoutous for the Conservatives in the 2000 general election. While the Conservative Party remained the largest party in the National Assembly with 302 seats, this was down from 463 in the previous election, allowing a rainbow coalition led by Michel Galcerán to form a government. Going against the trend of seat loss, however, Tobón and a number of other Blitz veterans were elected by comfortable margins. Tobón soon allied himself with now former president Spalderán, his son Jorge, Ruyan Hárel and Stefán Mekoryuk, among others. However, in 2002, Adán Spalderán was deposed as leader of the party by the more liberally minded Montero Irisar, reducing the influence of these new National Assemblymen. Nevertheless, many of the more right-leaning NAs looked to Tobón for leadership as Adán returned to the back benches.
Tobón retained his seat in the 2005 general election. As expected, the Conservatives recovered some support, winning 349 seats, though falling far short of the 430 needed to form a government. Prospects of forming a coalition with the Synarchist Union and some independents were immediately dashed by Irisar, who refused to cooperate with what was precieved to be an extreme party, leaving only a grand coalition with the Democratic Party as an option. Following extensive negotiations throughout the winter, a deal was struck between Irisar and Galcerán, Tobón being given the portfolio of Minister of Finance in an attempt to please the traditionalist wing of the party.
Irisar presidency (2006–2011)
Tobón was appointed Minister of Finance by Irisar when he took office as the 36th President of Carloso on 11 February 2006. While the first few months of the new government were surprisingly harmonious, tensions quickly began to flare when it came round to preparing the 2007 budget. Tobón, advised by his close friend and economist Ruyan Hárel, warned Irisar and now Deputy President Galcerán that signs of an international recession were beginning to materialise, and there was no guarantee Carloso could avoid being negatively affected, having become more integrated with inter-continental financial markets since the normalisation of relations with Barssois. Galcerán dismissed Tobón's and Harel's warnings, threatening to block the budget and instead insisting for a massive expansive of the welfare state on the back of strong economic growth and record levels of revenue from taxes. The presentation of the budget was delayed several times as the row went on, negatively impacting stock markets in Carloso and in the rest of Musgorocia. Last minute talks involving Tobón, Irisar, Galcerán, Harel and a number of other economists who explained the situation ultimately led to a resolution, Galcerán acquiescing to Tobón's plans. Presenting the 2007 budget to the National Assembly on 1 December 2006, Tobón announced a massive restructuring of the Carlosian national debt, a right down of existing financial obligations and investigations into the viability of Carloso's financial institutions. Further measures were introduced to prevent abuses which were taking place in other jurisdictions, such as predatory lending and the financing of subprime mortgages. Tobón wanted to go even further, banning outright mortgage-backed securities (MBS), collateralised debt obligations (CDO) and credit default swaps (CDS), though this was deemed too radical to be implemented, as well as having little utility in the still relatively conservative Carlosian financial markets.
As 2007 progressed, Tobón's decision to head off the coming crisis proved prophetic, largely preventing Carloso from being negatively affected by the global financial crisis, though still limiting economic growth.
Corrective Revolution
President (2011–present)
First term (2011–2016)
As expected, at the first meeting of the 42nd National Assembly on 11 February 2011, Tobón was elected the 37th President of the Executive Council, 439 votes for, 31 abstaining and 388 against. Soon afterwards, he was formally inaugurated, the oath being administered by Chief Justice Muruaga Hinestrósa and witnessed by Archbishop Esequiel Semprún. He immediately appointed Jorge Spalderán as his Deputy President. Outside the National Assembly, Tobón delivered a speech to a crowd of 1.8 million people before overseeing a large military parade. Later in the day, he took up residence in the Executive Palace and immediately proceeded to conduct the business of government, appointing the other members of his Executive Council, including Ruyan Hárel as Minister of Finance, Ciro Autran as Minister of Defence, Aarón Delgado as Minister of External Affairs, Estebán Santander as Minister of Internal Affairs and Stefán Mekoryuk as Attorney General, all figures who had supported Tobón during the Corrective Revolutuion. On 14 February, he appointed General Régulo Moran as Chief of the General Staff.
Ward elections on 4 July appeared to solidify National Salvation as a permanent political force, winning majorities on over 68% of Carloso's Ward Councils.
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On 5 August, a Carlosian Air Force transport plane carrying a number of medical personnel and a military attaché to Cispania were shot down 72 miles south of Maraisdor, Bourgougia. Initially blamed on communist rebels, Carlosian intelligence revealed the involvement of the Bourgougian government. In response, Tobón authorised Operation Aúger, resulting in the simultaneous launch of 946 cruise and ballistic missiles into Bourgougia from sites in southern Carloso and Agostinia during the early hours of 10 August, killing an estimated 5,841 soldiers and wounding many more, as well as crippling much of the Bourgougian military's infrastructure. In what was considered the most significant use of Carlosian military force since the Acrary Civil War, Tobón threatened Bourgougian President Étienne Dubois with further escalation if he decided to retaliate. Ultimately, Dubois did not respond, ending the crisis and handing Tobón his first foreign policy victory. Subsequent investigation revealed that rogue elements within the Bourgougian Armed Forces had shot down the aircraft, without the approval of Dubois. The event did not discourage Tobón from continuing with his planned state visit to Victory, arriving under heavy military escort on 19 August. This was followed by visits to Côte d'Émeraude on 22 August, Cispania on 24 August and the State Federation on 26 August. Tobón then met with his Bar counterpart President Jules Durel at a bilateral summit in Perséphone, Otralas on 28 August, before returning to Carloso.
Upon his return to Carloso, Tobón announced that a plebiscite would be held later in the year on Carloso's withdrawal from the WA, setting a date of 11 November. Though a referendum was not necessary for Carloso to withdraw, Tobón, responding to questions from reporters on 3 September, declared that he wished to "irrevocably declare the Carlosian nation's repudiation of the unholy organisation that is the World Assembly". Planning for the vote took place in earnest. The campaign was noticeably emotionally charged, with Tobón and National Salvation, bizarrely supported by the Communist Party, being pitted against the still extremely fractured opposition in the National Assembly. Ultimately, the result of the plebiscite returned 58.3% in favour of leaving, 41.7% against. The following day, Tobón formally notified the WA of Carloso's immediate exit, and all Carlosian officials were repatriated and reassigned to alternative diplomatic posts. Following Carloso's example, several other Musgorocian states notified the WA of their withdrawal, including Barssois, Agostinia, Victory and Acrary. The WA Regional Office in Musgorocia, located in Madrigal, was expelled from their premises and forced to relocate to Antilet on the invitation of the Bourgougian government.
On 17 November, Tobón and Hárel presented their first budget to the National Assembly, announcing major reductions in income taxes, the consolidation of tax bands and a lowering of VAT. A major anti-corruption drive and the mass defunding of NGOs freed up billions of deroes in spending, producing Carloso's first surplus budget in over twenty years. Some of the surplus was used to reduce the national debt, as well as expand the new soverign wealth fund. Also announced was the massive expansion of extraction operations in the Zararcian Gas Field.
Second term (2016–2021)
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On 18 Februrary 2020, Tobón attended the 2020 Congress of Ishikawa in Nifon.
Third term (2021–present)
After National Salvation's victory in the 2020 electon, Tobón was sworn in for a third term as President of Carloso on 11 February 2021, making him the longest serving President in the country's republican history. Setting out his agenda for the next five years, Tobón announced an economic recovery package as part of the central government's response to the CaBI1 pandemic. Thanks to government supports, the development of a vaccine against CaBI19, named CabiShield, was announced at the end of April, and approved in early May.
At the same time, a wave of anti-Nifonese sentiment erupted amongst left-wing elements in Carlosian society. This was mainly in reaction to the appointment of Carlosian-Nifonese National Assemblyman Felics Nakayama as Minister of Communications, and a belief that prominent political adviser Alejandro Hiroyuki was using Tobón as a puppet to further Nifonese interests in Carloso. Protesters violently clashed with police on several occassions, with police in Madrigal suppressing a particularly violent riot which targetted Nifonese businesses on 27 April. In May, Tobón directed the National Bank to approve Amrita, per the Cryptocurrencies Statute (2017/6D), making it the first and so-far only cryptocurrency to be approved for use in Carloso. In June, Tobón was noted for striking a more conciliatory tone then in previous years regarding the so-called 'LGBT Pride Month', calling on what he described as "free-thinking homosexual and bisexual individuals" to distance themselves from the "deliberately fabricated, foreign construction that is the LGBTQ+ movement" and suggested they identify with the Carlosian tricolour instead of the rainbow flag. On 7 June, Tobón signed the Anti-Carlosian Activities Statute (2021/6B) into law, banning the display of the rainbow flag in Carloso.
Musgorocian crisis
Following the conclusion of the Second Congress of Ishikawa on 5 March 2023, which he attended alongside Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Eidan Détora, Tobón was immediately faced with a series of serious international incidents. In the summer, Eulabia announced its intentions to hold naval exercises in the Musgorocian Ocean in co-operation with Angeland, its former colony. Considered to be within the sphere of influence of Nifon and Carloso, the decision immediately caused tensions to flare between Eulabia and Nifon, having already experienced soured relations over the Eulabian leadership's premature departure from the Congress of Ishikawa earlier in the year. While Nifon suggested Swysia as a neutral host for mediation between the two countries, the Imperial Nifonese Air Force simultaneously tested Eulabian airspace with a sortie from Varazdin Air Base of P-55M Ginga strategic bombers, alongside a highly classified P-77F Harukaze in a show of force. The International Coalition of Nations (ICON), which Eulabia was a member state of, expressed its concern over the situation and hinted at intervention should the crisis escalate, threats which were immediately dismissed by Kojiro. Tobón expressed his support for Nifon in the dispute, pledging that Carloso would honour its commitments as a member of SACTO and defend Nifon if necessary. In response to the Eulabian military exercises, Tobón ordered Carlosian military assets in the Sanander Islands and Mediator to be put on high alert, as well as the deployment of the CN Menerissa and CN Castirin carrier battle groups to shadow the Eulabian fleet.
Ultimately tensions would be defused when Nifonese and Eulabian representatives agreed on a Treaty of Mutual Respect and Non-Interference, signed on 24 September, wherein Eulabia officially recognised the Nifonese sphere of influence in Hasua and the Musgorocian Ocean, while moving the exercises far to the south in Angeland's exclusive economic zone, bordering the Novarian Ocean and well outside Carloso's or Nifon's zone of influence. Additionally, it was agreed that Queen Sara III of Angeland would marry a Nifonese suitor, further deepening the ties between Nifon and Eulabia. While publicly Tobón hailed the treaty as a victory of diplomacy, privately it had become a matter of speculation that Kojiro was attempting to undermine the agreement made between Nifon and Carloso regarding the division of spheres of influence in the Musogorican Ocean, creating the prospect of a future Nifonese satellite state to the south of the continent which would undermine Carlosian dominance of Musgorocia. More acutely, however, the Luttenrieden government took the treaty between Nifon and Eulabia as a betrayal by Nifon, threatening its own sphere of influence in the Southern Musgorocian Ocean and violating previous bilateral arrangements between the countries. Holy Duke Friedhelm von Luttenried ordered the termination of its own agreements with Eulabia, positioning military forces within range of Angeland.
Amidst the crisis, on 16 October, Tobón made his second state visit to South Oceanica, meeting with his counterpart and close ally President Stanley Bowden, where the security situation in the Musgorocian Ocean was a main focus. Seeking to resolve the situation, it was agreed to hold talks between representatives from Luttenried, the Common Territories and Nifon.
Personal life
Tobón is a devout Catholic. He has an older brother, Jair Tobón, who is a General in the Carlosian Army. His younger brother, Facundo Tobón, is a National Assemblyman for Marindra's 3rd constituency and also a member of National Salvation. His youngest brother, Diego Tobón, is a billionaire businessman, President of The Tobón Organisation and one of Madrigal's most well known personalities. He has three sisters; Diana, Magdalena and Rebeca. Magdalena is a well-known writer of political history and a regular columnist for The Madrigal Times.
Electoral history
Awards and decorations
Styles
- 11 February 2001 – 11 February 2006: Cárlos Tobón NA
- 11 February 2006 – 5 September 2010: Minister of Finance Cárlos Tobón NA
- 5 September 2010 – 11 February 2011: Cárlos Tobón NA
- Since 11 February 2011: His Excellency President of the Executive Council Cárlos Tobón NA
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| National Salvation (506) | |
| Conservative Party (183) | |
| Synarchist Union (24) | |
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