Cassious Castovia

Cassious Castovia
11th President of Zamastan
In office November 16th, 1982 – December 5th, 2015
Preceded by	Damian Lorrie
Succeeded by	Zacharias Castovia
Personal details
Born	August 11, 1949 Horseshoe Bay, Zian, Zamastan
Died	December 5th, 2015 (Age: 66) Providence, Zamastan
Cause of death	Brugada Syndrome
Nationality	Zamastanian
Political party	Blue Conservative Party (Zamastan)
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Spouse	Mara Camden Castovia
Children	Zacharias Castovia
Parent	Scott Castovia (father) Amanda Castovia (mother)
Relatives	William Castovia (Great-Grandfather), Percy Castovia (Grandfather)

Cassious Castovia was a Zamastanian politician who served as the 11th President of Zamastan starting in 1982 until his death in 2015. He assumed power in an emergency election after the death of President Damian Lorrie. Prior to the presidency, he served as the Governor of Zian and had additionally served on one of that state's main appellate courts. He is widely considered to be one of the most consequential leaders in Zamastan history, seen as a strategic diplomat and one of the most powerful leaders of his time. He was, however, notorious for the conflicts he engaged Zamastanian forces in; presiding over both the First War in Vulkaria and the Second War in Vulkaria. In 1984, he threatened to send troops to Cadair to fight the Republic of Prydainia if they didn't honor the Rhyddid Treaty. He also sent a large task force to assist Maximusian forces during the 1991 Bjeorg Conflict.

Castovia also presided one of the largest economic surges in Zamastanian history, and he passed several pieces of legislation that improved basic civil rights for its citizens. Castovia passed away of an unexpected and undetected heart disease known as Brugada Syndrome on December 5th, 2015. His son, 25 year old real estate and tech billionare Zacharias Castovia, assumed the Presidency on January 1st, 2016.

Early Life and Education

Cassious Castovia was born on August 11th, 1949, in Providence. He was born to Scott Castovia and Amanda Castovia, part of the illustrious Castovia Family, being the grandson of Percy Castovia and the great-grandson of William Castovia. He attended primary schools in the Providence school districts and was accepted into Tofino University, where he studied law.

Political Career

In 1974, at the age of 25, he was elected to the Governorship of Zian as the youngest ever governor elected in the nation's history. As Governor, he unveiled several tax cut legislation plans as well as plans for oil drilling off Zian's coast, which brought much criticism from environmental groups.

Assuming the Presidency

Following the death of Damian Lorrie, an emergency election was held in which Cassious announced his candidacy. He ran along his affiliated Conservative party roots and won in a large margin of victory.

LGBT Rights

Though most of his first official duties as President for the first quarter of his first term (6 months) were merely social issues, the Supreme Court and the Congressional members of the government discussed a growing trend in the global community – that of legalizing gay marriage. The LGBT community around the world had started gaining momentum, specifically in the fact that laws outlawing homosexuality were being abolished in many Western nations such as European countries and Canada around the 1980s. On June 4th, 1983, Castovia signed a bill that allowed for individual counties to allow their own passage of same-sex marriage. This was a hotly disputed act, but it progressed Zamastan’s social climate further towards the adapting world.

Voting Reform

Castovia also made a point to reform voting rights for minorities and immigrants who were granted citizenship following several decades of legislation that hindered voting opportunities and allowances.

Vulkaria

Alanis Pride Parade Bombing

On June 18th, 1983, a bomb detonated at a packed LGBT celebration rally in Alanis, killing 106 people and injuring over 400. This attack was originally thought to be perpetrated by a radical hate group, which was condemned by President Castovia and the leaders of nearly every allied nation of Zamastan’s. However, it was soon discovered that the attack was carried out by a terror group operating out of the newly founded nation of Vulkaria. Throughout the rest of the week, many more attacks took place against other targets. Most were small attacks that failed to kill people, however, two attacks of significance did occur that pressed Zamastan’s interest beyond domestic policy for the first time since the second world war. The first of these occurred on June 20th, where a bomb detonated outside of the Presidential Mansion in Tofino, killing seven security guards and four tourists. President Castovia wasn’t injured, but the glass windows of the Gaviria Room in which he was sitting did shatter and injure some of his aids. The second attack was a mass stabbing at the Tofino Airport which resulted in the deaths of three people and the injuries of nearly forty more. Zamastan demanded action, and Castovia started working on a military plan to put Zamastan back into the global schedule.

Invasion

On July 6th, amid threats from a terrorist organization known as the Malvarian Liberation Front in the nation of Vulkaria, Zamastan for the first time assisted and successfully rolled back an enemy force on foreign soil in Operation Tidal Hawk. The small rocky, coastal grassland nation of Vulkaria had undergone a coup d'état by Bernard Coard, a staunch capitalist seeking to strengthen the country's existing ties with the United States, West Germany, and the Western U.N. nations. The prime minister was killed and insurgents had orders to shoot on sight. Over 1,000 Zamastanians were in the nation, mostly medical students and their families, and the government could not guarantee their security. After the coup, the new Vulkarian government led by Prime Minister Eugenia Charles officially called on the United States for protection, but they refused. Due to the small and relatively insufficient military, the splinter group of the old, Marxist leaning government formed a faction called the Malvarian Liberation Front. This group often attacked villages and were known for their brutality. After their attacks abroad in Zamastan, the M.L.F. was targeted for complete destruction or expulsion. The campaign launched July 6th, 1983, fought primarily against armed M.L.F. insurgents, the Zamastan military invaded and temporarily took control. Their occupation of Vulkaria’s capital fully restored democracy to the nation and fighting became mostly restricted to rural regions after the first three months of more urban centered fighting. Castovia ordered and launched an air strike against Libya after it was found to have connections to the terrorists, specifically in an attack which killed two Zamastanian soldiers.

The Castovia administration also supplied funds and weapons to heavily militarily-influenced government factions in Vulkaria beginning in 1987. In that year, with assistance from the Vulkarian national intelligence agency, the Zamastanian military organized and financed right-wing paramilitaries in the rural villages of Vulkaria, known as the Bungle-Bara. The tracing of secret funds for this scheme led to the revelations of the Zamastan–Bungle affair. In 1988 Castovia authorized the sale of arms in Vulkaria in an unsuccessful effort to free Zamastan hostages in the province of Mulwa; he later professed ignorance that subordinates were illegally diverting the proceeds to the Bungle’s. Castovia's approval ratings plummeted in 1988 as a result of the scandal, and though he won his 4th election, many Zamastanians began to seriously question his judgement. While the president's popularity improved in his final two years, he would never again enjoy the support he had had in 1983-4. The War in Vulkaria, though supported by most Zamastan’s in its reasonings, became a stalemate for the rest of the Castovia administration. The war officially ended on April 28th, 1991, after nearly 8 years of fighting, when Cassious Castovia announced the end to battle-operations within the region. Though the M.L.F. was not completely destroyed, their ability to wage war was significantly diminished. In the course of the war, 8,738 Zamastanian troops were killed, 23,393 Vulkarian troops were killed, and over 109,000 M.L.F. fighters were estimated to have died. Zamastan to this day is one of Vulkaria’s strongest allies and even has a military base within the region which serves as an air force stationing position.

Foriegn Relations

Castovia was sharply critical of the United Nations, once the darling of liberals. He repudiated what he felt was its corruption, inefficiency and failure to assist in the Vulkarian crisis. In 1985-1987, Zamastan joined the World Assembly and withdrew from UNESCO, which had failed in its cultural missions, and began to deliberately withhold its UN dues. Zamastan policy makers considered this tactic an effective tool for asserting influence in the UN. When the UN and UNESCO mended their ways, the nation returned and paid its dues.

Cadair Intervention

The Prydainian Conflict began on 9 December, 1983. The Republic of Prydainia moved soldiers into Ruthin, a city clearly given to Cadair in the Rhyddid Treaty. This was seen as an act of war and Mab Darogan Gerallt Morgan met the challenge by taking military bases in Carmarthen and Pontypridd, which Prydania controlled. On 4 January, 1984, Prydainian militants launched mortars into Cardiff and Machynlleth, causing twelve civilian deaths, four military deaths and ninety-seven injuries. On 18 January, 1984, President Castovia threatened to declare war on the Republic of Prydainia if they didn't honor the Rhyddid Treaty. Thus the Prydainian Conflict ended.

Treviso Nuclear Crisis

On January 26th, 1992, a nuclear reactor built by the Soviet Union in the nation of Daybrake shut down unexpectedly. The USSR had disbanded in December of 1991, and all soviet scientists and nuclear workers had returned to their home nation. The new Daybraken workers at the facility had little training, and the strain of continuous small errors led to the overheat and shutdown of one of the seven reactors. For roughly three days, the station was simply abandoned and closed, but the building heat (unknown to the facilities employees) resulted in a combustion explosion, destroying the reactor’s core, outer walls, and damaging the two reactors next to it. The damage then increased drastically as low-pressure systems caused cold air to vent into the heated cores, causing sparks that ignited a nuclear explosion about half the size of the one that destroyed Hiroshima. The reactor was located adjacent to the city of Treviso, and the explosion devastated the outskirts of the city, killing an estimated 5,600 people. The frail Daybrake government tried to cover up the incident, however when scientists detected the radiation plume in the atmosphere directly above Zamastan airspace, President Castovia called the Daybraken Prime Minister as a show of force to block the contamination. He also offered assistance to the radiated citizens of Daybrake. Zamastan scientists and soldiers occupied the contaminated region of Daybrake and to this day, although the Daybraken government is in control of their nation, Zamastan maintains their heavy, unknown, and oftentimes regarded as suspicious activity within the nuclear wasted borderlands.

In February of 1993, the contamination was officially concealed, though scientists from the nation of Toa Krotaor had begun debating Zamastan in the United Nations due to the sensitivity and quiet nature of their business in Daybrake. Zamastan and Toa Krotaor engaged in a political stand off that lasted nearly a month, threatening sanctions and occasionally war. On March 4th, Zamastan intercepted a Toa Croatan cargo ship and held it in Tofino’s seaport. The small nation of Cadair, wanting to resolve the crisis so the high prices of Zamastanian and Toa Croatan goods would decrease, established a form of communication between the two nations. On March 14th, 1993, President Cassious Castovia and Toa Krotaor Prime Minister Paul Rogen met in Cadair’s capital of Cardiff. They signed a peace deal that refrained the two from conflicting in verbal battles over the Daybrake Crisis, and they allowed for shipping routes through each other’s waterways. The alliance was sealed when, in an unusual show of partnership, the leaders engaged in a traditional Toa Croatan peace offering where a baby lamb was tossed between the two. The event became a humorous and light heartened ending to an escalated crisis.

Second War In Vulkaria

Cassious Castovia was reelected to his 10th term as President in 2004 amid mild but still above average approval ratings. Among the debate topics during his run was the increasing conflict in Vulkaria. In 1999, a new administration was elected that was lenient towards more radical political thoughts. However, this unintentionally led to a revitalization of the M.L.F. and many other embattled groups wanting to take over power. A civil war erupted in 2000 once again, and the nation was embroiled with Zamastanian interests once again being threatened. Castovia announced a “red-line” against the rebels in 2003, and after his reelection, he decided to send aid to the Vulkarian government in the form of soldiers on October 4th, 2004. On October 15th, the full scope of the civil war’s brutality was realized by the Zamastan military when rebel forces stormed the city of Amstelveen and swiftly captured Vulkarian positions. The city had been considered to be a fortress held by government and Zamastan forces, and it was only a short drive down the national highway from Vulkaria’s capital of Vulkaria City. Only Zamastanian forces remained in the city on the 16th, however, they were unable to evacuate in the densely compacted town blocks and the fact that they were spread sparsely amid the nearly 600,000 inhabitants.

Rebels began a purge throughout Amstelveen on the 17th, attacking Zamastanian positions and repelling airstrikes with shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles. Central command operating from the capital ordered all troops to rendezvous at the only remaining checkpoint in the city, a moderately guarded airstrip and prison complex used by the Vulkarian military as a staging point next to the national highway. For the next two days, thousands of Zamastanian soldiers fought, often in gritty close quarters, house to house combat, to reach the checkpoint in small groups at a time. Fighter jets and reinforcements tried, to little avail, to support the evacuating troops. By October 19th, all surviving Zamastanian forces had arrived at the base and were evacuated to the capital, preparing for an offensive to take back the city, but the first stage Battle of Amstelveen was a military disaster for both the Vulkarians and the Zamastanians. 16,930 Vulkarian troops were slaughtered during the rebel incursion and 2,933 Zamastan troops were killed trying to evacuate. 11 Zamastan jets were also shot down providing aircover, but an estimated 30,000 rebels were killed during the three days of the battle.

Vulkarian and Zamastan forces began a push into the city from the north and south respectively once again roughly a week later, dropping leaflets over the city warning of the impending bombardment. A crisis began to unfold as citizens tried to leave the northern section of the city before the Vulkarian army arrived. Thousands of citizens became caught in the crossfire of rebel sharpshooters and Vulkarian artillery. Zamastan soldiers did not encounter many civilians during the fighting, but they did discover many mass graves and evidence of biochemical attacks by the rebels in many sections of the southern portion of Amstelveen. By the end of the incursion on October 28th, 6,029 Zamastanians had been killed, 10,240 Vulkarians soldiers were killed, and over 98,000 rebels had been killed. However, the startling statistic was over 200,000 citizens killed in gas attacks, mass killings, executions, and in airstrikes. The civilian death toll was not released until a year after Zamastan pulled out of Vulkaria in 2005 when the war ended. In December, a passenger jet taking off from Vulkaria’s only international airport was shot down by rebels on the outskirts of another heavy battleground city of Barneveld, killing all 320 on board. A Zamastan military plane was also shot down on approach to a base in the city, killing 39 soldiers. The war started to deescalate as rebels began to flee the region in shipping vessels for a long forgotten Vulkarian colony in Southeast Asia. By February 6th, 2005, the remaining rebels surrendered as the escapee insurgents declared a new nation in the former colony, now known as Malware. Costs of the Second Vulkarian War were staggering; 23,246 Zamastanian troops killed, 103,500 Vulkarian troops killed, over 720,000 rebels killed, and roughly 1.2 million citizens died amidst the brutal fighting.

Post-War

The Castovia administration was praised for ending the war but extensively blamed for the immense loss of life, both from the allied military coalition and the Vulkarian populace. Including the citizens, soldiers, and rebels, roughly 1 in every 30 Vulkarians died in the war. The final death toll with all combined sides in the five years of fighting was 2.1 million people. President Cassious Castovia faced brutal drops in his approval ratings when, on April 21st, 2006, a leaked document showed that Zamastan bombers had been the cause of thousands of civilian deaths during the battles, specifically at Amstelveen and Barneveld. As this became further clear, Castovia nearly lost his next election, but won his 11th term with an extremely close 50.032% of the vote.

Legislation

Castovia’s first act in office was the renewal of public transport systems and safety in personalized vehicles following the Zian Prime 0 crash. The laws he passed set in motion the safety registrations for vehicles including seat belt laws that insured greater protection on the road. Included in this new system of safer roads was a complete overhaul of the current road system, including the installation of nationwide roundabouts as opposed to intersections, wider two lane roads with divergent exits, and more moderate speed limits.

Economics

In 1995, Zamastan began importing oil, but as consumption kept rising and the nation's oil fields became less productive. Throughout the 1990s the world price of crude oil ranged between $10 and $40, and the average price at the pump did not exceed $1.40. Oil prices tripled after 2002, peaking at $147 in July 2001, about $4 a gallon; the price has continued to fluctuate widely. The theme of "energy independence" led to legislation mandating more fuel-efficient autos—even electric vehicles—and more efficient use of energy, ranging from insulation to new light bulbs. Even worse than the high price, was the fear of shortages. Many proposals and pilot projects for replacement energy sources, from ethanol to wind power and solar power were discussed and, indeed, funded by Congressional Hall after 2000. In the economic stimulus package signed by President Castovia in early 2002, billions of dollars were allocated for research and development of new energy sources.

After 2003, new methods of extraction opened up vast new deposits of oil in the Labret Formation in Pahl and the Northern Isle. As much as two trillion dollars’ worth of natural gas is potentially available in the Ziapet Formation deposits located in the historic 19th-century oil fields in Zian, stretching from Tofino through Jade into western Horseshoe Region. However, there is sharp debate underway regarding the environmental impact on the region's fresh water supply. The question of drilling in the Northern Islands National Wildlife Refuge (NINWR) was highly controversial, but the 2004 Tarin Gulf Oil Spill put all new drilling on hold.

Death and Legacy

President Cassious Castovia suddenly became ill in 2015. Perhaps the most consequential President up to that moment in history, Cassious Castovia passed away on December 5th, 2015, from diagnosed Brugada syndrome. He was 66 years old. Zacharias Castovia attended his father's funeral on December 15th in Tofino. Standing next to his mother, members of his father’s cabinet, and world leaders, Castovia gave the eulogy for the highly respected leader.

Zacharias became President in a special election, assuming the presidency on January 1st, 2016.