Don Pendleton: Savage Rule

“He was just elected, wasn’t he?”

“‘Elected’ is probably too kind a word for it,” Brognola said. “While relations between the U.S. and Mexico have traditionally been hot and cold, depending on how the political winds of immigration reform were running, we could generally count on their government as a nominal ally. Castillo’s coalition pushed the moderates out of power and immediately cut diplomatic ties with the United States. His election was marred by dozens of allegations of vote fixing, ballot tampering and voter intimidation. Our intelligence sources south of the border tell us that Castillo has seeded the Mexican military with hard-liners loyal to him, not to mention bribing anyone within reach of a handout.”

“Hard-liners?” Bolan had asked.

“Castillo is a known entity to Interpol and various international antiterror groups. He has a file in our computers that goes way back, though he’s slippery. He’s never been tied, definitively, to the activities we know he supports.”

“Which are?”

“Castillo is a racist, a Hispanic supremacist, if you want to call it that. Has a long history as a street criminal in Mexico City. You’ve heard of La Raza?”

“‘The Race,’” Bolan said. “A term that applies to a pretty broad array of activist groups and even a radio network, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Correct,” Brognola had confirmed. “But the La Raza we’re concerned with is a particularly effective and violent Chicano nationalist group, terrorists operating in Mexico and the Southwest United States. Starting in the 1970s, when the concept began to catch on, the group and other radical splinter cells like it have been pursuing the restoration of what they consider the ‘Aztec homeland,’ which they call Aztlán. Through a movement they call the Reconquista—the reconquering of land once possessed by their people, now unfairly held by the United States, as they see it—they want to reclaim those lands lost by Mexico in the Mexican-American War. When all the yelling and posturing is done, they’d basically like to secure as much of Southern California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona that they can take and hold by force of arms.”

“Understood,” Bolan had said, nodding even though Brognola couldn’t see him. “But what’s that got to do with the coup in Honduras, and where do we come in?”

“Nobody took fringe groups like this radical version of La Raza seriously before,” Brognola said. “And they weren’t much of a threat, at the national level. They were violent, yes, and they managed to kill several people while pushing their racist views, but they weren’t accomplishing much toward their goals. The sea change in Mexico’s government, headed by a known Chicano nationalist who we think has no qualms about using terror tactics to get what he wants, changes that. Now the group has the force of Mexico’s military behind it. Castillo’s also using the military to crush dissent in Mexico.”

“You’re thinking invasion? It would be suicide.”

“Not if it’s done using guerrilla tactics rather than an outright declaration of war,” Brognola retorted. “The Man knows he can’t afford to make an overt enemy of Mexico, not unless he wants a full-scale battle on our southern border. Castillo knows it, too, and he’s playing to that. We know, for example, that Castillo is using Tristan Zapata, a known La Raza terrorist wanted by the FBI and Interpol, to spearhead his operations on the Mexican border. Several border-patrol agents have been fired on, and last week three turned up dead wearing Colombian neckties. Tensions have been rising since Castillo took office, and we’ve traced Zapata’s movements thoroughly enough to know that he’s met privately with Castillo on no less than three occasions.”

“So why am I worrying about Orieza and Honduras when I should be dealing with Castillo and his La Raza forces?”

“Have you heard of O’Connor Petroleum Prospecting?”

“Can’t say I have,” Bolan said.

“They’re an international firm that works with large oil companies, finding previously overlooked petroleum deposits. Under the former, stable government of Honduras, they had an agreement that allowed them to use deep-ranging imaging equipment to locate oil in Honduras. Just before Orieza took over, they found what they were looking for—a previously unknown find that is, as I understand it, quite extensive. When Orieza learned about it, he nationalized the equipment, and either took hostage or murdered the OPP employees operating in his country.”

“The oil’s worth a lot?”

“It could turn Honduras into a wealthy nation, if its government played its cards right.”

“And what hand is Orieza holding?”

“That’s just it,” Brognola said, and Bolan could picture him frowning. “Orieza’s ambitious and brutal. He knows a fellow traveler when he sees one. According to our intercepts, his government contacted Castillo’s and cut a deal. They’re building a pipeline from Honduras to Mexico.”

“And Guatemala’s in the way,” Bolan said.

“Exactly. Orieza fights across Guatemala, building his pipeline as he goes. When he gets to Mexico, Castillo welcomes him with open arms, knowing that the results of that operation and the pipeline will enrich both nations—well, both men. This will solidify Orieza’s hold on Honduras, and for all we know he’s looking to annex some or all of Guatemala on a permanent basis. The oil wealth helps Castillo finance his personal vision of a recaptured Aztec homeland in the Southwest U.S., too. Orieza has made no secret of the fact that he despises the West. He’s given plenty of speeches on state-controlled television, blaming America for Honduras’s relative poverty. It would do his heart good to see our eye blackened, I’m sure. In the process, he makes a valuable ally, in his view, and strengthens his power at home.”

“But Castillo can’t think he can win a war against the United States,” Bolan protested.

“He doesn’t have to,” Brognola said. “As I said, if he does it just right, he can make things difficult enough that portions of the country will effectively be under his control. He’s counting on America’s unwillingness to go to war with Mexico directly, probably because he thinks we’ll hope to wait him out. The pipeline means he won’t have to wait us out. Even if we apply international sanctions, he and Orieza will be able to find plenty of customers for the oil. They may be counting on the fact that, if they hold portions of territory for long enough—especially those parts of the Southwest United States that are predominantly Hispanic, thanks to largely uncontrolled illegal immigration—they’ll effectively own it, and it will be too much trouble and cause too much unrest for us to get it back.”

“Possession being nine-tenths of the law,” Bolan had said.

“Exactly,” Brognola confirmed. “The Man doesn’t want to be put in that position, for obvious reasons. That’s where you come in, and that’s why our national security is tied to both nations. Striker, we’ve got to put a stop to this. Our analysts tell us that a sudden power vacuum in Mexico would allow the more moderate elements within the government to take control once more. Honduras is more turbulent, but removing Orieza would at least end the immediate crisis.”

“So where do I start?”

“Our ties to Guatemala have always been close, give or take, and Orieza’s troops have made several skirmishes over the border already. We’ve got satellite tracking of the invading force gathering on the border for yet another run. The Guatemalan military isn’t up to the task of repelling a determined invasion. They’re willing, but underfunded and disorganized. They’re screaming for help, and Orieza’s men have bloodied their noses already. Officially, we’ve told them there’s nothing we can do. Unofficially, they’re going to get some assistance as fast as we can get it to them.”