CHAPTER ONE
LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
"Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast,
that however high we reach we are never satisfied."
Nicolo Machiavelli
December 17, 1949Desk of the President
Tropico Palace
1 Palace Plaza St.
Tropico
Se±or PresidentΘ,
The former PresidentΘ Ramirez Zepata requested a compilation of informative reports on the state of Tropico at the start of his regime. As you know, PresidentΘ Zepata's reign was rather short before he succumbed to that sudden case of food poisoning (or was it a heart attack? No, that was three PresidentΘs ago).
Though the late PresidentΘ never had the chance to see the finished reports, we're sure they will be most helpful to you. The reports should be quite helpful in teaching you how to be a most excellent El PresidentΘ. And let me add how fortunate for all Tropicans that you insisted on serving as our leader! Such personal sacrifice!
Because you have had so little time to fully absorb your rapid rise to power, it might be of some help for me to explain some of the current economic and political intricacies here on Tropico.
As you know, Tropico is a small, underdeveloped, relatively impoverished Caribbean island quite remote from anywhere else. As PresidentΘ, you have considerable flexibility in what goals you pursue and how you pursue them. Nonetheless, you must deal with a few cold realities.
Your hold on power is rather tenuous. The easiest way to prolong your reign is to make your people happy. In general, your Tropicans want good jobs that pay well, good housing, adequate medical care, varied and inexpensive entertainment, low crime and high liberty. Unfortunately, they start off with almost none of this. To build the island paradise your people crave, you will need money.
The Tropican economy is, at present, principally based on low-value agriculture. While this keeps your people fed and generates a trickle of cash, you will want to branch out. Fortunately, if you befriend the United States or Russia, they may grant you large amounts of foreign aid for economic development.
Early on, you can develop lucrative cash crops like tobacco and sugar, as well as logging and mining. Later, you may build factories to produce cigars, rum, jewelry, and other exports that the wealthier countries crave. If you are truly skilled, you can even develop a highly lucrative tourist trade, bringing American tourists with fat wallets to get sunburned on Tropico's beaches.
Unfortunately, building the structures for a growing economy and for your people's social services takes time, and your time is limited. Initially, your people are willing to tolerate poor conditions and give you a political 'honeymoon', but if things don't improve quickly, they will start to grow upset with you. Also, as years go by, your population will grow quickly from a steady flow of immigrants as well as from Tropico's famously high birth rates. A rapidly growing population with poor social services is political dynamite.
Fortunately, you have a few tools at your disposal to help diffuse the situation. As supreme ruler, you may issue edicts that attempt to please various factions on your island. Or, if they can't be pleased, you can make sure they fear you. You may build a large army and curry favor with the generals by paying them well (perhaps even the occasional brià errà bonus). You can even declare martial law, though such a drastic step has risks of it's own.
I realize that you are anxious to start your rule, and perhaps you do not have the patience to absorb such a large handbook as this one. With that in mind, I have prepared a special tutorial for you, which will walk you through the major functions of the world of Tropico and teach you how to exert your rule. I strongly suggest you go through this tutorial. I have also written up some notes that I modestly named a Quick Start Guide. These will help you straight into Tropico without reading the rest of this handbook, though of course the handbook contains a much fuller explanation of Tropico.
My PresidentΘ, many who have held this office before you have failed, but I see great promise in you. Stand strong, and you may become one of the greatest leaders in our history. Fail, and you will stand alone, without friend or family, a speck in the ocean of history... and no one will care.
Buena suerte,
Miguel Cervantes Librarian of the Presidential Palace