The Eagle's Throne

53. TÁCITO DE LA CANAL TO ANDINO ALMAZÁN

Mr. Secretary, my esteemed friend, I turn to you from the bottom of the pit into which my political enemies have thrown me. That is the state of things. Some win, some lose. But in politics there are many twists and turns. Perhaps my present disgrace and the low profile I’m being forced to maintain are in fact the best possible mask for me to use as I prepare my surprise comeback.

They say all is fair in love and war. I’d say the same goes for politics and business. I know that the undersecretary of the interior, a former subordinate of mine, has sent you a series of documents that implicate me in the MEXEN case. He himself has told me that he’s not going to pursue me because I would drag too many other powerful people down with me. I claimed that I was only following the orders of the president, César León.

Nicolás Valdivia looked at me coldly.

“The president is untouchable. The secretary is not.”

“Principles are good servants of bad masters.”

“That’s true, Mr. De la Canal. Don’t worry, from now on your hands will be clean. Because you won’t have any hands. . ”

I do not surrender, Secretary Almazán. Not even if they were to cut off my hands, because I’d still have feet to kick with. I’ve spoken to the other people involved mentioned by Valdivia, to remind them that we’re in this together. That I only signed those papers under orders from President César León.

They laughed at me. Below I offer a literal transcription of the conversation I had with the banker most deeply involved in the complex MEXEN business scheme.

“I’ve come to discuss the MEXEN affair,” I said to him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The MEXEN shares.”

“But you don’t know anything about that, do you?”

“Excuse me?” I admit I was shocked, but I knew what he was playing at, and said, “No. That’s why I’ve come here. To find out about it.”

“If I were you, I’d stay in the dark. You’ll be better off.”

“Why?” I persisted.

“Because it’s secret,” he conceded for a moment, like a fisherman dangling a worm in front of a fish, and then ended by saying, “And it’s best to leave it at that.”

“Secret?” I said, giving away my shock. “Secret for me, who made it all possible with my signature?”

“You were just a tool,” he responded, barely hiding his scorn.

“For what purpose?”

“For keeping the deal secret.”

He looked straight through me, as if I were a window.

“Don’t lose your grip, Mr. De la Canal.”

“But I. .”

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

I haven’t given up, Mr. Almazán. I spoke to one of the press barons. He owes me, a man who always found the doors to President Lorenzo Terán’s office open, thanks to me.

I’ll be brief.

When I asked him to defend me, at least by publishing a favorable profile of me, and maybe launching a personal rehabilitation campaign, he said, “A good journalist should never annoy his readership by eulogizing. He should only attack. Praise is boring.”

I admit I was furious, Andino.

“You owe me a lot.”

“True. The powerful always need charity.”

“All it takes is an order to one of your lackeys. . ”

“Mr. de la Canal! I’ve never done anything like that! My contributors are independent!”

“Do you want me to prove the opposite?” I shouted, indignant. “Do you want me to bribe one of your journalists?”

I expected a cold stare from the businessman. Instead, he looked at me with the charity he’d just mentioned.

“Mr. de la Canal. My journalists are not dishonest. They’re incapable of being dishonest.”

I know that what I’m transcribing could damage me and tarnish my image. But I haven’t got many rounds of ammunition left, Mr. Almazán.

In truth I have only one.

Let me be frank. I’ve come to respect and admire you — and your family. You’re lucky to have a devoted wife, Josefina, and three lovely little girls, Teté, Talita, and Tutú. What you don’t have is much of a bank account. You live off your salary and your wife’s inheritance— what remains of one of the old agave fortunes of the Yucatán’s “Divine Caste.”. .

I have a proposition. The fact that the MEXEN deal failed doesn’t rule out the possibility of other profitable ventures. Perhaps my political fortune is in the doghouse right now, but a good deal is always a good deal. And although I’m no longer in power, you still are — in charge of public finances, no less — which means that you can generate the kind of money required for something one might call an investment opportunity.

This is my plan.

Through a publicly held company you and I will offer investors with good credit ratings the chance to acquire mortgages that have been preapproved by the authorities (that is, you, Mr. Secretary) with the promise that, as of a certain date, they may be sold to any bank at a profit of two percent. In other words, guaranteed profits and very little risk. There won’t be any shortage of sharks or sardines for this venture because before the first period of investment’s up, you and I will recruit new investors, and with the money we get from them, we’ll pay the dividends to the first group, who’ll be very happy — and taken in.

The first group of investors will be grateful for the profits and will help us recruit new partners. The new partners will inject the necessary money to pay the dividends out to the previous group of investors.

This way, Andino, we’ll ensure a financial pyramid in which we attract new investment because of the profits of the existing investors, and quickly build up capital.

Unfortunately, the number of investors isn’t limitless, and once people stop investing in the pyramid it’ll collapse like a house of cards.

You and I, however, will have made our pile by extracting the profits at each stage of the operation. Then the company will be declared insolvent, we’ll be in the hands of the bankruptcy laws, and the company will be given an administration order rather than going into liquidation.

In other words, you and I can’t lose. We win every step of the way. Moreover we don’t even have to show our faces. Felipe Aguirre, communications secretary, and Antonio Bejarano, public works secretary, will do that for us. They’re ready to be our front men. Since Valdivia’s going to get rid of them, they’re eager for revenge and want our acting president to start off with a scandal. They’ll take their share, and if it occurs to Valdivia to accuse them of embezzlement while working for the government, nobody can be judged twice for the same crime. It’s a question of weighing the risks, Andino, and being willing to spend a short time in Almoloya prison in exchange for millions waiting for us in bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.

You and I, prudent as we are, will have saved our earnings offshore, so that in Mexico we pass for bankrupt and the minimum is seized from the company.

I do hope you’ll consider my proposal. And don’t forget to discuss it with your dear wife. We shouldn’t do anything, you and I, without involving Josefina. After all, we’re talking about your future well-being, and Teté, Talita, and Tutú’s. I don’t think Valdivia will keep you on in his new cabinet, Mr. Secretary. And it isn’t right that you and your family should be watching the public parade of advantage and wealth from behind the window.

And remember: You’re an honorable man, and principles must always be good servants to bad masters.

Yours ever, T