Sandra Pavía, the former Foreign Secretary of Lauchenoiria who was removed from her position in 2022 for alleged Xiomeran ties which she has denied repeatedly, today spoke to media calling the government’s handling of the WOE situation “woefully inadequate – pun intended”. Pavía, who had advocated for the initial classification of Warriors as a terrorist organisation, and repeatedly urged Alvarez to investigate WOE more thoroughly, has called the Canal Zone incident a “preventable tragedy”.
“If the Lauchenoirian government had taken the recommendations of the security services seriously, and carried out a thorough investigation into the tactics, plans and recruitment methods of Warriors of Our Earth, we could have prevented this tragic incident from occurring,” Pavía told the Lauchenoirian Guardian. “We do not yet know how many died on board the Procura Horizon, but what we do know is that if action had been taken against WOE before they were allowed to get out of control, we would not be here now.”
Pavía, who is still a representative of the Liberal Party, has also urged the government to increase military spending to counter the “numerous threats this country faces”, citing the threats from Empress Calhualyana, and the recent missile crisis between Kerlile and Greater Acadia. This open criticism of her own party’s government is likely to lead to trouble for Pavía; with many speculating that this is the prelude to a defection to the Conservatives or the creation of her own political party.
The consequences of WOE’s attack on Sunday in the Canal Zone are still unfolding; with Canal transit blocked by the wreckage of the Procura Horizon, difficulty identifying bodies, several WOE members in hiding within the Zone; and many countries with interest in the Zone are yet to publicly announce their responses. Trials of WOE members are due to begin soon, with speculation that upwards of 4,000 people will end up being convicted of membership of a prohibited terrorist organisation. It remains to be seen what will happen to those who participated in the Canal attack – and survived.
